15 Years After Abuse: Healing, Reflection, Growth & What I Wish I Knew Sooner

  📍 Welcome to Healing From Emotional Abuse, the award-winning podcast that sheds light on the journey from victim to survivor. I’m your host Marissa f Cohen, and I’m thrilled to have you join us on this empowering and healing adventure, the Healing from Emotional Abuse podcast. Isn’t just another conversation.


It’s a sanctuary for those who have endured abuse and are determined to reclaim their lives. Through interviews with inspiring survivors, experts, and advocates, we aim to break the silence surrounding abuse and empower our listeners with the knowledge. Support and resources they need to break free from their past.


Our mission is to provide a safe space where survivors can share their stories, find solace in knowing they’re not alone, and discover the strength within themselves to heal and thrive. Each episode is filled with powerful narratives, practical strategies, and compassionate guidance to help you overcome the lingering effects of abuse and build a brighter future.


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Our conversations delve into topics such as emotional, physical, financial, and psychological abuse, recovery techniques, self-care strategies, legal rights, and much, much more. Join us as we embark on this transformative journey together. Subscribe to healing from emotional abuse on your favorite podcast platform.


And remember, your story matters, and you have the power to break your silence from the chains of abuse. I’m your host, Marissa f Cohen, and this is healing from emotional abuse. Let’s reclaim our lives and empower one another.


Hello. Hello. Welcome back to the Healing From Emotional Abuse Podcast. I am your host, Marissa f Cohen. And before we jump in today, um, I just wanted to give a, a content warning, a trigger warning. Um, what we’re gonna listen to today is, uh, a rant from 2025 on the anniversary of my first sexual assault.


Talking about kind of where I’ve been and how I’m feeling, and I was very deep in my feelings. So I, I use the legal terms. Um, I. I am very direct. And so if at any point this episode becomes triggering, traumatizing or gets you worked up or feeling unsafe or uncomfortable, please feel free to turn it off.


You’re also welcome to send me an email at Healing from Emotional abuse pod@gmail.com to let me know, um, if there’s a better way for me in the future to sensor or to, um. To, to handle these conversations, but I will have, you know, this particular conversation was with myself and unscripted and just kind of a reflection.


And then I also am reflecting on it. A year later. So, um, I just wanted to give you a trigger warning. There’s a few things you could do. Turn it off, put on some decompressing music or something that helps you get back to your baseline. You can hum because humming actually engages your vagus nerve, va vagus nerve.


Um, and we will, we’ll calm you down or you can snap your fingers. Because that tricks your brain to send receptors to your fingertips and not your eyes. It’ll stop you from crying. So please enjoy this episode. Thank you so, so much for tuning in. Um, leave a comment, send me an email. Um, I really appreciate any feedback and so let’s jump right into the next episode of Healing from Emotional Abuse.


Hello, and welcome back to the Healing From Emotional Abuse Podcast. My name is Marissa f Cohen. I’m your host, and today I wanted to give you kind of a, a more special episode. It’s a little bit more personal. Um, so last year on January 15th was the 15th anniversary of my sexual assault. My first, um, with my first boyfriend.


And I interviewed on that day a survivor who was on the podcast, Emma. And. After I got off with her, I was kind of feeling my feelings. It was the 15 year anniversary, and so I just kind of started. I recorded myself just kind of talking and reflecting. I haven’t listened to it in a year. My goal was to post it last year, and then I just.


I don’t know. I just couldn’t do it. So, um, what I’m gonna do this year is listen to it when I was deep in my feelings and, uh, completely unscripted, unplanned, and reflect on that reflection and kind of give you an insight of where I am now. One year post. That, but also 16 years post my own experience. Um, and having had several years of research and.


Working with survivors and doing what I do every day. So this is going to be an interesting ride, unscripted, just kind of giving you my feedback on my feedback very inception. But let’s, let’s kind of jump right in and today is January 15th, 2025. Um. As you’ve probably heard, I also, uh, recorded another episode with a guest, um, a little bit earlier today where I mentioned that today is the 15 year anniversary of my sexual assault that kind of spiraled my life into where I am today.


