About this episode
Trigger Warning: This episode contains sensitive material about abuse, incest, and generational trauma. Please listen or watch at your own pace, and practice self-care as needed. Episode Overview: In this powerful and vulnerable conversation, Dr. Debi Silber speaks with author and advocate Babs Walters about the lifelong impact of childhood abuse, the burden of keeping family secrets, and what it truly takes to heal. Babs courageously shares her deeply personal story, tracing the effects of trauma through her family history—and how she finally found freedom and purpose in breaking the silence. Key Themes Covered: The Legacy of Abuse and Secret-Keeping Babs recounts her childhood experience of incest, the secrecy that surrounded it, and the emotional and physical toll it took on her body and relationships. Dissociation and Survival As a child, Babs survived by dissociating and escaping into books—one of the few places she found hope and happy endings. From Silence to Advocacy Her journey from secrecy to speaking out includes therapy, education, and eventually, writing her memoir. Her mission: to make sure no other child feels as isolated as she did.
