Escaping the Man Everyone Admired: Lisa's Story [331]
Flying Free
Natalie Hoffman
5 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2025
⏱️ 66 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What happens when the man everyone admires is the one silently destroying your soul behind closed doors?
In this gripping episode, I sit down with Lisa: a strong, truth-telling woman who walked through 40 years of emotional and spiritual abuse in her marriage. From the trauma of date rape on her first date, to the covert spiritual manipulation in a seemingly “perfect” Christian home, Lisa vulnerably shares how she survived, how she healed, and how she’s now helping other women rise.
This episode is not just a story. It’s a reclamation.
Key Takeaways:
- “You’re not crazy—he just told you that you were.” Lisa unpacks the slow unraveling of decades of covert abuse masked as devotion.
- How Christian culture kept her trapped in a narrative of self-blame, silence, and “submission.”
- The pivotal role of trauma-informed therapy, especially EMDR, in unlocking the truth and breaking the trauma bond.
- Lisa’s experience with betrayal by Christian counselors and the devastating weaponization of Scripture.
- Why she now calls it an escape—not a divorce.
- The healing power of boundaries, honest storytelling, and godly anger.
- What real love looks like after abuse—and yes, it can come at 66.
Read the full show notes and/or ask Natalie a question here
Related Resources:
- Want to listen to some more survivor stories? Check out Erin’s story and Marie’s story.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Before we get started, I have something new and exciting to share for all of our listeners |
| 0:06.2 | who are divorced or heading in that direction. |
| 0:09.4 | It's called The Divorced Christian Woman Podcast, your honest, no-fluff guide to life after leaving. |
| 0:16.0 | We will talk about rebuilding your identity, handling big emotions, navigating friendships, |
| 0:22.6 | parenting, dating, or not, and all the unexpected freedom that comes when you're no longer |
| 0:28.8 | trying to keep a broken thing together. If that's where you're at, I'd love for you to join me, |
| 0:34.7 | my friend Diana Swillinger, and all our guests over there. |
| 0:38.4 | You can find the Divorce Christian Woman podcast on your favorite podcast app, like the one |
| 0:43.8 | you're listening to right now. Go hit follow, and I'll meet you over there with a cup of coffee |
| 0:48.8 | and zero judgment. Welcome to episode 331 of the flying free podcast one of the most |
| 1:01.6 | powerful things that we can do on our healing journey is to tell our story and just as |
| 1:07.5 | powerful is the act of listening to someone else's story. So today, I have the deep |
| 1:13.6 | honor of sitting down with someone who's been part of my community for several years. She has |
| 1:19.1 | walked through the fire and she's here to share not only what she has survived, but who she has |
| 1:25.5 | become. These are conversations that matter. |
| 1:28.9 | They remind us that we're not alone and that healing is possible, |
| 1:32.8 | and there is strength in every single scar. |
| 1:36.2 | Hi, this is Natalie Hoffman of FlyingFreeNow.com, |
| 1:40.5 | and you're listening to the Flying Free Podcast, |
| 1:43.9 | a support resource for women of faith, |
| 1:46.5 | looking for hope and healing from hidden emotional and spiritual abuse. |
| 1:52.5 | Lisa, welcome to the Flying Free Podcast. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 3 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Natalie Hoffman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Natalie Hoffman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.