Adriene Caldwell joins The Phantom Electric Ghost Podcast to talk about survival, trauma, and finding purpose in pain. Author of Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines, Adriene opens up about her years in abusive foster care, the loss of safety in childhood, and the courage it took to tell her story.

In this conversation, she shares how revisiting her CPS case files inspired her to write her memoir, how the foster care system failed her and so many others, and why she believes her story should be used to train future therapists and social workers.

Adriene also speaks about her healing journey — addiction recovery, motherhood, forgiveness, and learning to rebuild trust — all while working toward systemic change for children in care.

Get the free prologue + chapter one (while it’s still available) at UnbrokenCaldwell.com

Chapters 0:00 – Introduction and Motivation

2:01 – Adriene Introduces Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines 3:01 – Why She Decided to Write the Book

6:12 – Finding Help and Collaborators in Writing

8:20 – Abuse in Foster Care and Nightmares That Remain

9:17 – Systemic Failures and Foster Care Statistics

15:06 – The Foster Mother’s Abuse and Emotional Damage 22:16 – Escaping Through a Scholarship to Germany

27:24 – College, Addiction, and Survival

33:13 – Attachment Disorders and Trust Struggles

38:55 – Motherhood and Sobriety

45:12 – Lessons on Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Resilience 58:03 – Purpose, Advocacy, and Closing Reflections

⚠️ Trigger warnings: discussion of childhood abuse, sexual assault, foster care trauma, addiction, and suicide. Shared for education, awareness, and healing.

To hear more from Phantom Electric Ghost, please visit https://open.spotify.com/show/7L6YyXfnnwW8LwPGQwte8X

Thank you for listening.