Mind Your Own Karma - Beyond The Bandage

Monica Hall is an author, adoptee, and birthmother. She was born in Canada, adopted by American parents, and raised in Anchorage, Alaska. It was there where she spent the first 16 years of her life and had many of the foundational experiences that drive her writing. Monica now lives in Northern California and began working on a memoir in Spring 2016 when her daughter urged her to document her extr...

I have therapist Terance Dawkins on the show today, and we talk about attachment styles, the fog, reunions, and so much more! Terance Dawkins is a South Carolina Licensed Independent Social Worker-Clinical Practice (LISW-CP). He is also licensed as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in North Carolina. He is a native of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Terance received his Undergraduate & Mas...

*** WARNING!! This podcast discusses raw experiences relating to adoption trauma and may trigger difficult emotions. *** Emily A. is a 40 year old domestic infant adoptee from Grosse Pointe, Michigan, born outside of Chicago, Illinois. Emily identifies as “multiply neurodivergent” and has special interests in writing, composing music, creating art and learning about psychology. These interests hav...

*** WARNING! This episode contains descriptions of forced relinquishment and may contain other triggering content about adoption. *** Do you ever watch a movie and think, "Thank goodness nothing like this has happened in real life. It's only a movie"? Well, think again. Today, I'm bringing you a little history that I was clued into by a fellow adoptee. It sounded interesting, so...

DISCLAIMER: LISTEN AFTER DARK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG LISTENERS. STORY LOCATION: MODESTO, CA WHEN: 1980'S Welcome to Jen's nightmare.  Jen was asleep one night when her nightmare became her reality. _________ Due to the LONG-LASTING EMOTIONAL FALLOUT that can be part of adoption, I highly support the GENTLE HEALING SUPPORT of SMGI: Somatic Mindful Guided Imagery....

*** WARNING! This episode mentions sexual abuse and drug use, and may contain other triggering content about adoption. *** Amanda is a Puerto Rican, transracial adoptee. She is a certified Trauma-Informed Energetic Guide and Somatic Healer. Through quantum hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and other somatic practices, she can assist you to shift your trauma and propel you to make life-altering progression....

**This podcast may contain triggering content about adoption.** Greg was born California in 1969 and placed in a closed adoption as an infant after spending 6 weeks in foster care, which was a common practice with Baby Scoop Era adoptions. Growing up, he sensed a certain ill-fit with his family, and found out about his adoption when he was 10. In 2006, at age 37, he finally discovered and made con...

***WARNING!!! THIS EPISODE DISCUSSES CHILD ABUSE, MENTAL ILLNESS AND ADOPTION TRAUMA. Rick Feltner is an adoptee that was placed in the foster care system at about 2 years old, and was later adopted at about age 6. Why was he taken away from his birth family at that age? What happened? These were the questions that Rick had brought to the podcast in his first interview earlier this season. Between...

How does adoption trauma affect us as infants when we have no option for a fight or flight survival response? Can this trauma develop into sickness either physically or mentally later in life if not processed? What are four ways trauma can manifest in us? ***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION. If you or someone you know would like to tell their adoption story on the podcast (anyone in t...

DISCLAIMER: LISTEN AFTER DARK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG LISTENERS. STORY LOCATION: UNKNOWN WHEN: UNNOWN Welcome to Ken's nightmare.  Ken is a miner. Strange things started happening to him in the mine after a tragic accident with a coworker. ***Ken is a fictious name given to the storyteller who wishes to maintain their anonymity. _________ Due to the LONG-LASTING EMOTI...

Jim Serrano is a domestic adoptee who was born in January 1962 in San Jose, California. He was adopted at 6 months of age and was raised in Gilroy, California. He had trauma his whole life, and has dealt with abandonment issues, sexual abuse, and admits even the search for his biological family at 37 years of age was a rollercoaster of emotions. Listen in on this episode because the rollercoaster...

Emma Stevens is a U.S. domestic adoptee from birth and has survived layers of trauma that have put her on multiple journeys. She developed the inner strength and courage to surmount the many struggles she faced. Her traumas were born from first being relinquished, and then becoming an adoptee who struggled with being forced to wear an impossible mask of playing the part of the “good adopted child....

