Shownotes
This powerful conclusion tracks Mickey’s path through Drug Treatment Court, relapse, jail sanctions, a high-risk pregnancy, and the moment surrender became a choice. She names the difference between treating symptoms and healing trauma. She walks us into a courtroom that tried to rip her apart and a justice system that finally listened. We talk recovery structure, community, grief, and the audacity to “make a way” when the world will not.
- Accountability without shame and why relapse is data
- How a sponsor, routine, and daily calls created safety
- Grief, mobility loss, surgery, and healing in a traumatized body
- Trial, conviction, and the limits of Bermuda’s sex offender list
- Founding Empower Me Bermuda to end silence through community
- Choosing self-respect, work with purpose, and a future on her terms
🎙️ What We Talk About:
- Drug Treatment Court, phases, sanctions, and why trauma needs addressing not just abstinence
- The physiology of craving and what surrender looked like day to day
- Building a recovery rhythm: 7 a.m. calls, Just For Today readings, action lists
- Loving someone in recovery and parenting with transparency
- Grief as a milestone in sobriety and keeping promises to the dying
- Trial realities in Bermuda, mistrial, retrial, and an 18-year sentence
- Advocacy: pushing for offender visibility, policy change, and survivor-centered support
- Creating Empower Me Bermuda and choosing meaningful work in treatment services
🔑 Key Takeaways:
“Relapse didn’t erase my progress. It revealed what still needed love.”
“Surrender was not defeat. It was structure, phone calls, and one honest day at a time.”
“Silence kept me sick. Truth got me free and it protects the next girl.”
“If the door will not open, make a way for yourself.”
🙌 Why This Episode Matters:
Recovery is not linear. Courts are not healing. Bodies keep score. Mickey’s story shows how structure, community, and fierce self-respect can carry you through the middle that most people never talk about. If you have ever felt punished for surviving or unseen by systems that should protect you, this conversation offers language, strategy, and fire.
💬 Connect with Mickey:
Mickey Parfitt Smith — Survivor, advocate, founder of Empower Me Bermuda.
Website: empowermebda.com
🔗 Resources & Links:
