Just for Today Podcast

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode discusses attempted murder, violence against a pregnant woman, and a traumatic birth. Please listen with care.

Welcome to the Just for Today podcast! I'm your host, Adriana, and today I'm joined by Angelique Robledo, a survivor of attempted murder, attempted fetal abduction, and arson. In February 2011, Angelique was 18 and nine months pregnant. She invited a new friend to her home in Maricopa, Arizona. The friend was another "pregnant" teen she'd met through mutual friends, and she said she was coming to drop off baby shower gifts. By the end of that day, Angelique's closet was on fire and two butcher knives had been found in her guest's diaper bag.

In this episode, Angelique walks us through the day that nearly cost her and her son their lives. She describes the strange gift-giving ritual, and the inner voice that told her to get up at the exact moment the count reached three. She also talks about her long fight to be believed by the police, her family, and even herself. She opens up about the traumatic birth that followed days later, the plea deal she says she was pressured into, and why her appearance on the Dr. Phil show kept her silent for years. She also shares what she discovered nearly a decade later, when she finally listened to the interrogation tapes herself. Finally, Angelique talks about how becoming a surrogate helped her heal, why she spoke up at her attacker's release hearing, and why she'll never stop telling her story.

This is a conversation about trusting your gut, even when everyone around you says you're overreacting.

Thank you for listening.

Connect with Angelique Robledo
► Instagram: @angelique.robledo92

Connect with Adriana 
► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast 
► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast 
► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In this episode of the Just for Today podcast, Adriana interviews Kristina, a therapist and recovering alcoholic. Kristina discusses her upbringing in Washington Heights and the deep-seated feelings of loneliness stemming from growing up with an absent father. She explains how her relationship with alcohol evolved from teenage partying and college bingeing into a daily dependence on vodka to mask the pain of her marriage and eventual divorce. The episode highlights her profound breaking point, which occurred when her 14-year-old daughter and ex-husband confronted her about her drinking problem. This confrontation led to an intense moment of suicidal ideation in her kitchen before Kristina made the life-saving decision to enter a 30-day rehabilitation center. 

Today, at 45 years old, Kristina utilizes her personal recovery experience to guide her therapy clients through nervous system regulation and trauma healing.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Everyone thought they were triplets. Jake, Joe, and Sam Sharp did everything together. Then in March 2020, while both twins were serving LDS missions in Mexico, Sam died by suicide at 16.

Jake and Joe sit down with Adriana to talk about the day the call came, the two nights they spent alone in a foreign country before they could fly home, and closing the casket on their best friend. They get into the parts families usually keep private: their ten-year-old brother finding him, the shame and perfectionism they think played a role, and why being angry at God didn't cost them their faith.

Adriana also shares her own attempt, and the three words in her late husband's handwriting that stopped her and became the name of this podcast.

Sam was the light in every room. He was also the one struggling. As his brothers say: he lost a battle, but look at all the battles he won.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: Detailed discussion of suicide, suicide attempt and method, depression, and religious shame.

Connect with Jake & Joe

► Instagram: @jduofit

Connect with Adriana

► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast

► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast

► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Two days before they were supposed to move into their dream home, Makela Allen's husband died by suicide. He'd been sober for nearly two and a half years. She was 29, with a three-year-old, a 15-month-old, and a 15-year-old niece she'd just taken in after her own mother died eight months earlier.

In this episode of Just For Today, Makela sits down with Adriana to tell the whole story, not the version she posted on Instagram. She talks about the years of drinking and abuse she hid behind smiling photos, the intervention, the night she gave him the ultimatum that got him sober, and the Thursday morning he brought her a cup of coffee before he left. She walks us through the Target parking lot, the cop cars, the drone, the hospital, and the phone call to his mother that ended their relationship for good.

