Mind Body Medicine for Self Healers · Sarah Dawkins - Root Cause Healing and Natural Holistic Health Coach

From Combat Boots to Service Dogs: A Veteran's Journey Through MST and PTSD with Simone Swartz #165

·32 min·2 clips

Simone says she was assaulted by a fellow soldier, then punished for being late to the barracks.

Sarah Dawkins opens by framing sexual assault as widespread and by introducing Simone Swartz as an Army veteran, author, public speaker, and PTSD expert. Simone says the story begins after she enlisted, during advanced individual training, when she was raped and violently assaulted by a fellow soldier. She connects that experience to the secrecy and misogyny around rape that made it harder to speak or heal. The conversation stays grounded in the reality of PTSD rather than treating it as an abstract diagnosis. Simone and Sarah talk about how trauma can affect far more people than the public usually sees, and Simone says PTSD is treatable after trauma. Alcohol and drugs come up as the coping tools that can suppress flashbacks and emotion for a while. The episode does not romanticize that pattern. Instead it treats it as understandable, temporary relief that can still keep pain in place. Sarah notes how socially normal it is to meet at the bar while it still feels hard to admit a mental health struggle. Simone agrees that the culture around drinking needs to shift and that people should check in on each other more directly. Movement becomes the next turn in the story. Simone says she returned to exercise, something she knew from the military, and that it became one of her new positive addictions. The episode keeps returning to replacement, not just removal. Simone argues that if someone cuts out a harmful crutch, they need something positive in its place or they may slide backward. Her service-dog nonprofit enters the conversation as a concrete example of that recovery mindset. Simone founded Service Dog Strong, which was among the first nonprofits to give sexual assault survivors diagnosed with PTSD service dogs. Sarah also asks about Simone's writing. The episode points listeners to Simone's book and workbook on PTSD recovery and to her website and social pages for more information. The closing is warm and direct. Sarah thanks Simone for sharing her healing and asks listeners to share the podcast and leave a review.

As heard by us

A steady conversation about PTSD, coping, and the supports that help recovery hold.

Sarah Dawkins talks with Army veteran, author, and PTSD expert Simone Swartz about a rape during military training, the secrecy around sexual violence, and the long tail of PTSD.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want a veteran's PTSD story about what helped her recover.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from Mind Body Medicine for Self Healers