At 18, Johanna moved in with a man who lied about his age. Three months later the abuse started, and it didn't stop for nine years. When she finally learned he was a registered sex offender, all she could ask herself was, "How did I not see the signs?" Today she's five years sober, back in both her kids' lives, and in college to become a therapist.

On Ep. 5 of Scars and All, Frank sits down with Johanna, who's like a sister to him, to talk about how meth became her escape from the pain, the night she thought she wouldn't survive, and giving birth in the back of an ambulance to a 1-pound son she didn't know she was carrying. "I walked out of the hospital empty-handed."

Two years later, she left the hospital without her newborn daughter too. Facing 15 to life on 18 felonies, she dropped to her knees in a county cell and thought about her kids: "I don't want them growing up feeling how I felt." That's where things started to change. Five years later: "My worst day today doesn't compare to my best day out there."

Her message if you’re struggling in silence: reach out. “If I was able to get out of it, so can you.”

Next time: Frank sits down with next guest. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

No scripts. No polish. Just the truth, scars and all. New episodes every week.

LISTEN ON

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1eKjFPdr0AKda13q6C6NBs?si=4e6da63ed0584224

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scars-and-all/id6812943875

Website: https://scarsnall.com

FOLLOW SCARS AND ALL

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarsandallpod/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scarsandallpod

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BE A GUEST
Have a story worth telling? Email inquiries@scarsnall.com or visit https://scarsnall.com/contact

ABOUT THE SHOW
We all have scars. Some people hide them well, others don’t, but no one is exempt. Scars and All is a recovery podcast about the struggle behind the finished product, told honestly. Host Frank Wills sits down with people in recovery, families who’ve supported a loved one through it, doctors, nurses, clinicians, and everyone in between who have failed, sometimes more than once, and found the courage to try again. No filters. No muting. Just the real story behind the struggle, the pain, and the comeback. New episodes every week.

IF YOU NEED HELP NOW
This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, pregnancy loss, and incarceration.
Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 (free, confidential, 24/7)
This podcast shares personal experience and is not medical or clinical advice.

#ScarsAndAll #Recovery #Sobriety #WomenInRecovery #JohannaHernandez

Three years ago, Frank found Harold Greenawald cold, blue, and unresponsive, and brought him back with Narcan and CPR. Today Harold is three years sober and works for Frank as a detox technician.

Frank sits down with Harold, a former resident who was “a pain in the ass for quite some time,” to talk about growing up in small-town Hamburg, Pennsylvania, as the son of a narcotics detective, losing his newborn son, and the night in New Jersey he watched an older couple shoot up with a dull needle and thought, “I was a varsity athlete with a great family.”

The next morning he connected to a library hotspot and reached out for help. It took a move to LA, a drug-induced psychosis that left a sober living covered in blood, and one more overdose before it stuck: “This proved to me that drugs aren’t working anymore.”

If you’re struggling in silence, Harold’s advice is simple: “Just give it a try.” All it really takes is reaching out to somebody.

Next time:

Frank sits down with a good friend of his who went from prison to program director and is now in college to become an LMFT. Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

No scripts. No polish. Just the truth, scars and all. New episodes every week.

LISTEN ON

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1eKjFPdr0AKda13q6C6NBs?si=4e6da63ed0584224

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/scars-and-all/id6812943875

Website: https://scarsnall.com

FOLLOW SCARS AND ALL

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarsandallpod/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scarsandallpod

X: https://x.com/Scarsandallpod


BE A GUEST
Have a story worth telling? Email inquiries@scarsnall.com or visit https://scarsnall.com/contact

ABOUT THE SHOW
We all have scars. Some people hide them well, others don’t, but no one is exempt. Scars and All is a recovery podcast about the struggle behind the finished product, told honestly. Host Frank Wills sits down with people in recovery, families who’ve supported a loved one through it, doctors, nurses, clinicians, and everyone in between who have failed, sometimes more than once, and found the courage to try again. No filters. No muting. Just the real story behind the struggle, the pain, and the comeback. New episodes every week.

IF YOU NEED HELP NOW
This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, pregnancy loss, and incarceration.
Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)
SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788
RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 (free, confidential, 24/7)
This podcast shares personal experience and is not medical or clinical advice.

Leilana Palacios was nine when her family left her alone in an empty house. She spent the next three decades in foster homes, county jail, and prison. Today she’s 23 years sober, and Frank calls her Mom.

Frank sits down with Leilana, one of the people who never gave up on him, to talk about being born a twin in the bathroom of a bar on Maui, growing up in the system as “the throwaway child,” and the phone call to prison when her daughter told her, “Why don’t you just come home and be grandma? Because we all know it’s way too late for you to come home and be mom.”

Months before her release, she sat up all night with an ounce of meth, then gave it away. The next morning, August 6, 2003, became her sobriety date.

If you’re struggling in silence, Leilana’s message is simple: there is help, and you’re not alone. Reach out.

Next time:

From Pennsylvania to California with one goal.

Frank sits down with Harold Greenawald to hear his story of recovery and where it led him.

Subscribe so you don’t miss it.

No scripts. No polish. Just the truth, scars and all. New episodes every week.

LISTEN ON

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/31rgk2k5ra4wvpnkysh3zux3jhl4

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyD2_1PwuEZVmikjYy4hk3Q

Website: https://scarsnall.com

FOLLOW SCARS AND ALL

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scarsandallpod/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scarsandallpod

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61586408706261

X: https://x.com/Scarsandallpod

BE A GUEST

Have a story worth telling? Email inquiries@scarsnall.com or visit https://scarsnall.com/contact/

ABOUT THE SHOW

We all have scars. Some people hide them well, others don’t, but no one is exempt. Scars and All is a recovery podcast about the struggle behind the finished product, told honestly. Host Frank Wills sits down with people in recovery, families who’ve supported a loved one through it, doctors, nurses, clinicians, and everyone in between who have failed, sometimes more than once, and found the courage to try again. No filters. No muting. Just the real story behind the struggle, the pain, and the comeback. New episodes every week.

IF YOU NEED HELP NOW

This episode includes discussion of childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, pregnancy loss, and incarceration.

Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline)

SAMHSA National Helpline: 1-800-662-4357 (free, confidential, 24/7)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788

RAINN National Sexual Assault Hotline: 1-800-656-4673 (free, confidential, 24/7)

This podcast shares personal experience and is not medical or clinical advice.

#ScarsAndAll #Recovery #Sobriety #LongTermRecovery #LeilanaPalacios