Thriving Adoptees - Let's Thrive

Bob Saul was born in Chicago, IL and grew up in the Chicago area and later moved to Colorado. A graduate of Colorado College and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, he completed pediatric training at Duke University Medical Center and genetic training at the Greenwood Genetic Center. He is Professor of Pediatrics (Emeritus) at Prisma Health Children’s Hospital-Upstate and the University...

Shame is toxic. So how do we let it go? Laura shares some of her story and insights to help us heal through an understanding of what birth mothers go through. It's an incredibly powerful episode. Listen with big ears. Savour it and feel the love. Here's a bit about Laura and her book from her website: My book is about Laura, a woman who lived her life with her secrets finds her greatest secret une...

Trauma is scary. Of course we adoptees have been through trauma and experience it when triggered. So we desperately want it gone. We want to be FROM trauma. But what we focus on gets bigger and what we resist persists. What if we could be free WITH it? Listen in as we explore this... Here's links I mention Bullying https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBsDhBu7eUY&t Healing my primal wound https://www.y...

Do you compare yourself to others? Then beat yourself up for doing it? Would you like to forgive yourself for that or being angry? Would you like to love yourself more? And see your true self? Listen in as transracial/international adoptee Amanda shares what she's learning about what really matters to us adoptees. Here's the videos I mention in the interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_AaeY...

Usually it's us adoptees that doing the searching for our birth mothers and fathers. But what if they find us? That's what happened to today's guest. Christine's biological mother found her! Listen as she unpacks the tricky emotions and events that followed to finally find some peace.  Christine Murphy lives in Saratoga Springs, New York with her husband and three children. She works as a Speech L...

We all want to love and accept ourselves. But how can we do that when we don't know who we are? What else gets in the way of us loving ourselves? Listen in as Diane explore the truth of who we are, what comes after the fog and much more in this empowering episode. Here's more about Diane from her website: Diane Bay has had a lifelong, unquenchable creative drive. It wasn’t until she entered her fi...

This episode is a bit different and experimental. Listening back to it, I'm a little hesitant and fumbling. I start by reading a poem about my diamond and we talk about self worth. Kay is far more together and clear. I hope you get something from this. Kay wanted to be anonymous to protect herself and others. Here's a link to the webinar replay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnz7I7V_IOQ Here's a...

Thriving can seem impossible given our trauma. So how DO we thrive? Maline and I dive into freeing ourselves up, re-configuring our brains and letting new ideas in. We talk about lightening up on ourselves to progress along the healing curve. Here's a bit about Maline from her website: "I am an adoptee who through lived experience has been able to better understand the thoughts of adoptees young a...

Considering searching? Scared of rejection? Confused about the next step? Adoptee and Genetic Genealogist Gerri shares what she's learned riding her own emotional rollercoaster and helping 300 other adoptees do the same. It's insightful, powerful and empowering. Geraldine Berger, known as " The Genetic Genealogy Coach ," is a professional genetic genealogist and author, specializing in helping adu...

Empathy helps us understand the important others in our lives - like our adoptive parents as well as people who may not be in our lives such as our birth mothers. Understanding them brings more peace for us as well as oiling our relationships. Listen in as we dive deep on how we can up our empathy game. Here's a bit about Danielle from her website: My name is Danielle and I am an Earth Citizen 🙂...

Many adoptees - myself included - delay the search for our birth mothers for fear of rejection. We don't believe we could handle it. We are still feeling the aftershocks of the initial rejection. Lori shares what she's learned about surviving rejection, underestimating our emotional resilience and ability to bounce back. We both loved this deep and profound conversation and hope you do too. Here's...

Oleg became an orphan at 9. But he's NOT a prisoner of the past. How has re-written his story to serve him? What has he learned that helps him thrive. Empowering and inspirational. Listen in with BIG ears. Here's Oleg's story from his website: I was nine years old when I became an orphan, but before I was an orphan, I grew up in a small, cold, and empty apartment in Russia with my older Sister, an...

Transracial adoptee Matthew shares how he's found clarity and resolved confusion about who he is to find peace. There are insights aplenty on shame, feeling different and a host of other issues that can plague transracial adoptees. Here's the book I mention https://www.amazon.com/Power-vs-Force-Dr-David-R-Hawkins-audiobook/dp/B000KZRMCO MATTHEW SALESSES is the author of eight books, including The...

