Healing After Homicide - Resilience & Relationships - Stephanie Olson, Dylan Yeomans, & Jan CantyHealing After Homicide - Resilience & Relationships - Stephanie Olson, Dylan Yeomans, & Jan Canty
Resilience in Life and Leadership
Dr Jan Canty shares her experience as a homicide survivor, from media intrusion and betrayal to rebuilding a full life over decades. The conversation looks at resilience, community support and the realities of trauma beyond the headlines.
51:46•1 Jul 2026
Healing After Homicide: Jan Canty on Resilience, Reality and Life Beyond Trauma
Episode Overview
- Resilience is possible even after homicide, and many survivors rebuild meaningful, connected lives over time.
- Friends can help most by listening, offering practical support, and acting as a buffer with media rather than trying to cheer someone out of grief.
- True-crime entertainment often ignores the harm done to real families; centring survivors’ experiences changes how these stories are viewed.
- Post-traumatic growth can emerge years later, as people gain perspective, new strengths and a clearer sense of what truly matters.
- Trauma should be understood as life-altering injury, not a casual term for everyday distress or breakups.
“They’ve taken my husband, my finances, my sleep, my privacy. That’s all they get. From here on out, it’s about me and building my life back.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey, trauma, and everything that comes with it? This conversation with psychologist and homicide survivor Dr Jan Canty takes you far beyond headlines and true-crime drama, straight into the long haul of living after unthinkable loss. Hosted by Stephanie Olson with co-host Dylan Yeomans, the episode focuses on resilience after homicide, the messy reality of grief, and the quiet strength it takes to rebuild.
Jan shares how her husband’s murder in 1985, the media circus that followed, and the shocking discovery of his double life shattered her world and forced her to start over in every way. She talks honestly about years of silence, leaving Detroit, changing careers, and slowly piecing together a life she actually wanted. One of her most striking lines sums up her stance: “They’ve taken my husband, my finances, my sleep, my privacy. That’s all they get.
From here on out, it’s about me and building my life back.” You’ll hear her explain why she prefers the term “post-trauma injury”, why the word “trauma” shouldn’t be thrown around lightly, and how post-traumatic growth can show up decades later. She shares practical ideas for friends and communities too: from acting as a media buffer, to checking if someone has eaten or slept, to supporting policies like Marcy’s Law that strengthen victims’ rights.
There’s also a powerful challenge to true-crime culture, cheap murder merch, and “murder mystery” entertainment that forgets real families are left behind. Jan highlights the importance of connection with fellow survivors, talks about her previous podcast on homicide aftermath, and mentions a national conference she’s helping to organise for homicide survivors.
If you’ve ever felt defined by trauma, or love someone who has, this conversation might help you ask a different question: what if this is one chapter, but not the whole story?
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