Thriving Adoptees - Let's Thrive

Are you a transracial/transnational adoptee with a complex relationship to your birth country/culture? Listen in as Zhen shares what she's learned navigating that complexity. Highly empowering. Zhen E Rammelsberg is a Korean American adoptee and new playwright and has had her Heuer Play Canst Thou Hearest Thee Now produced and performed in multiple states. She has traveled to a few of these states...

Do you fear rejection? Many of us are on high alert scanning what other people do and say for signs of potential rejection. We're desperate to avoid big feelings like rejection. And yet we have to feel to heal. Listen in as adoptee and mental health therapist Lisa shares her learnings about finding herself by feeling the big feelings. Here's more about Lisa from her website. Education  · B.S. in A...

Do you ever feel uncomfortable? AJ grew up in a very toxic environment that left her grieving the loss of what her life might have looked like if she hadn't been adopted. She was very uncomfortable at home and outside was rarely better. She captured her experience in a poem "Alone in the crowd" which she reads to us. Listen in as she shares how she eventually got to feel comfortable in her own ski...

Are you stuck with beliefs that stop you from loving you? That make you feel less than? Beliefs that keep you small? Listen in as Terri shares her insights on becoming unstuck from these beliefs and setting her free to realise her potential. Here's more about Terri from her Amazon profile Terri always knew she was adopted, but it was never a topic of conversation, ever. She was in her forties when...

Do you suspect your beliefs may be holding you back? Are you sure that you're getting in your own way? Listen in as Jean shares how our beliefs form, how we get wise to them and, most importantly, how we bust them.  An incredibly thought provoking episode. Here's a bit about Jean from her website: Jean Provance graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in visual arts and psychology and then moved forwa...

Are looking for love from others because you don't love yourself? Shame can drive us to do that. And in some cases we take that to extremes. Yi’s love addiction spiralled until she became acutely aware of it and joined a 12 Step programme to overcome it. Listen in to see how loveable you are. Woo Ae Yi, formerly Ame Ai, is a screenwriter, playwright, author, poet, lyricist, and unofficial anthropo...

Our relationships are fundamental to our happiness. And attachments are fundamental to our relationships. So how can we have healthier attachments? And avoid toxic attachments? Adoptee and mental health counselor Emelia shares what she's learned personally and professionally. Emelia Thygesen is a licensed Mental Health Counselor. She received her Masters degree in community mental health at Canisi...

Are you frustrated on your healing journey? How can you heal faster? Listen with big ears as Isaac goes deep to share his ongoing insights on healing to speed you along your healing journey.  A very vulnerable, inspirational episode. Isaac Etter is a social entrepreneur. Isaac was transracially adopted at the age of two.  He is the founder of  Identity a startup focused on using technology to help...

Many of us feel there's something missing from us. Perhaps a hole only our birth mother can fill. Or something else that will make us whole. We've felt this so long we ache for completeness. So what do we do? Where do we look? How will we go from having a hole to feeling whole? Listen in as adoptee and coach Candi answers some of our most existential questions. Here's a link to the image Candi men...

Does rejection haunt you? Feeling you were rejected as an infant is one thing. Being rejected as an adult takes rejection to a whole new level and can lead us adoptees to very dark places. That's why some of us shy away from search and reunion. But what if we can heal from rejection as an adult? How does that healing happen? Listen in as Reenie takes a deep dive into healing after reunion breaks d...

At some level, often unconscious, many of us believe that a good reunion will make us whole again. But that reunion might not even happen. And even if it does, we haven't got a clue how well it will go.  So where's the hope given all the unknowns? How best should we navigate the process? Adoptee Heather shares her what she's learned from her own reunion and coaching fellow adoptees on their own jo...

Trauma can keep us mired. Or help us grow. So how do we make sure it helps us grow? So we harness it to live our best lives? Listen in as Maya dives deep on her hard won insights on going beyond the pain. Maya Fleischmann is a freelance writer and the author of Finding Ching Ha and If You Give a Mum a Minute . Her book reviews are published in book industry trade journals, such as Publishers Weekl...

