EmpressAddi Podcast

Episode 1 Title: The Return to Voice: Speaking Life After Silence

Category: Healing | Personal Growth | Liberation Writing

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“There comes a time—after the silence, after the storm—when we come back for our truth.”

This line from the debut episode of The Empress Addi Podcast sits at the heart of something so many of us are rediscovering: our voice. Not just the sound, but the power, the clarity, the identity embedded in our speaking.

I (Addi) know the long, quiet path of emotional abuse. Of being spoken over, threatened, manipulated. For years, I wasn’t allowed to leave the house alone. I was gaslit into questioning my reality. I had to rehearse silence just to survive.

But silence, over time, becomes a cage.

The Realities of Emotional Abuse

While physical abuse leaves visible scars, emotional abuse is insidious—quiet and corrosive. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), 48.4% of women and 48.8% of men have experienced at least one psychologically aggressive behavior by an intimate partner.

For Black women and immigrant women, these numbers are likely higher, though often underreported due to cultural stigma and systemic neglect.

Signs of emotional abuse include:

• Gaslighting and manipulation
  
• Threats and intimidation
  
• Isolation from family or support networks
  
• Constant criticism or degradation
  
• Control of finances, movement, or access to work
  

Reclaiming Voice as a Path to Liberation

Voice is not volume. Voice is sovereignty. It’s the sacred act of naming your truth out loud. After surviving abuse, speaking your story—first to yourself, then to others—is a revolutionary act.

Here are a few practices that supported me in reclaiming my voice:

• Voice Journaling: Write your truth without editing. Let your words be raw.
  
• Mirror Speaking: Say your truth aloud to yourself in the mirror. Eye contact matters.
  
• Community Witnessing: Share with someone safe. Let your truth be held, not judged.
  

Reflection Prompt:

“What truth have I been swallowing to make others more comfortable?”

Start with this. It’s okay if the answer takes days—or years—to emerge. Your truth is never too late.

Resources & Further Reading

• National Domestic Violence Hotline
  
• “The Body Keeps the Score” by Bessel van der Kolk – on how trauma lives in the body
  
• “Women Who Run With the Wolves” by Clarissa Pinkola Estés – on reclaiming the wild woman archetype
  

You Are Not Alone

If this post resonated with you, go listen to Episode 1: The Return to Voice of The Empress Addi Podcast. I speak more about my own journey and the ways we can all begin to remember our sound.

🖤 Continue to visit me at www.addicasseus.com for tools, writings, and spiritual support.

Together, we are finding our voices again. And this time, we’re not giving them back.

#TheReturnToVoice #EmpressUncensored #SurvivorSovereignty