Breaking Cycles of Abuse and Trauma, with Lindsey Smith

Finding God in Our Pain

Bullet Points:
*Impact of Trauma: Lindsey details the profound effects of her childhood trauma on her mental health, relationships, and self-worth. She describes how these experiences led to severe anxiety, depression, and feelings of shame, impacting her ability to form healthy relationships.
*Healing Process: Lindsey explains how she sought various forms of therapy and self-help without success until she found healing through a relationship with Jesus. Her faith journey involved overcoming misconceptions about God and slowly understanding His true nature.
*Forgiveness and Generational Curses: Lindsey discusses the importance of forgiveness in her healing process, including forgiving her father and ex-husband. She also highlights the role of breaking generational curses and soul ties as part of her spiritual and emotional recovery.
*God's Redemption: Lindsey emphasizes the transformative power of God's love and redemption, stating that God can heal any trauma and restore what has been lost. She encourages others to trust in God's plan and His ability to bring good out of even the most painful experiences.

Podcast Intro:
Lindsey Smith is my guest today and I admire her courage to talk about the darkest experiences of trauma in her life; some of which include sexual abuse, marital abuse and the various ways it impacted her mental health and self-worth.

Side Note: I want to pause for just a moment before I jump back into this intro because I want to point out how important it is that once we have healed we share our story of God turning our pain into purpose….right before Lindsey and I get together for this recording for her to share her testimony of healing and restoration despite the evil of this life, she gets a call that gives her some very disturbing news. This happens …I’d say with 1 out of every 15 of my guests; something unforeseen and certainly the timing is unexpected that an obstacle to our recording or a type of derailment presents itself and we have the decision to make, do we stop, do we delay or cancel our conversation. To me, it was obvious that the enemy wanted to break Lindsey’s focus, silence her voice, cause her to cancel our conversation. But the enemy did not win. We prayed and asked Holy Spirit to intervene and bring peace to her heart and mind so that the goodness of God could be proclaimed. We went from the prayer right into the recording and maybe it was just me but I could hear it in her voice as Holy Spirit began to bring her into a place of calm.

Lindsey’s courage to share her story reveals her passion to let people know the importance of God’s role in her healing process, saying that it was through a gradual and gentle reintroduction to faith that she began to understand and accept God’s love and salvation.

Every single one of us are created in God’s image, but we’re born into a sinful world. Lindsey, born in God’s perfect image entered into a generational curse that plagued her family which included sexual abuse and a lack of respect for the women in the family. Since no one before had stood in authority to break the curse Lindsey bore the effects that resulted in a very unstable and fearful mental state of mind. Fear crippled her ability to live her life, cultivate healthy relationships and make confident decisions. The expected result of these influences resulted in an abusive marriage for 18 years.

We talk about the significance of breaking generational curses and soul ties as part of her spiritual healing and how God's guidance was crucial in orchestrating her recovery. Lindsey also discusses her journey through various forms of therapy, and her eventual realization that only through Jesus could she find true healing and freedom from shame.

Lindsey's message is clear: despite the severity of her traumas, God's grace can transform and redeem, turning even the darkest experiences into sources of strength and hope.

Listen in and be encouraged today! God’s heart for healing and restoration breaks the grip of the enemy’s plans over your life.

Lived Loved and Thrive! @alifeofthrive.com

Connect with Lindsey:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/lindseymary_smith/

Bio:
Lindsey Smith is Spiritual Coach for women specializing in anxiety and trauma. In her decades long pursuit of relief from the effects of childhood trauma she trained in many modalities to facilitate her own healing while also developing a deep desire to help other women. Her path ultimately brought her back to the Heavenly Father and Jesus where she experienced deep healing of long-time wounds and restoration of her wholeness as a Holy Daughter. It is her greatest desire to help free women from the bondage and suffering that results from trauma and abuse so they can reclaim their birthright of peace, love, joy and abundance. As a coach she helps women find a place of safety within themselves by building a relationship with God. Guided by God and the Holy Spirit, she assists them in finding healing and liberation from anxiety and the consequences of complex trauma such as shame, depression, hopelessness, toxic relationships and chronic pain.

Related Podcast Topics:
Kimberly Bell - Taking Responsibility for Your Healing: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/12/07/taking-responsibility-for-your-healing-with-kimberly-bell/
Amy Nordhues - Sexual Abuse at the Hands of a Mental Health Professional: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/03/16/amy-nordhues-sexual-abuse-by-a-mental-health-professional/
Tina Ivey - From Survive to Thrive, Overcoming Sexual Abuse: https://alifeofthrive.com/2024/01/03/from-survive-to-thrive-overcoming-sexual-abuse-with-tina-ivey/
Dr. Kelli Palfy - Healing for Male Sexual Abuse Survivors: https://alifeofthrive.com/2022/03/30/male-sexual-abuse/