Claiming Your Voice

Polly is a professional flutist and  is also a private flute instructor. Growing up with a musical father provided an encouraging environment to learn the accordion, piano, and flute. Her desire was to be a performance major and has earned a  Masters  from the Eastman school of music. Take a listen to a light hearted conversation about Polly's beginning interest in music that took h...

Jay was adopted at the age of 8 months old to a family in Minnesota. As a young adult he was incarcerated where he was able to further his education in psychology. Jay also found a connection to God and faith and now works in prison ministry. Listener warning: suicide ideation topic is mentioned

Sherrie was born in prison to a teen mom. She was placed into foster care at age two. At age nine, her mom wanted her back, but it was not a fairytale reunion. Sherrie suffered being molested by a family member and was placed into 47 different foster homes. Please listen as she shares her story of hope and her faith in God. 

TJ is a Korean born adoptee who resides on the East Coast of the US. She came to the US at age three and remembers her father's ice cream shop in Ithaca, NY. Later when she moved to another state she experienced being made fun of because of the shape of her face and dealt with sadness and loneliness as a junior high student. TJ also had to deal with the feelings of reabandonment when her mother le...

Listener discretion: The topic of assault occurs in this conversation.  TruGuy is an ambassador of the heart, a poet, and a musician. He was born to parents who were blind. At six years old he experienenced a traumatic assault. Despite these traumatic experiences, Tru has been a seeker of the truth and is a healer through his poetry and music. 

Emma Stevens is the author of The Gathering Place. In this interview she discusses her book and the impacts of adoption.

Brett is a first generation queer transfer student who now works in student services in higher education. He is an advocate for all students who are on their pathway in higher education. He also wants to helps students and staff broaden their understanding of the queeer community through inclusivity and advocacy via displayed artifacts in workspaces. 

In this episode I visited with Dr. Patrick Dupont, who teaches courses in health professions. We talked about our journey through the doctoral process at ACU, career transitioning as mature individuals, and the desire to help students.

Kristen is an adoptee who grew up in the same town as members of her biological family. She never knew the truth until she was 18 years old. On the date of this interview she celebrated 92 days of sobriety. 

Jessica was adopted at birth to her forever mom.  When she became and adult she began a search for her biological family. What she found out was not a happy ever after ending to her search. She believes that God used her in an amazing way to help take care of her birth mother. Jessica says that she has found the diamonds of life amid the pain of her birth search. 

Keith grew up in a big Italian family in New York. It wasn't until his early 30's that he found out that he had been adopted and it had been kept a secret from him. He then went on a journey to find his biological family. 

In this episode I talk with guests Joe Soll and Mark Miner about adoption. The opinions expressed in this episode are those of the individuals.

Matthew is an Amerasian Korean Adoptee who was adopted at age seven. He grew up in New Hampshire, joined the military and served in two wars. In 2018 Matthew found his father through DNA testing. After the experience of identity confusion as a child, he can now proudly say that he has paternal roots in Kentucky.

Ryan Anderson was adopted as an infant from Morocco and grew up in Scotland.  He shares his story how he used addiction to deal with feelings of shame. Now he is on a mission to help others by telling his message of hope to live life through conection and support. Disclaimer: topic of addiction and suicide.

In this episode of Claiming Your Voice my guest Judy Wong talks about how people can plan for living life not just retirement. Judy is on a mission to help people over 60 to raise their foundation of life! Judy Wong can be contacted through these links: Link to my Giveaway: A Free 30 minute Deep Dive Session with Judy https://calendly.com/livingoutloudaintoveryet/30-minute-raising-your-light-of-li...

As an infant, Joe Soll was trafficked into the adoption system. He grew up to be a psychotherapist and author of ten books. He facilitates a free nightly chat where participants can work on healing adoption related trauma. Joe wrote Adoption Healing...A Path to Revcovery to help adoptees on their healing journey. 

In this interview, Mark Miner shares his story of foster care and adoption. He and his sister were taken from their family at very young ages and lived through abuse and neglect in the foster system. Mark's story is one of encouragement and empathy.