For better or for worse. And so I kind of wanted to do like a 15 year reflection because I didn’t realize it had been 15 years, um, until I mentioned it, until I looked at the date when I was talking to Emma. Uh, the, my, my. Episode guest that’s a hundred percent real. I completely blanked on what day it was, and I know that January 15th is the anniversary of the date, and every year I try and do something special on that day.


But last year, I guess I was so distracted I didn’t realize. And then we were recording the podcast and I had that realization was like, oh shit, I can’t believe that It didn’t, like it didn’t land. It very weird how brains work, and it kind of got me thinking, I went downstairs to make myself lunch. Um, because as soon as I kind realized that it, it sent me into a bit of my feelings.


Not necessarily in a bad way. I mean, of course. What happened to me was awful, and it did change the trajectory of my life in many ways. Again, for positive or for worse. So this is kind of just like the unscripted ramblings of me right now, reflecting on the last 15 years and how my life has been forever changed by the actions of truly like a piece of shit.


Um, a person who. Could not have cared less about me, my needs, my health, and my safety, and was exclusively interested in overpowering and controlling me. Um, and he showed that in a lot of different ways. This was one experience of many from him, specifically him. I’ve had other awful experiences as well.


Um. But yeah, this was, this is one anniversary of one horrible thing he did. There were a million red flags that led up to this point. You know, keeping me a secret was a big red flag. And then embarrassing me in front of people later was a big red flag. And I mean, he did a lot of things to keep me down, to control me.


He was very abusive before we got to this point, um, one of the things that we learn as. People who work with survivors, you know, and people who’ve gone through it, is that it’s abuse is like a staircase, you know, it’s, it’s just constantly pushing new boundaries. So they start out small, something minuscule.


They call you a name, or they make a comment, or they say something like a little demeaning and see what your reaction is. And if you don’t stop it right there, then that’s a boundary they’ve pushed. Now they’re gonna go up to the next step. And do something a little bit worse, and then push that boundary and then a little worse, and then a little worse and a little worse until you finally get to what is, you know.


Big explosions and violence, whether it’s physical violence, emotional, and verbal violence, sexual violence. And so that’s what happened here is there was a lot of controlling behaviors I didn’t track, I didn’t notice, I didn’t even know were problematic until. It was way too late. And so this was, you know, January 15th was kind of the culmination of several months of growing abuse, growing red flags, and a lot of actions to be controlling and, you know, overpowering and abusive.


Um, and he did obviously for a, for a good bit of time and, um, so yeah, it’s weird to think about. As a survivor, what life would have been had that not happened? Um, obviously choices were made on both sides, mine and his, that got me where I am today. Um, but reflecting on my choices, I originally wasn’t even interested in him.


And the reason that I. Went on my first date with him was truly out of spite because another person accused me of breaking up with him for my abuser. And so just to kind of spite him, when my abuser did ask me on a date, I said yes. Although again, I wasn’t interested. His personality and my personality just didn’t really mesh.


Um, and that kind of set me up. Because now I was determined to prove something, so I had a little bit of motive, but I’m not, I’m not really here to blame myself, right? You know, I, I didn’t ask for what happened. I didn’t deserve what happened, and I’m certainly not like grateful for what happened. But I am very grateful for what.


The outcome of it all was, I wanna clarify something because like I said a year ago, I’m not particularly grateful for what happened, but I am incredibly grateful for the community that it created for me, for the learning experiences, for the life that came out of it. Um. I feel strongly that everything happens for a reason, even when it’s horrendous and you eventually learn what that reason is, right?


And so here, I think I’m kind of working it out in my head, um, and trying to be really cautious about what I’m saying because I don’t wanna say anything that’s offensive or controversial or, or wrong or even could be triggering. Um, but I am very grateful. For the life that came out of this, the lessons I learned, the person I became.


I mean, if you met me before my abuse and then you met me, now I am a completely different human being. And even if you met me four days after, right on January 19th, I was a completely different person in all three of these situations and I, I feel strongly that. There’s a lot of growth that comes from this kind of trauma if you don’t let it define you.


Um, which is not something that we really talk too much about, right? We talk about being a victim and, and surviving and that fight, flight, freeze fawn or toxic immobility. Um, we talk about, you know, where we are right after we leave, but we don’t really talk about 10, 15 years down the line. The choices that you make to either grow through it and become a stronger person, or, you know, take those lessons and implement them into your life, or people that kind of just live in that grief and in that, that despair and that depression, and people who live in that abuse the outcome of your life.


