Adoptees On

254 [Healing Series] Adoptee Superpowers

Today we are talking with Dr. Chaitra Wirta-Leiker about adoptee superpowers. Don't worry, we're not going to express gratitude for a traumatic experience over here, it's more about understanding what are some common traits we hold and how can we embrace and make use of them to our advantage. We talk about perfectionism, empathy, people-pleasing, control, attachment, independence and more. We know you're going to find something you relate to in today's episode!

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

253 Dr. Sam and Sandria

We are thrilled to bring you two fellow podcasters today! Dr. Samantha Coleman and Sandria Washington are our guests from Black to the Beginning. They share their stories of being friends who just coincidentally found out a few years apart in adulthood that they also were both adopted. We talk about the lack of resources for same race black adoptees and how Dr. Sam and Sandria are working to build the community and supports they wish they had when they first found out they were adopted.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

252 Anne Elise

Today's guest is our friend, Anne Elise. Anne lives abroad and we talk about some of the intersections she sees between living as an American expat and being an adopted person. Anne shares what it's like growing up with an adopted brother who was keen to live out the defiant "acting out" adoptee stereotype. We also talk about our love of reading adoptee-authored work and rejection from our birthmothers.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

251 Cam Lee Small, MS, LPCC

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

250 | [Healing Series] Pet Loss and Grief

If you've been around the show for a while, you may remember that almost exactly one year ago Haley said goodbye to her dog, Lucy. We had so many people reach out during that time who had also lost a pet companion and so we started this conversation as a community about how especially weighty the grief can be for an adopted person.

Today's guest is Laura Summers, LMFT, an adoptee and therapist, and we are talking how pet loss is a form of disenfranchised grief. Laura holds my hand through this challenging conversation about how dear our pets can be to us, and she teaches us how we can move through grief in a way that honours ourselves instead of trying to get to a finish line of feeling "fine".

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

249 Angela Tucker

Today's guest is Angela Tucker, one of the most well-known adopted people in our community, subject of the documentary Closure, now turned author of You Should Be Grateful: Stories of Race, Identity, and Transracial Adoption. Angela shares about her time as a caseworker in private adoption, and about the difficulties of balancing the tightrope act of critiquing adoption and still being invited back into adoption spaces. We also chat about how the subject of adoption shows up in Hollywood storylines is slowly evolving.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

248 Jeff Nyhuis & Amy Geller, LCSW

If you are someone who is looking to have a relationship but have struggled to connect with past partners, or you are feeling misunderstood in your current relationship whenever you start talking about adoption, I think this conversation will be extremely helpful for you. Today we are joined by Amy Geller, LCSW, an adoptee and therapist, and her husband Jeff Nyhuis. Amy found herself repeating some self-sabotaging patterns in romantic relationships and when she met Jeff she was determined to correct course. We talk with Amy and Jeff about coming out of the fog together. They give us advice about how we can start these conversations with our partners, and how you might end up creating another adoptee ally in the process!

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

247 | Katie Bozek, Ph.D., LMFT

Today's guest is Dr. Katie Bozek, a therapist and the Executive Director of KAAN, the Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network. We talk about the complexity of what being asked for our story brings. Katie shares how the birth of her first child was what set her on the journey of looking closely of what being adopted truly meant to her, and we touch on ways we both parent as adoptees with a focus on building connection. We wrap up by talking about the upcoming KAAN conference and what an adoptee-led event with a focus on community building and well-being can look like.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

246 Dorothy Ellen Palmer

Today's guest is author and accessibility consultant Dorothy Ellen Palmer. Dorothy is a fellow Canadian adoptee whose story has some remarkable coincidences. We talk about the indescribable lure back to the places of our biological ancestors, why mainstream adoption humour is so problematic, and ableism in the adoptee community.

This episode requires a trigger warning as we touch on some extremely difficult topics including mentions of sexual assault including infant sexual assault and other mentions of abuse.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

245 Mary Gauthier

What can we say about today's guest? She is an iconic songwriter, Grammy-nominated folk artist, and outspoken adoptee advocate, Mary Gauthier. Mary's first book Saved By A Song: The Art and Healing Power of Songwriting is a nurturing exploration of how sharing our stories can be a healing experience. Her 2010 album The Foundling has become a soundtrack for many of us as we've grieved and process our own adoptee stories. Mary and Haley talk about her path to songwriting, how important adoptee community is to her, and the power of story to overcome trauma.

This podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing stated on it, either by its hosts or any guests, is to be construed as psychological, medical or legal advice. Please seek out professionals in those fields if you need those services. The views expressed by the hosts of Adoptees On or any guests are their own and do not represent the opinions of any organization or other person unless otherwise stated.

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