"I will not become what I witnessed."
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What happens when childhood trauma shapes the stories we tell ourselves? In this episode of Something Shifted, True Crime South Africa host Nicole Engelbrecht reflects on how growing up with violence, addiction, and instability forged her survival strategies, and how those strategies later reshaped her identity.
Nicole’s journey includes midnight moves, silent family secrets, raising a child while still in high school, and forging her own path at seventeen. For years, she believed resilience was her defining strength. But a small moment - a passing explanation on a psychology podcast - sparked a lifequake that reframed everything she thought she knew about survival.
This story explores how childhood trauma can fracture identity and shape resilience, how hidden survival strategies help children endure instability, and why healing means integrating the past rather than erasing it.
Nicole shows how personal transformation can emerge from the darkest stories, and how resilience is more than endurance; it is the courage to heal and grow.
👉 Listen now at somethingshifted.co.za
Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio
Nicole’s journey includes midnight moves, silent family secrets, raising a child while still in high school, and forging her own path at seventeen. For years, she believed resilience was her defining strength. But a small moment - a passing explanation on a psychology podcast - sparked a lifequake that reframed everything she thought she knew about survival.
This story explores how childhood trauma can fracture identity and shape resilience, how hidden survival strategies help children endure instability, and why healing means integrating the past rather than erasing it.
Nicole shows how personal transformation can emerge from the darkest stories, and how resilience is more than endurance; it is the courage to heal and grow.
👉 Listen now at somethingshifted.co.za
Recorded at Latitude Podcast Studio
Chapters
- 00:00 Introduction – Identity After Interruption
- 02:32 Why Nicole Chose True Crime
- 04:18 Growing Up in a Chaotic Home
- 10:37 The Life No One Saw at School
- 14:19 The Podcast That Changed How Nicole Saw Herself
- 21:09 Learning to Rebuild Trust and Relationships
- 32:03 Integrating the Past