Can be completely different based on how you respond. Um, I felt. Almost immediately that I needed to do something to make my life better, make better choices. Um, I still got into other terrible relationships, right? One of the things that I say a lot is that my superpower in college was finding every toxic guy on my campus and dating them, and that’s because it was accurate.


They all wore different masks, they all had different red flags. They all had different behavior patterns, and we never talked about this stuff. But through all of those experiences, I actively wanted to help other people, not. Fall for the same crap and the same games and the same garbage that I did.


Right? And so that for me for the last 16 years has been a huge motivator. I’ll give myself a little leeway for like the last 14, 15 years has, has been a huge motivator for me, and I know a lot of survivors that feel that way. One of my dearest friends. Also a survivor. And she started a nonprofit teaching specifically women who experienced abuse and sexual trauma, how to grow physically strong.


And she put together a whole program about it, about building muscle and building confidence. And there are thousands of people, probably more probably tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of of people who’ve experienced this stuff, who have taken what has happened to them, and. And channeled that energy into creating a new community or a stronger community.


So it really, it depends on how you, how you look at your trauma that really relives or that really, um, defines what happens to you later, if that makes sense. Um, I feel like it gave me a purpose. It gave me a direction and something to focus my time and energy on that I actually had passion for. So if you had known me freshly 19 or younger, um, I was, I was pretty shy and I was trying to branch myself out because I was sick of being the shy person, the person that just didn’t like put myself in.


Challenging situations. I cut there, I think I lost my train of thought. Either that or I just didn’t really know where I was going with it, so I took a second to, to reflect, uh, and kind of got back to it. And when I say challenging, I don’t mean challenging, like difficult. I mean challenging, like growth opportunity moments.


I didn’t, I never, even though I always wanted to. I never went out for student government or positions of leadership outside of theater programs. I didn’t really branch out in terms of like joining clubs or making friends or, you know, doing things that were terribly out of my comfort zone doing things.


I moved a lot. So not to say I was like maladjusted in any way. Um, but from, I, I went to three different middle schools in two different states. You know, I, I moved a lot, so by the time I got to high school, I kind of had given up on making friends and getting involved because I had already moved so much.


Um, so when I got to college, I made a conscious decision to go back to who I had. Previously been where I was very outgoing and very involved and really, really, um, you know, like big on leadership and big on making a difference. And you know, my mom always called me her little activist. I was always involved and I was always writing petitions and rallying and trying to do good.


Right? And so. I lost that part of me because we moved so much and it was a huge hit on my confidence. But, um, when I got to college, I made a conscious decision. In the first week, I wanna join clubs, I wanna be in leadership positions. I wanna grow, I wanna make new friends. I wanna have a very different experience than I had previously had.


Um, in my high school, I was really very much like a stay in my lane, rule follower, goodie, two shoes type of person. And so


it’s just interesting because I decided that I wanted to be different, that I wanted to change really who I was and be more outgoing and be. In positions of leadership, and this isn’t really terribly relevant, it’s just kind of a backstory. I think I’m just kind of going through it right now. Um. But yeah, I think the point here is, uh, I intentionally wanted to put myself out of my comfort zone, which put me at a disadvantage to people who were, uh, more forceful or, um, it kind of targeted me for people who were looking for that control and that power because.


I wasn’t operating at a hundred percent power, a hundred percent confidence. I was really in an uncomfortable position and I was looking to grow. So I think that’s really the point of all of this. So I apologize for the ramble and learn those skills and grow as a person and kind of like change the trajectory of where my life seemed to be going at that time.


And by doing that. I thought I was building confidence and strength, but what I was doing was I put myself in a vulnerable position to be taken advantage of. That’s not my fault. Again, I’m gonna stop right there. Nothing that happened to me was my fault. And I think I probably go into that here, uh, in just a minute.


But being in a vulnerable po being in a vulnerable position, putting myself in a position to grow where I was, of where I was a vulnerable target does not justify the actions of other people. I wanna clarify. Um, he made a choice. Actually all of the people involved in my experiences of abuse at that time, and there were a few, um, they all made decisions to hurt someone to overpower and control someone, to make someone feel less than.