She also talks about what nobody prepares you for: that there is no research on childhood suicide grief. That her four-year-old told his friends at school a werewolf killed his dad. That her son says "my dad died" to waiters, and she refuses to teach him shame about it. That Father's Day is now donuts at the cemetery at 7am because Arizona hits 100 degrees by 8. That year two was harder than year one. That she felt peace for the first time in eight years, and felt guilty for feeling it.

And then there's the part people don't expect from a widow: she's dating again. "Ten men, ten experiences," which turns out to be less about sex than about learning who she is when she's not somebody's wife.

This is a conversation between two young widows who have both told their kids their dad is dead, who have both been asked why they're "still talking about it," and who both keep coming back to the same answer: grief and joy can coexist, and life can still be beautiful.

⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains detailed discussion of suicide, domestic violence, alcohol addiction, and child grief. Please take care of yourself while listening.

CHAPTERS

00:38 Meet Makela: mom of two, wedding producer, widow

02:20 Married at 23: "we were two broken puzzle pieces"

03:33 The drinking, the anger, and the apartments he destroyed

04:24 The work trip that changed everything

06:04 February 7th: the ultimatum that got him sober

08:03 "You can't love someone more than they love themselves"

10:49 "If I knew our ending, would I still have chosen him?"

12:25 Healing out loud when he suffered in silence

14:27 The Disneyland photo where she hid her bruises

17:00 What her kids remember (and what she's grateful they don't)

18:18 "There are no books on childhood suicide grief"

22:00 The werewolf theory: how kids piece it together

24:31 "My dad died": teaching a six-year-old there's no shame

26:52 Donuts with Dad at the cemetery

29:04 The last week

32:14 The last morning: the coffee, the kiss, the text

34:40 The Target parking lot

37:20 The hospital, the cops, and the call to his mom

41:13 Telling a three-year-old his dad died

45:00 Grieving a parent at every developmental stage

49:40 Filling your own cup while everyone judges you for it

52:00 Dating again: "ten men, ten experiences"

57:18 Her non-negotiables now

1:02:04 What grief taught her: life can still be beautiful

Connect with Makela

► Instagram: @makelaallen

Connect with Adriana

► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast

► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast

► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome back to the Just for Today podcast, where we dive deep into the uncomfortable with zero filters. I'm your host, Adriana, alongside co-host Kevin, and in this episode we're joined by Cassie and Nick, two people who each lost a spouse to cancer and then, against every odd, found each other.

Cassie, a nurse practitioner, lost her high school sweetheart, Cody, to pancreatic cancer just 66 days after his diagnosis, leaving her to raise their four children. Before he died, Cody told her something she could barely stand to hear: that he'd been praying for her future husband. Nick, a Texas head football coach, spent three and a half years fighting alongside his wife, Anna, as breast cancer spread through her body, before losing her and becoming a single dad to their two young daughters. What neither of them knew was that Anna had quietly reached out to Cassie, a stranger at the time, while she was still sick.

In this episode, Cassie and Nick share the raw details of their spouses' final days, what it taught them about advocating inside the medical system, and the almost unbelievable chain of events that brought them together, from a single Facebook message to a wedding just months later. They open up about blending a family of six, parenting as a united front while honoring the two people they lost, and facing a community that judged them for "moving on too fast." Most of all, they talk about how grief and joy can live side by side, and why choosing to love again was the most selfless thing they could do.

A heads-up that this conversation covers loss, terminal illness, and grief honestly.

I hope this one stays with you.

Connect with Cassie & Nick

► Instagram: @rebuildingrogers

Connect with Adriana

► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast

► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast

► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On this episode of Just for Today, Adriana sits down with Aaron, who lost his wife Natalie just ten hours after she gave birth to their first child, Parker, in February. What began as a precautionary hospital visit for lower back pain turned into an emergency C-section, a placental abruption, and internal bleeding the doctors ultimately couldn't stop.