Ruptured attachment with our birth mothers often weakens our sense of self. So what do we do? Jo shares her top insights as a psychotherapist who's worked with 14,000 clients. Here's a bit about Jo from her website: I have been a practicing psychotherapist for thirty years with a focus on mental health and wellbeing and supporting adoptive families and adults affected by adoption.   I am a Senior...

Many of us share the belief that there's something wrong with us. What would happen if we were to focus on what's right with us? Wouldn't that help us heal, grow and thrive? Yes! Because what we focus on gets bigger - like magnifying glasses enlarge objects. Listen in as transracial adoptee and counsellor Lynn goes deep on seeing ourselves differently. Here's more about Lynn from her website: "I u...

Do you want to grow? Listen in as transracial adoptees Cosette and Zoe share what helped - and continues to help them - grow so they can overcome adversity and challenges. Here's more about today's guests from their website: My name is Cosette Eisenhauer. I am a 21-year-old transracial adoptee from Guangdong, China. I am going into my senior year at the University of Texas in Arlington. I am study...

Do you long to belong? To feel loved and loveable? Late discovery adoptee Nancy didn't find out she was adopted until she was 37. She was devastated. She was haunted by a feeling of loss. And yet there was a part of her that she never lost. A part where she felt she belonged, loved and loveable. Listen in and she takes you to that healing place. Deep and profound. Touching and powerful. Find out m...

How can you get a stronger sense of your own identity? Whether it's a full blown identity crisis or a vague lack of clarity on who we are, most of us struggle to see who we are at some stage of our lives. Transracial adoptees are, unsurprisingly, particularly conflicted. Listen in as Shelley shares how she's developed a stronger sense of self. Let her insights guide you to clarity. Here's a link t...

How do we become more than our trauma? Through the epiphanies that help us see, understand and heal. Adoptee and psychotherapist Cristina goes deep on what she's learned to help you heal too. Here's more about Cristina from her website: I am a licensed clinical social worker with over ten years of experience in the field of mental health.  I have worked with various populations including children,...

Many of us feel that we've lost our identity. How do we get it back? Listen in a Rod shares how he as constructed and reconstructed his identity to live life on his own terms. A profoundly different and empowering take on being an adoptees. Here's more about Roderick. Roderick Edwards (aka RoderickE) is a multi-genre author of over 25 books on topics as wide ranging as an autobiography of his bein...

How do we process trauma so it no longer hurts so much so often? For many of us this a lifetime's journey. Adoptee from South Korea Shelby shares 35 years of ups, downs and insights. Listen in for your own insights to processing your own trauma. Shelby Redfield Kilgore is an adoptee from South Korea and has dedicated this channel to all things foster care and adoption. In between freelance work as...

Want a smoother reunion? Reunion is often an emotional rollercoaster and we can get thrown off the ride. How do we get back on again? Yvonne  placed her son for adoption in 1973 and reunited with him in 2018. She shares a lifetime's personal experience. She also goes deep on expectations and shares what she has learned talking with thousands of birth moms and adoptees.  This episode is all about h...

Do you wish your healing was faster? Did your world fall apart when you came out of the fog? Are you wondering what comes now you're consciously aware of your trauma? Listen in as Becca shares how she came out of the fog after tragedy and what's helping her heal. An incredibly vulnerable and empowering episode. Becca was born in 1975, adopted at 2 years old and lives in Seattle. Here's a link to t...

If your truth has been shattered this episode is one for you. Jack opens up about how we get through the challenges life throws at us adoptees. Jack has a gift for clarity and distills neuroscience from his college days in a way that we can all understand healing. He changed my take on trauma. Listen in and see if he does the same for you. Jack Rocco is one of the more than two million babies born...

Feeling like a victim of circumstances - poor little me - is totally normal for us. But we don't want to feel like that. So how do stop feeling that way? Listen in as poet Jill and I explore how we get a clearer sense of ourselves. When I spoke with Jill before we did the recording I knew we'd be in for a big and empowering conversation. Jill really delivered. Enjoy. Jill Uchiyama (Skufakiss) was...

Our feeling of loss somehow turns into the belief that there's something wrong with us. It's central to our lives. But what if it's not true? Join adoptee and therapist Joanne as we bust this belief and explore how to improve reunions. Here's a bit about Joanne from her website: As a trauma and sex therapist, my work in this field is highly influenced by my education, training, and research in att...