Halie - Burnout to Breath: A Trauma Nurse on Healing, Community, and Coming Back to the Body Artwork

Defiance of Silence - A Sacred Witness

Defiance of Silence – A Sacred Witness is a podcast for survivors, healers, and those who walk beside them. Together, we stand against the silence that isolates us, and embrace the silence that allows us to be truly heard.

Hosted by Valerie — a U.S. Army veteran, Nurse, survivor, and trauma-informed witness — the show was born from her own two-decade journey of healing from sexual trauma and the power of being witnessed. Through real and unpolished conversations, guests share stories of courage, grief, resilience, and awakening.

This is not therapy. This is not performance. This is sacred witness. A space where vulnerability becomes strength, and where no one has to carry their story alone.

New episodes release every other week.

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Defiance of Silence - A Sacred Witness

Halie - Burnout to Breath: A Trauma Nurse on Healing, Community, and Coming Back to the Body

October 22, 2025 • Valerie Foglesong • Season 1 • Episode 5

What holds a caregiver together when the work starts to pull them apart? We sit down with Halie—trauma nurse, survivor, and seeker—to explore the quiet, practical ways she rebuilt herself after moral injury, burnout, and years of outrunning her own story. She brings the ER and ICU into focus with unflinching honesty, then shows how small rituals and community transformed adrenaline into presence.

We talk about how trauma lives in the body—fear in the chest, danger in the neck—and how EMDR helped her find and soften those beliefs without rushing herself back into pain. If you’ve ever thought “I’ll deal with this later” and then never went back, her framework for actually closing the loop will land: set an intention before shift, name what you’ll return to, and claim time after to release what isn’t yours. It’s direct, doable nervous system care for anyone navigating healthcare, trauma work, or high-stakes service.

This conversation also challenges the old script that caregivers must be stoic to be strong. We talk candidly about vicarious trauma, profit and vulnerability in medicine, and why “leave it at work” only works when you have a real ritual of release. Halie models what a culture shift can look like—leaders making space, teammates witnessing without fixing, and clinicians regulating in real time without shame.

A personal note and resources from Halie's heart to yours.

www.CoDA.org
www.adultchildren.org
Don’t Clock Out

Each program has zoom meetings available outside of a structured recovery program, such as Save A Warrior. https://www.saveawarrior.org

Richard C. Schwartz -You Are The One You’ve Been Waiting For &-No Bad Parts

I didn’t spend too much time during the podcast to disclose my childhood trauma, not because it didn’t matter, but more so because it no longer defines who I am now that I have found myself. I never would have believed a life full of self love and gratitude was possible, and now I can’t imagine living another day without this practice of self care. I encourage you, the listener, to go find you, through all of the mud and the muck, all of the self hatred, and all of the disbelief that life could be anything more than the despair you feel

Contact Valerie

Remember YOU are loved and worthy of being witnessed!

If today’s episode stirred heavy feelings, you are not alone. Please reach out to a trusted friend or a professional if you need support: