he was seven years old the first time her uncle called it a game. Twenty years later her own father skipped town on New Year's Day and left her a letter blaming her for it.

This week, Mac and Phil sit down with Sofia Moreno, survivor turned author and founder of a nonprofit supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

🚨 What happened when Sofia's mother walked in on the abuse firsthand, and the local police response that amounted to nothing but a piece of paper

👨‍👩‍👧 How her father's side of the family closed ranks around her abuser while blaming a seven year old for "dressing promiscuously"

🎭 The Jekyll and Hyde covert narcissist playbook her father ran for years, beloved by everyone outside the house and a completely different man behind closed doors

💸 The secret second mortgage, the drained accounts, and the affairs her father tried to pin on her mother instead

📺 The Dear John letter waiting on top of the television the day he disappeared, and who he blamed for making him leave

⚰️ Finding out her grandmother's memorial had happened without her, and the email that finally severed the relationship for good

📚 How Sofia turned decades of trauma into two published books, a nonprofit, and a biweekly support group for survivors still finding their words

This one goes to some of the darkest places the show has covered and still lands somewhere hopeful, proof that the story doesn't have to end where the abuse did.

⚖️ Disclaimer (because our lawyers make us say this): Dimming The Gaslight is based entirely on true events — except for the stuff we totally made up. Names, locations, and other identifying details have been changed. If you think we're talking about you in this podcast… newsflash: you're the narcissist.

Check out Sofia's books, "I Am a Survivor" and "A Message to My Abuser" (available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble)