Episode #41 - Katey - (Pt 1/2)

Dr. Lois Lee reconnects with Katey, who came to Children of the Night as a teenager after surviving family abuse, exploitation by a gang who first posed as protectors, and a psychiatric hospitalization where her trauma response was labeled ""promiscuity"" instead of understood as a symptom of what she'd survived.

In this episode:

• Katey's life today: 13 years as a CNA, raising five children, and her goal of getting her administrator certification to run a nursing home her own way
• Being arrested at 15 and hospitalized — and the diagnosis she was given that had nothing to do with what actually happened to her
• What happened at home before she left: a chaotic, abusive household, a mother in active addiction, and being molested for the first time at age 8 — with no one to turn to afterward
• Being taken in by men who first offered safety, then exploited her for nine months
• Arriving at Children of the Night: her first plane ride, her first taste of stability, school, outings, and a roommate she still keeps in touch with
• How the calm, curious parenting style she learned in the program — "why are you feeling this way, how can I help" instead of punishment — became the way she now parents her own five kids
• Children of the Night's alumni scholarship program, now being expanded into a permanent endowment for alumni and their children

Part 2 coming soon — subscribe so you don't miss it.

Content note: This episode discusses child sexual abuse, family violence, and exploitation. Listener discretion advised.

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