Um, I was the receiver of all of that. Uh, and so nothing that happened was my fault. Nothing that happens to us in this regard is our fault. Somebody else made a choice to hurt me. Somebody else made a choice to impact me. They received zero consequence, and this changed my whole life, right? So if this is something that’s relatable to you, no matter what the position is, no matter what you did, whether it was a growth opportunity or not.


You did not deserve what happened to you. You did not have it coming. It is not your fault, right? They made a choice to hurt us. We did not make a choice here. So I just wanna be very, very firm and clarify that because nothing I did put me in a position to deserve what I received. And it the same goes for any listener who has had an experience like this.


You did not do anything wrong. This was not your fault. Somebody else made a choice and you carry the burden. Now again, I am not blaming myself for what happened to me. He is fully responsible and fully to blame. It’s just interesting because now 15 years later, and even, I mean even less, only a. A very short few years after what happened to me, um, specifically on this day, 15 years ago when he sexually assaulted me.


When he raped me. Um, I’m like a completely different human. I am fiercely loyal to myself and to the people I love in terms of like. Advocating, right. I advocate for myself. I set boundaries. I stand up for myself, fearlessly, and I’m generally not worried about somebody coming and taking advantage of me.


Um, my mom told me the other day that I’m intimidating, which to be honest, I kind of wear that as a badge of honor, and I don’t think she meant it to be rude. But nobody could say that about 18, 19-year-old Marissa. I am firm with my boundaries. Um, which is not something I was when I was younger. I was way more go with the flow.


Kind of like people pleaser, oh my God, a hundred percent. Very polite, very quiet. You know that people always say like, don’t mistake my kindness for weakness. Well, my kindness wasn’t weakness, but my weakness was weakness. And um, and so I think that played a into a lot of it. I basically was just a target.


And I think through this journey, through my incredible, volatile, tumultuous roller coaster of. Of 15 years. I love who I am way more now than I probably did when I was in high school, but I mean, who really loves themselves in high school? You know, I was just gonna say the exact same thing. I was not put in a position in high school to feel confident.


Um, so, uh, that sounds really bad. I was not put in a, an environment that, um, I. That empowered people to feel confident, and that’s a whole different story for a different day. But that’s another type of abuse. I was being abused and bullied and harassed by my teachers and my classmates in high school, which played into my lack of confidence and then also played into me wanting to branch out, um, when I got to college.


Right? So there’s a lot of motivating factors here, but. Had I continued on in that direction, I don’t think I would be the strong, bold, outspoken, fearless person I am today. And so for that, I’m grateful. I also learned, because I’ve had such incredible opportunities to talk to work with, collaborate and partner with.


Incredible survivors from around the world and get to know their stories and get to know their patterns and their behaviors and their aftermath. Um, because I’ve had all of these opportunities, I’ve learned so, so much about what survivors go through what out, what, what aftermath and reactions of mine are very normal, even though no one had talked about it before.


That’s an interesting point. So before I had started doing this work and talking to other survivors and really learning about what abuse truly does to us, um, I felt like maybe I was crazy. I was always second guessing myself and doubting myself. I felt like I needed to be defensive all the time and I was always defending myself.


And that got me into a lot of arguments and. Precarious situations with people who were not attacking me, but I always felt like I needed to be on the defensive, um, or justify myself. And even when people weren’t being attacky or anything like that, I just always felt like I needed to justify everything because that’s what my.


Ex-boyfriend put me in a position to have to do all the time. Anytime I would talk to another person or like a guy or hang out with one of my guy friends, I’d have to justify it. I’d have to defend myself. So that came from my abuse. Um, I mean, many other things. I definitely developed depression and anxiety.


Um, I, you know, had suicidal thoughts. Um, I used to keep a box cutter in my jewelry box, and I would, you know. Uh, self-harm sometimes. Um, not quite to the extent that I think, you know, a lot of people do. Um, I also gained a ton of weight and was really, really stressed out all the time. And so my body started to change.


Uh, I mean, it really made a horrible impact on, on my life and my health and my reactions and my interactions, you know, but those are things that we don’t really talk about. And so I felt very alone, you know? And, um, it wasn’t until I started talking to other people. I remember a conversation I had with a girl from my first book, and she was saying how, you know, she, after she was sexually assaulted, she was way less.


