Child Abuse Investigator Turned Pain Into Purpose: Health Challenges for Her From Trauma and Recovery

 

West Palm Beach, Fl - For more than two decades, Brandy Krueg worked on the front lines of child protection in California. As a Child Abuse Investigator, she handled some of the most disturbing cases of abuse and neglect imaginable. Her role required stepping into unsafe environments, listening to painful disclosures, and making life-altering decisions for vulnerable children.

You can find her podcast appearances and free educational content through The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast website, also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most major podcast platforms.

For years, she believed the emotional toll was simply part of the job.

Eventually, it caught up with her.

When Trauma Surfaces

In the final year of her investigative career, Brandy was diagnosed with PTSD. The diagnosis did not come from one single incident, but from years of cumulative exposure to trauma.

“I was trained to protect children, not myself,” Brandy has said. “I believed strength meant pushing through everything. I didn’t realize how much I was carrying until my body and mind finally said, ‘Enough.’”

Her experience highlights an often-overlooked reality: trauma does not end when a workday ends. For many frontline professionals, it builds quietly over time, impacting mental, emotional, and physical health.

The health challenges for her from trauma and recovery became impossible to ignore.

The Cases That Changed Everything

Throughout her career, Brandy investigated countless cases. Two, in particular, had a lasting impact on her mental health. One of those cases escalated into a homicide.

“When a case ends in murder, it doesn’t just close,” she explains. “You replay every decision and every moment, wondering if something could have changed the outcome.”

These experiences left invisible injuries, ones that do not appear in reports or performance reviews, but deeply affect those who carry them. Her story reflects the reality faced by many investigators, first responders, and healthcare workers whose trauma is often minimized or dismissed.

A Career Shift Toward Healing

Following her PTSD diagnosis, Brandy made a significant career change. She became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and now practices as a therapist in California, specializing in trauma recovery for frontline professionals and their families.

“Healing didn’t mean walking away from my past,” she says. “It meant understanding it and using it to help others.”

Brandy currently serves as an in-house therapist with the Stockton Police Department, where she supports officers dealing with critical incidents, addiction, cumulative stress, and career-related trauma. She is certified in First Responder Counseling, Critical Incident Stress Management (CCISM), and EMDR, providing evidence-based care tailored to high-risk professions.

Trauma Before the Badge

Brandy’s professional work is deeply connected to her personal history. Raised by a teenage mother struggling with bipolar disorder and addiction, her childhood was marked by instability, emotional neglect, and repeated abuse by trusted family friends.

“I didn’t just investigate abuse,” Brandy writes. “I understood it.”

These early experiences shaped her empathy and later became the foundation for her memoir, Turning Pain Into Purpose.

Turning Pain Into Purpose

In Turning Pain Into Purpose, Brandy shares her journey from a traumatic childhood, through a career immersed in abuse investigations, and into a life focused on healing and advocacy. The book addresses grief, loss, addiction, and resilience, offering an honest look at the long-term effects of trauma.

“Trauma may shape us,” she writes, “but it does not get to define us.”

Her story has been widely shared across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, and featured in interviews with news outlets and The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and other major platforms.

Advocacy and Education

Through Krueg Therapy Services, Brandy provides trauma counseling, wellness training, leadership coaching, and educational programs for frontline workers and supervisors. She also works as a Trauma Social Worker in a Level 2 trauma emergency room and as an Emergency Response Social Worker with Sacramento County Children’s Protective Services.

Her approach emphasizes recovery, work-life balance, and sustainable resilience.

“We can’t keep asking people to run into fires without teaching them how to recover from the burns,” Brandy says.

A Message of Hope

Turning Pain Into Purpose is more than a memoir. It is a message for survivors of abuse, professionals carrying trauma in silence, and anyone searching for meaning after hardship.

Brandy Krueg’s story shows that while trauma leaves scars, healing is possible. Through awareness, support, and purpose, pain can become a powerful force for change.

You can find Brandy’s podcast appearances and free educational content through The Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast, also on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and most major podcast platforms.

Attributions

Amazon

Brandy Krueg



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