Nicole pledged to herself that she'd search for her birth mother at the tender age of 4. Now in 60's she has been in reunion for over half her life. Like many of us she felt torn -  lost in 'the space between'. She shares how she's found herself to feel comfortable in her own skin. Listen up for your own insights on navigating reunion and feeling comfortable in your own skin. Here's a bit about Ni...

Listen in as Melissa shares what she's learned after coming out of the fog and finding her true, authentic self. We go deep on higher self-esteem, spotting gaslighting and more. Profound and surprising. There's more to fog than adoption.... Melissa is an adoptee and the host of Mind Your Own Karma-The Adoption Chronicles Podcast. She is passionate about educating the world about adoption after dis...

This episode is all about one of the most dramatic turnarounds we've ever heard on the podcast. Lorah used to think that God hated her. That she was a demon. That her soul was shattered. Reunion shook her to the core. So what changed? Listen into her profound shifts. Let them catalyse shifts in you. Here's a link to the Rupert Spira video on trauma I mentioned https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7xz2...

Kirsten never wanted to be stuck. So how did she become unstuck from her trauma? So she could heal, grow and move forward. How did she keep going when it got really scary and would have been easier to turn back. Listen in to a very powerful and empowering episode. Here's a bit about Kirsten  and her book from her website:  I was born and immediately relinquished for adoption in Pennsylvania in 197...

Feeling like an outsider. So many of us felt like that growing up. And that feeling has stayed with us into adulthood. Listen in as Leah shares her journey to feeling at home. Fitting in. Comfortable in her own skin. It's NOT a straight or straightforward. But there's insights aplenty. Listen in for your own. This episode is a real catalyst. Here's a link to Leah's interview with Haley https://www...

Shame is incredibly toxic. Birth mothers suffer, adoptees suffer. Listen in as we go deep into shame from birth mother Patricia's perspective. Some things lead us to change our mind, others lead to a change of heart. Others - like moving beyond shame -change our world. Listen in to one of our most profound episodes yet.  Here's a link to the Primal Wound video I talk about https://www.youtube.com/...

Listen on as Alice shares how she found the patience and persistence on her quest to find and meet her birth mother. There are bags of insights, realisations, twists and turns. Buckle up for a rollercoaster of a ride. Here is a link to the publication Alice mentions https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b2nqk1B6XrYH1qRez_tryDW34Yv0qSmd/view?usp=sharing Here is a link to her profile and research https:/...

Wisdom is a lot quieter than the negative voice in our heads. Listen in as Terrie and I explore finding truth and peace in that quieter place. From there's no need to try to numb or dismiss our painful feelings of loss, grief, shame and insecurity. There's no need to protect ourselves any more. A truly beautiful and healing conversation. Terrie Novak is an adoptee and privileged to a rare abundanc...

How can the anguish of losing our birth mothers become the belief that we are not good enough? Join Vin and me as we explore the origins and growth of adoptees' shame. The better we understand this, more time we spend exploring it, the more likely to see through it to a more positive view of ourselves. This is a fundamental shift in our perspective. Such shifts change lives. Listen in for your own...

Julia Brewer Daily is a Texan with a southern accent. She has a B.S. in English and a M.S. degree in Education from the University of Southern Mississippi. She has been an educator, Communications Adjunct Professor at Belhaven College, administrator, and Public Relations Director of the Mississippi Department of Education and Millsaps College, a liberal arts college in Jackson, MS.  She was the fo...

This episode is a break from the norm as we go into what Karen has learned hosting adoptive parents in Ukraine and interviewing 63 adoptive families back home in the USA. We go deep on integrating biological and adoptive families from overseas and revealing the treasure in what Karen calls "the brokenness and beauty of adoption". A Pacific Northwest native, Karen Springs lived in Kyiv, Ukraine for...

There's nothing more upsetting than seeing your child upset. Adopted kids can be more sensitive and easily upset. I'm adopted and bullies often made my young life a misery back in the 70's. Listen in as adoptee, birth mom and teacher Amanda and I explore how we can stop bullies upsetting your kids. Check out the book Amanda wrote with her mother at: https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Ann-Angel/dp/098020...