Um, she was, how do I put this kindly? She was way less concerned with the quality of person she was sleeping with, um, or even like the people she was sleeping with because in her mind she figured they’re gonna take it anyways. So if I say no, they’re gonna do it anyways. So I may as well just say yes.


Right. I may as well do it. And so she. As a control mechanism for herself, said yes to a lot of people she would not have slept with out of fear, like fear and, and safety and self preservation, right? That need for control. I definitely have control issues with a lot of things in my life. Um, I need to have my hands on everything, right?


I need to always be involved in, in things that concern me. Um. And, and my safety in my house and my life because I’ve had control taken away from me. So there are a lot of things that happen after abuse that we don’t really talk about, and I would not have known were normal or common had I not had these conversations.


And so I think that’s a big part of learning is. Learning and growing as a community is understanding that it’s not just, you don’t just get hurt or abused or assaulted, and then like a little bit later it kind of just goes away. Or, you know, these are very, very normal biological and neurological responses.


So, so having conversations and being really open to share, but also to receive information helps us grow and understand ourselves quite a bit. About different patterns of behaviors, red flags, yellow flags of perpetrators of abuse and assault that no one really talked about because no one talked to each other about this stuff.


So it’s really an interesting perspective that I have as a survivor myself, and also having had worked with people and talked to thousands of people. Around the world about their individual stories and also to groups of people about situations and learning from them and their experiences. I feel like I have a really, really unique perspective, and I have the world’s best education in this because I’m not learning it from a textbook.


I’m learning it from the people who survived it, who experienced it and came out on the other side for better or for worse. And I am so, so grateful to everyone who feels comfortable sharing, whether it’s in the comments of these videos or with me after a speaking event, or via email or on social media, or any time.


I am so grateful. To the people who feel comfortable and safe with me to share what they experienced with me with others. The more we talk about this and the louder we get, the less room perpetrators will have to hide. Does that make sense? If we out them and we talk about what we’ve experienced and we are really firm in supporting our community.


There will be more accountability for people who are doing horrible things and less room for them to get away with it. Um, on average only about nine, and I only have the statistics for male perpetrators, but I understand that anyone can be a perpetrator, whether it’s female, non-binary, you know. Anyone, anyone can be a perpetrator, right?


Um, but the statistics we have are, are primarily male perpetrators. So I apologize for being a little one-sided here, but about 9% of males in the United States are perpetrators of sexual assault. And of that 9%, which is not a small number, um. Relative to how many people we have in the United States, uh, of that, about 86% of those people will sexually assault, uh, six or more people, right?


Because they keep getting away with it and they keep, you know, skirting through it. There’s no accountability, there’s no consequence. There’s no nothing, right? So the more we talk about it, the more we say their names, the more we out them, the more we collectively as a community make this a big deal. The less likely they are to get away with it over and over and over and over again.


So thank you for coming to my head Ted talk. You know. No, but, but honestly, you know, the more we talk about this stuff and the more we communicate with each other and the more we share our stories and speak out and be firm in who we are, you know, the quieter they get right, we’re we are downplaying their ability to continue to hurt people.


And so I guess to kind of wrap this up, ’cause I don’t really think I’m saying anything profound. I think I’m just kind of like in my feelings, reminding myself of how grateful and, and I don’t love to use the word blessed, but like what an incredible opportunity I’ve had. I’m so grateful. For the opportunities.


Yeah. Are they okay? Okay. I’m just grateful that life has taken me down this path and that I have something I get to wake up every day and be really proud and excited to be a part of, to work on. And in this community of survivors, I think one of the most important things is recognizing that if we all band together, the numbers are in our favor.


So if instead of taking what happened to you to define you and hold you down, to use it to motivate and empower you to speak up, speak out, make changes locally or statewide or nationally or internationally. If all of us were to band together and write a piece of legislation that makes, that forces our legal system to be survivor focused, we would have way more of a say and way more positive outcomes for people who do report.


Um, then perpetrators would have power. Um. There’s power in numbers, and so one of my ultimate goals in life is to either write or influence legislation that makes the legal system more survivor centered instead of more perpetrator centered. Right? The, the burden of proof should be on the perpetrator to prove they didn’t do it.


