Alec Pulianas is a real one. He shared vulnerably about his ongoing healing journey. We talked about:

-how losing his dad created ripple effects through his life: from dealing with the stages of his dad’s illness, to his final memories going to Rush concerts together, the shifts in his relationship with his mom, and the importance for him of maintaining a sense of self in his marriage knowing the worst that could happen

-the weakening family ties that changed his social network in favor of chosen family

-healing perfectionism through working on his podcast and learning what’s “good enough”

-how his relationship with his wife forced him to confront his unrealistic expectations

-healing through associating feelings and soothing himself with music

About Our Guest

Alex writes: “I’m an engineer with hobbies that include photography and coffee roasting. I love Baltimore sports and attending concerts. My family and friends bring joy to my days.”

You can connect with him at his blog: pulianas.com

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

This is the last episode of Season One, and I'm not sure yet what's in store for ROAR Healing Stories. If you'd like to stay in touch, subscribing to my Substack is the best way to do that:

Subscribe here: https://roarfindyourfierce.substack.com/

Other ways to support:

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Becca Pride shared about her healing work as a massage therapist and yoga teacher. We discussed:

-how creating a safe space is integral to healing

-what she loves about working with pregnant folks

-the importance of finding good fit providers

-how worthiness wounds show up in the bodies of folks she works with

-massage as a space to experiment with receiving care, taking inventory of our bodies, and expressing appreciation for our bodies

-how oppression turns vital, important things frivolous and forces us to justify practices that could just be part of a great existence

About Our Guest

Becca Pride is a massage therapist and yoga teacher. She lives in Austin, TX.

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe here: https://roarfindyourfierce.substack.com/

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Logan Williams is one of the best people I know. In Part Two, Logan shared:

-his process for and experiences with DIY Inner Child Work

-meeting his Inner Critic, his Inner Artist, and his fear of death during his DIY Inner Child Work

-gatekeeping of mental health and healing knowledge and some safeguards if you want to DIY this work

-moving from thinking of himself as a broken person in need of fixing to being on a journey with important milestones all along the way

About Our Guest

Logan Williams is a writer and improv comedian. He lives in Austin, TX.

The Inner Child Toolbox: 6-Session Coaching with Host, Ellen Line

Inner Child Toolbox is a structured, six-session coaching container.

This is for you if:

-you’re feeling stuck, especially if you’ve been on a healing/therapy journey for a while

-you have reactions that don’t make sense or feel disproportionate to what has happenedyou feel like your feelings are too big or too strong

-you want to try inner child work before making an investment in an IFS therapist

Through six focused 1-hour meetings, we will:

-map out your core wounds and how they connect to your inner child,

-learn some metaphors for understanding inner child work

-practice strategies for communicating with, negotiating with, and soothing your inner child

-create a plan for how to continue your work on your own

Learn more and sign up for a vibe-check (the first step to enrolling) at https://www.roarhealing.com/InnerChildToolbox

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Anahata’s Purpose

Part witchy coven meeting, part music festival, part grown-up summer camp, 100% excellent community and vibes. October 16-19 in Darlington, MD. https://www.anahataspurpose.com/

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe here: https://roarfindyourfierce.substack.com/

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Logan Williams is one of the best people I know. We talked about:

-his history of small traumas, how they affected him, and steps he’s taken to overcome

-how his darkest moment helped him connect with his strength

-how non-judgmental friends supported and challenged him throughout his journey

-how inefficiencies in our healthcare and insurance systems impeded his progress at various points

-some of the things he’s learned about Inner Family Systems/inner child healing work

About Our Guest

Logan Williams is a writer and improv comedian. He lives in Austin, TX.

The Inner Child Toolbox: 6-Session Coaching with Host, Ellen Line

Inner Child Toolbox is a structured, six-session coaching container.

This is for you if:

-you’re feeling stuck, especially if you’ve been on a healing/therapy journey for a while

-you have reactions that don’t make sense or feel disproportionate to what has happenedyou feel like your feelings are too big or too strong

-you want to try inner child work before making an investment in an IFS therapist

Through six focused 1-hour meetings, we will:

-map out your core wounds and how they connect to your inner child,

-learn some metaphors for understanding inner child work

-practice strategies for communicating with, negotiating with, and soothing your inner child

-create a plan for how to continue your work on your own

Learn more and sign up for a vibe-check (the first step to enrolling) at https://www.roarhealing.com/InnerChildToolbox

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Anahata’s Purpose

Part witchy coven meeting, part music festival, part grown-up summer camp, 100% excellent community and vibes. October 16-19 in Darlington, MD. https://www.anahataspurpose.com/

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe here: https://roarfindyourfierce.substack.com/

