Healing The Mother-Daughter Relationship and Surviving Trauma with Jeannie Mai Jenkins

<p>*Trigger Warning* This episode contains extensive conversation about sexual abuse. </p> <p> </p> <p>After two long weeks we (you and I) are finally back together, and I’m not going to spoil it, but we have an unnnnnreeeallll season coming your way…</p> <p> </p> <p>Our guest this week is Jeannie Mai Jenkins, who you probably recognize from her eight seasons on <em>The Real, Dancing with the Stars,</em> or her new show <em>Holey Moley!</em></p> <p> </p> <p>This episode is extremely special because of how honest Jeannie was, and I know there is so much shared healing that will happen as a result of her openness. </p> <p> </p> <p>To give you a little background: when Jeannie was nine years old, a family member that would frequently babysit her and her siblings began to sexually abuse her. The abuse lasted for years and ultimately, when Jeannie mustered up the courage to tell her mom what this man was doing to her, her mom doubted Jeannie’s described experience. </p> <p> </p> <p>This interaction caused an eight-year-long rift between Jeannie, and her mom and they didn’t reconcile until years later. In an extremely raw and ground-breaking <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAU_3WRnvkY">episode of Jeannie’s YouTube show Hello Hunnay</a>, Jeannie invited her mom on the show to discuss, for what would be her first time in front of a camera, what had happened between them. The healing that happened in that episode was nothing short of inspiring, and something that I think all mothers and daughters should watch. </p> <p> </p> <p>Jeannie and I talked about breaking traumatic chains and how to avoid passing your traumatic past on to a new generation. We discussed the difficult and complex task of healing mother daughter relationships, with or without going to therapy, how to know if you’re people-pleasing and how to stop it, depression and anxiety both pre- and post-partum, and the truth about how her traumatic childhood memories still affect her today.  </p> <p> </p> <p>Jeannie is remarkable, and I swe