I still believe that. I don’t know how we’d go about doing that. So if there’s any lawyers or prosecutors or anyone who’s proficient in legislation, maybe a Congress person who. You are connected with, or if you are one, uh, listening, I would love for you to reach out to me and we can coordinate and see how we can make the legal system more geared towards supporting survivors as opposed to digging up their past and disproving what they’re saying based on.


You know, a perpetrator’s words, um, only you know, one to 8% of, uh, accusations of sexual assault are false accusations are lies. It’s a very small percentage, and the discrepancy is different demographics. So that means that 92 to 99% of accusations are true. But we really like to focus on like the. The 2% or like the 8% that are, that are false.


And then we ship that off in the media and make it like a whole big stink. And it makes survivors of actual abuse and assault quiet. It silences us. It makes us less believable. Right. And I, I hope that things have been changing since the Me Too movement, but I truly have not seen so much change, um, in terms of how.


We look at when people disclose. Um, so I would love to have a conversation, maybe, uh, have a conversation on the podcast about what we can do to change the way our system works to be more survivor positive. Um, because if you want another really gross statistic, only about 2% of perpetrators of people who are ISTs, um, spend a night in jail.


They’re not convicted on anything. Nothing. Right? 2%. That’s, that’s an insignificant number. That’s not nearly enough to make this feel like I, like, I’m comfortable enough to go to law enforcement to, to make a report. Right. We need to create a society where people feel safe and comfortable coming forward because they know they’re gonna be supported.


And it’s not gonna take an average of four years of me re-victimizing myself over and over and over again to get to trial to probably lose. And have to face my abuser, like the whole system is set up against us and so that needs to change. Um, reach out to me. My email for the podcast is Healing From Emotional Abuse pod@gmail.com.


It’s in the show notes and the description. So send me an email. I would love to coordinate with you. Uh, I think that that would be a really interesting conversation and we could probably get something really big going because that’s not fair. Of course there’s very little proof. This is an emotional issue and when it happens, we’re not thinking logically, we’re not thinking after it happens, oh, I have to go to get a sane exam.


Um, ’cause I really want someone to stick things up my hoo-ha and take a million pictures of me while I’m feeling the dirtiest and emptiest I’ve ever felt in my life. Pictures of me. I am so sorry if that was triggering in any way. I was, I was starting to get a little heated here, so I apologize. That’s not fair.


It’s not even like, it’s not even logically correct, but because the legal system, the laws have been written by rapists and by perpetrators, the burden of proof is on us. And in my 15 years, I think unanimously across the board, the one thing I’ve heard more than anything is that the legal system’s not in our favor and that that is what needs to change.


There are a million micro steps that need to happen before we do that, but I think what I wanna do is put together some sort of task force or I don’t know. I have no idea, but I wanna put something together that allows all of us to contribute to ideas about legislation we’d want changed, to protect ourselves, to protect our kids, to protect our loved ones and our family members and friends, and whomever else has, or inevitably will experience this stuff.


I 2025 is, is the time that we need to be stepping up eight years ago. During the Me Too movement,


things started to change and it’s been eight years and they’re not changing fast enough. Right? Our culture and our conversations are finally changing after eight years. I think now is when we have to stand up, especially you, gen Z. I’m talking to you, gen Z because y’all are the movers and shakers, right?


Millennials, we set the foundation for you. Now you move and shake, and I’m happy to lead that charge and give direction or participate in the charge, but. I think it’s time that we take the legal system back from being perpetrator focused to survivor focused, and from perpetrator defense defending, you know, to survivor defending.


Because if we want a healthy, safe society where people are held accountable for their actions, it is on us to do that. The people in charge are not gonna do that. The people who. Right now are, the lawmakers are not gonna do that because they’re old fogies. They like comfort and consistency. And to be honest, they’ve probably been getting away with bad stuff for a really long time.


So, um, if this is something you’re interested in participating in, um, send me an email at. Me, me@marissafayecohen.com or healing promotional abuse pod@gmail.com. It’s me m me at Marissa, M-A-R-I-S-S-A, Faye, FAYE, Cohen, COHE n.com. And we’ll just start brainstorming a way to, to take all of this, you know, these, this, this.