Aaron shares the full story: meeting Natalie at church in 2023, their marriage, the pregnancy, and the surreal walk out of the hospital as a new father and widower. He opens up about grieving while raising a newborn, wrestling with anger toward God, learning to let his emotions out for the first time, and the small, unexpected moments that trigger the loss. He also reflects on Natalie's legacy as a beloved teacher, the daily routines he's built so Parker will know his mother's voice, and what he's learned about how to truly show up for someone who's grieving.

This is a raw, honest conversation about faith, fatherhood, and finding a way to keep going.

If you or someone you know is struggling with grief, please reach out to a trusted person or a mental health professional.

Connect with Aaron

► Instagram: @_aamartin

Connect with Adriana

► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast

► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast

► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I'm sitting down with Amy - a nutritionist of nearly 25 years and a licensed EMDR trauma therapist who got into this work the hard way, through her own ten-year battle with anorexia.

Amy doesn't hold back. She talks about recovering from an eating disorder in the '80s when there was basically no treatment for it, the abuse and constant moving that marked her childhood, and losing her brother to addiction eight years ago. Along the way she drops the kind of ideas that stick with you: that an addiction is usually the solution, not the problem. That there's a 1940s starvation study showing how restricting food can turn a perfectly healthy person anxious, obsessive, and depressed in three months. That so much of what we call willpower or personality — the overspending, the doom-scrolling, the not being able to sit in a quiet room — traces back to a nervous system that never learned how to settle.

We also get into parenting: why eating disorders are showing up in kids younger and younger, the small comments that do more damage than you'd think, and why doing your own work is how you stop passing things down. Amy shares her honest take on the whole GLP-1 wave and what it's like helping people come off it, and she rattles off real resources for anyone who can't afford therapy right now — including warm lines you can text from your bed when you just need someone to pick up.

It's a real one. Hope you get something from it.

Just for today, keep going.

This episode touches on eating disorders, addiction, abuse, and grief. If you're struggling, please reach out to a qualified professional or a local support line.

Connect with Amy

► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amyleifermancounseling/

Connect with Adriana

► TikTok: @justfortodaypodcast

► Instagram: @justfortodaypodcast

► YouTube: @justfortodaypodcast

This podcast was produced by Scufd Studio Pvt. Ltd. For permissions, inquiries, or collaboration, please contact [email protected]

Like and subscribe if this episode gave you chills, changed your perspective, or brought you comfort.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Cassie and Nick Rogers each buried a spouse — and then found each other.

In this episode of Just for Today, Adriana and co-host Kevin sit down with both of them for an honest conversation about grief, faith, blending a family of six kids, and the judgment that comes with finding love again after loss.

Cassie's husband Cody — her high school sweetheart and the father of her four children — went from seemingly healthy to a stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis, and passed away just 66 days later. As a nurse practitioner, Cassie carries the weight of having seen his scans before anyone said the word "cancer," and of advocating fiercely when doctors pushed back. Before he died, Cody did something extraordinary: he told her he'd been praying for her future husband — and for the man who would one day help raise their kids.

Nick's late wife Anna fought a three-and-a-half-year battle with inflammatory triple-negative breast cancer that spread to her brain, spine, and liver. In one of the most moving parts of their story, it was Anna herself who first reached out to Cassie on social media — months before she passed — asking this young widow to one day be a friend to the family she would leave behind.

What unfolds is a raw, faith-driven conversation about:

• Trusting your gut and advocating inside the medical system
• Telling your children a parent is dying — and the regrets that linger
• Why "grief and joy can coexist"
• The backlash, the lost friendships, and the people who truly showed up
• How two grieving families became one — and why all six kids now call them Mom and Dad

This is an episode about choosing to live again, and the belief that loving again isn't selfish — it's one of the most selfless things you can do.

Follow Cassie & Nick: @rebuildingrogers

—

Content note: This episode discusses terminal illness, the loss of a parent, grief, and accidental overdose. Please take care while listening. If you're struggling, support is available — in the US, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For grief support, reach out to a local hospice or a licensed grief counselor.