Christine Famous is a mother of 3 and grandmother of 7.  She was born and adopted in Florida, and she grew up with a younger brother who was also adopted.  At the age of 12, she found out that her adopted father had never wanted kids, and this propelled her onto a path of self destruction. Recently, Christine has come out of the fog and is on a journey to find her authentic self.  ***MAY CONTAIN T...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT Simon is an adoptee who always knew he was adopted. Simon didn’t really experience any personal adoption trauma until he hit 40 years old when he found out that a teddy bear he'd had since childhood was actually a gift from his birth mother. This news immediately triggered feelings of anger and rejection, but ultimately sparked a curiosity inside Simon that le...

DISCLAIMER: LISTEN AFTER DARK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG LISTENERS. STORY LOCATION: BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA WHEN: 2012-2015 Welcome to Shea's nightmare.  Do you believe in the Boogey Man? Shea had just moved in to her parents newly renovated apartment with her husband when things quickly became terrifying and violent. _________ Due to the LONG-LASTING EMOTIONAL FALLOUT that...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT Sometimes as adoptees, we feel a little out of place when personality, looks and gifts are not mirrored for us in our adopted families. Lorah Gerald was lucky enough to see some of her gifts reflected and nurtured by her adoptive mother AND found out her bio family on both sides also had many of the same gifts she did.  She is a writer and content creator as The A...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION, DRUG USE AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. Beth Syverson is an adoptive mom of a 19-year-old son Joey, who has been struggling with addiction and mental health issues for several years. She struggles with addiction as well, though not with the same substances as her son. This experience has given her empathy for her son's struggles. She is walking beside...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION. What should be the very first thing an adoptee or anyone in the triad should do when they discover they have been in the fog? Have some compassion! Yes! Compassion! Compassion for themselves first and foremost! For what? For what you didn't know, didn't do and didn't realize. For self sabotaging, putting up walls, hurting others and the...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE.  ***SOME ADULT LANGUAGE Have you ever considered that everyone in the adoption triad could be in the FOG ? I have discovered since delving into the adoption community that it is not just adoptees that are in the fog. It is also Birth Mothers and Adoptive Parents as well. What did the fog look like for each of them and how did...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION How do you heal that little adopted girl still inside of you? Or the adopted rambunctious teenager? Or the still struggling adult? Emma Stevens, adoptee and author of 'The Gathering Place' masterfully weaves the secret of how she did this in her book. She writes her story in a way I have not experienced in a book before. It's a must read...

DISCLAIMER: LISTEN AFTER DARK AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUNG LISTENERS. STORY LOCATION: ANONYMOUS Welcome to "Mark's" nightmare. Mark is a semi-recent homeowner with his wife and daughter. The family notices someone watching them from a mysterious car that is hanging around their neighborhood. The family was nervous, but became terrified when things escalated.  ___...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT Are the lies we tell our adopted children to protect them justified?  John Clauson is an adoptee that was told his parents had died in a car accident and that was the reason he was put up for adoption. Because of this information he never even gave it a thought to search. He found out in his mid fifties that the story he had been told and had believed for over 5 d...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT ABOUT ADOPTION We left Part 1 with Cathryn getting into the taxi from the hospital where she had just given birth to her daughter days before. As she got into the taxi she was unexpectedly handed her baby, the baby she was never supposed to see.  Author of 'I Need To Tell You', Cathryn Vogeley talks about what it was like to relinquish her daughter. If you...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING  AND SEXUAL CONTENT Author of 'I Need To Tell You' Cathryn Vogeley talks about what it was like to relinquish her daughter. If you are an adoptee and see that this episode shares a birth mothers perspective and don't think you want to listen, stop right there. I felt the same way... BUT This book has literally changed my heart and given me so much compassion f...

***MAY CONTAIN TRIGGERING CONTENT Death, mental illness, reunion and non reunion troubles with birth mothers are all discussed in todays episode with my four adoptees guests.  We all have different stories when it comes to our birthmothers. These four adoptees are telling their stories in hopes to give other adoptees the feeling that they are not alone when trying to navigate this tangled web. Don...