Energy and this motivation and putting it to good use to make dramatic, incredible changes for our community. Um, happy January 15th to everybody. I’m going to eat a bowl of pasta and ruminate on the incredible life that I have in spite of my abusers. My rapists and the people in my life who have tried to control and overpower me.


So thank you so much and I hope you live with confidence, freedom, and peace of mind.


Thank you for going on that journey with me. Um. Obviously there were times there were, it was not, it was not planned. It was just a rant. Um, and there were times where I definitely got a little unhinged. And so I, I appreciate you kind of sitting through that with me. Um, everything I said, I still, I still stand by.


We do need to make changes. We need to talk to survivors more. We need to believe survivors more. Um. You know, now in 2026 we’re, we’re in the world of the Epstein files and everything that’s happening with that. And you know, it’s still unfathomable to me that with everything happening with that and the hundreds of survivors that have come forward, no one’s talking to them.


Nobody’s asking them. We’re all questioning everything else. And, uh, you know, I. Their testimony and their experience isn’t enough to prosecute, but there are hundreds of them saying the same thing. So we need to talk to survivors. We need to believe their stories, we need to listen. And that should be a, that should be enough.


Um. But anyways, I’m just gonna go on another tangent. I wanna sincerely thank you for supporting me, uh, on this journey, supporting the Healing from emotional abuse podcast tuning in every week, subscribing at, you know, whatever, whatever streaming service you, you listen to podcasts on. Um, it means a lot to me.


To have such a supportive community and to be able to make an impact like this. So, um, if you are interested in coming on this podcast, I am taking guests for 2026 still, uh, to interview, to talk about your story or if you have a topic you wanna talk about, um, in relation to relationships, whether they’re healthy or toxic, abuse, anything like that, your voice should be heard.


And this is a platform. That I have, that I can use to help bring up other people, right? And to encourage other people. And you don’t know what your story will do to help support others. So I’m very, very grateful for everyone who comes on the podcast, everyone who listens to the podcast, everyone who sends me emails and is supportive, um, and really anyone in the community who’s.


Who’s using their, their voice to support others. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Um, thank you for tuning in on this special. Sort of anniversary, uh, episode of Healing from Emotional Abuse. Um, like I said before, if you have any questions, concerns, wanna come on the podcast, do you wanna tell a story? You want me to read a story of yours?


Anything like that you. Email it to me at Healing from Emotional Abuse Pod PO d@gmail.com. Thank you so much for tuning in, and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day and live with confidence, self-esteem because you deserve it.


Thank you so much for joining us on this empowering episode of Healing From Emotional Abuse. We hope you found inspiration and valuable insights to support your journey towards healing and growth. We want to express our deepest, heartfelt gratitude to all of our incredible guests who have continued to bravely share their stories.


As well as to our devoted listeners who have supported us on this remarkable adventure, your unwavering commitment to breaking the silence and healing from emotional abuse, surrounding abuse and sexual assault, and promoting a world free from violence. Is truly commendable. We would also like to remind you that in addition to the podcast, we offer personalized one-on-one and group coaching services to support your healing journey.


Our compassionate and experienced coaches are here to provide guidance, tools and a safe space for you to explore your path towards empowerment and wellbeing. Visit our website at www dot. Coaching with marissa.com. That’s www dot coaching C-O-A-C-H-I-N-G, with WITH Marissa, M-A-R-I-S-S a.com To learn more and book a coaching session.


Remember, you are not alone in this journey. Reach out to support networks. Seek professional help and always remember your worth and strength. Only about 7% of survivors seek resources. We need to up that number healing is possible and together we can break the chains of abuse. And build a brighter future.


We invite you to stay connected with us on social media to continue the conversation and receive updates on future episodes, resources and community events. Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and ask Marissa at www.marissafaycohen.com. That’s www dot. Marissa, M-A-R-I-S-S-A, Fay, FAYE Cohen, COHE n.com. Thank you once again for being a part of our community.


And remember, your story matters. Let’s continue to uplift, inspire, and empower one another. This concludes another transformative episode of healing from emotional Abuse. Until next time, I’m your host Marissa f Cohen, and together we can live free, confident, and peaceful lives after abuse and assault.