From prison to PhD: Phenix City woman shares inspirational testimony

“When I look at that girl then she was broken, when I look at myself today, I’m certainly unbroken.”

Broken from a life that Carrie Player-Sexton didn’t set out for.

“I am a survivor of childhood physical and sexual abuse; I chose addiction as a way to deal with my abuse as a child and I couldn’t tell you if it was to not feel, or if was anger. It was a mix of both.”

The addiction leading her to a life of crime.

“Ending up in prison and spending 3 years there.”

But it was prison that saved her.

“I know it was the Lord that put me there, and I was saved November 27, 2008.”

In prison she earned her GED. Once released she was inspired to help others suffering from addiction earning her bachelor’s and post graduate degrees in psychology.

As a substance abuse counselor, Sexton had a plan to get her license, with the goal of opening the unbroken clinic, offering counseling services to people in the Chattahoochee Valley. But her criminal past created a roadblock.

“Being denied through the ethics board because of my past all these years and education was heartbreaking.”

In 2019, Sexton wrote the State of Alabama hoping to get a pardon. Thankfully, Sexton received her pardon, and the unbroken clinic is set to open in 2023. She calls it from prison to PhD..

Proving that anyone, with faith and determination can turn it all around.

“When it’s about Jesus Christ and proving yourself through the lord, you can change.”

Sexton spoke with our Dee Armstrong in studio on her testimony. She is a wife and mother who not only credits god but says learning to forgive was a power gift she finally accepted.