—

Just for Today is hosted by Adriana Sansam — diving deep into uncomfortable topics with zero filters. New episodes drop regularly. If this one moved you, follow the show and share it with someone who needs it.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

What if a single therapy session could resolve a trauma you've carried for years? In this episode, Adriana sits down with Dina and Julie — two licensed EMDR therapists with over 40 years of combined experience and the team behind EMDR Transformations Counseling in Gilbert, Arizona — to demystify one of the most talked-about and misunderstood trauma treatments out there.

They break down what EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) actually is, why trauma gets "stuck" in the brain and body, and how bilateral stimulation helps the logical and emotional sides of the brain finally process what happened — without hypnosis, and while you stay fully awake and in control. They get into why EMDR can work dramatically faster than traditional talk therapy, what it can treat (single-incident trauma, attachment wounds, anxiety, phobias, addiction, and more), and what a session actually looks like, including virtual EMDR done from your own home.

They also discuss a newer clinical offering in their practice: ketamine-assisted EMDR therapy — what it is and how it's used in a supervised, prescribed setting as part of professional treatment. This portion is educational only and is not medical advice or a recommendation; decisions about any medication or treatment should be made with a licensed medical provider.

Plus, a simple grounding technique you can use the next time you feel overwhelmed.

Whether you're trauma-curious, considering therapy, or just want to understand how healing actually works in the brain, this conversation makes it click.

⸻

⚠️ Content & medical disclaimer: This episode discusses trauma, abuse, addiction, and mental health treatment, including ketamine-assisted therapy in a clinical context. It is for educational and informational purposes only and is not medical advice. It is not an endorsement or promotion of any medication or treatment. Always consult a licensed medical or mental health professional about your own care.

💛 Mental health support: • 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org (free, confidential, 24/7, US) • SAMHSA National Helpline (free, confidential treatment referrals) — 1-800-662-4357 • Find a licensed EMDR therapist — emdria.org Outside the US? Find your local helpline at findahelpline.com.

⸻

About the guests Dina and Julie are licensed EMDR therapists and the team behind EMDR Transformations Counseling, LLC in Gilbert, AZ, specializing in EMDR therapy. Follow them: @emdrinaz · emdrtransformationscounseling.com

Follow Just for Today: [@justfortodaypodcast] Host: Adriana Sansam [@adrianasansam]

New episodes every [day]. If these conversations help you, please like, share, and subscribe — and don't forget: just for today, keep going. 💛

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tana Amen had every reason not to make it. Raised by a teenage runaway mom in poverty, with addiction, murder, and abuse all around her. Molested as a child. Assaulted at 15. An eating disorder. Then cancer at 23 that came back four times. Her childhood trauma score (ACE score) was an 8 out of 10. At 23, she prayed she would die.

In this episode, Tana tells Adriana how she went from that hopeless moment to becoming an ICU trauma nurse, a two-time black belt, a New York Times bestselling author, and vice president of the Amen Clinics. They talk about the hidden link between childhood trauma and physical health, the shame survivors carry, brain health and healing, and why telling the story you swore you'd never tell can set you free. Adriana also shares losing her own husband and the day her young daughter asked how he really died.

Tana's message for anyone in the dark: you have no idea how fast it can change.

Content note: This episode discusses childhood abuse, sexual assault, addiction, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, cancer, and grief. Please listen with care.

If you're struggling, you're not alone: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — call or text 988 (US, 24/7) RAINN (sexual assault) — 1-800-656-4673 National Alliance for Eating Disorders — 1-866-662-1235 Outside the US: findahelpline.com

About Tana Amen: New York Times bestselling author, VP of the Amen Clinics, neurosurgical ICU trauma nurse, and author of The Relentless Courage of a Scared Child.

Follow: @tanaamen

Host: Adriana Sansam @adrianasansam

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.