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Erin Bowman is a somatic therapist. We met at a local networking event and became fast friends when Erin reached out for a coffee after. We talked about:

-how farming across Europe reset her nervous system

-learning how to give more of herself to her life in a contact improv class

-tending to what her body needs: slowing down, then slowing down some more, being gentle, self-dates, mindful movement, acceptance

-how pleasure and celebration are so important, especially in activism and change work

-how she expanded her mind to be able to hold two truths at once

-her journey with finding the right meds: overcoming internalized stigma, trying different medications, taking meds during pregnancy and breast feeding, and changing providers

-leaving situations that weren’t working for her

About Our Guest

Erin Bowman, LCPC is an imperfect gardener, dabbling folk herbalist, mama, auntie, highly sensitive person, and ambivert. She helps people who are longing to feel ease and belonging in their own bodies. Before becoming a therapist, she worked in nonprofits, education, and community organizations. She practices with an anti-racist and intersectional approach. ​When she’s not practicing therapy, you can find her playing with her cat (Cashmere), soaking up time with loved ones, and finding her way to hands-on hobbies.You can learn more about her at her website: https://www.erinbowmantherapy.com

Or follow her on (her excellent) instagram: www.instagram.com/erinbowmantherapy

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Anahata’s Purpose

Part witchy coven meeting, part music festival, part grown-up summer camp, 100% excellent community and vibes. October 16-19 in Darlington, MD. https://www.anahataspurpose.com/

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Shane Whalley is a professor and facilitator of conversations. We talked about:

*how ze had to integrate who ze was “supposed” to be and had become with who ze authentically is in order to heal

*the importance of hir inpatient hospitalization for hir healing journey

*how our healing journeys ask a lot of us and why therapists should go to their own therapy

*hir relationships with hir parents, how they evolved on hir journey, and specific healing moments with hir mom

*dance as a metaphor for discerning who is able to heal with you and who isn’t

*finding allies and healing moments in unexpected places

*weaving community, hope, and purpose through their work and life

About Our Guest

Shane Whalley, MSSW writes: “As a deeply relational and playful genderqueer facilitative educator, I have been facilitating workshops and conversations on issues faced by the LGBTQIA communities, cultural humility and responsiveness, and social justice frameworks for over 20 years. My knowledge comes from my lived experience as a now elder within the genderqueer and queer communities. My lifelong journey as a learner brought me to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin where I completed my Master's in 2003 and continued on as an adjunct faculty member. I enjoy engaging in conversations around the complexities of "all the things" whether as a mentor, consultant or educator.”

Learn more about Shane & hir work at hir website: http://daringdialogues.com/

Connect with hir on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanewhalley/

Or send hir an email at shanewhalley [at] gmail (dot) com

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Anahata’s Purpose

Part witchy coven meeting, part music festival, part grown-up summer camp, 100% excellent community and vibes. October 16-19 in Darlington, MD. https://www.anahataspurpose.com/

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Amy Walsh is a doctor, herbalist and mom. We met when Amy offered COVID grief processing rituals that I attended and became fast friends as we collaborated on Around The Hearth, a cozy Winter Solstice offering last year. I loved our conversation, which blew my mind a few times! We talked about:

*being an ER doctor during COVID, and how that shaped her healing journey

*the adulthood initiation process that helped her learn to be present with her emotions

*intuition a lot: it’s place (or lack thereof) in Western medicine, how becoming a mother helped her value hers, balancing rational and intuitive thinking

*how becoming a mom taught her that girl boss feminism is bullshit

*trusting that she can be a channel for messages from the Universe in her divination and creative practices

*her ancestral connection practices and some of the insights she’s gained

*how the best healing acknowledges the ecosystem

About Our Guest

Amy Walsh, MD is a mother, herbalist, and artist. She is an Emergency Physician with 15 years of experience. During COVID, she and her colleagues were asked to do more and more with less and less. They operated in crisis mode for years and were left feeling heartbroken and abandoned.

Those dark times forced her to learn that her emotions, even the inconvenient and unpleasant ones, had important information for her. They forced her to realize that she had needs that aren’t exactly the same as those of others. In this journey, she had to find what brings enchantment to my life: presence in the wild, creativity, and connection.

Check out her excellent Substack: thenettlewitchmd.substack.com/about

Or connect with her through her website: www.amywalshmd.com

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

It’s been a tough few weeks in the news for folks who aren’t MAGA people. With executive power on the rise when the key executive doesn’t seem to have a moral compass, it’s scary out here. I’ve been feeling overwhelmed and hopeless at times, but a few key conversations with friends recently have helped me feel grounded in a few things:

When we heal our trauma and reconnect with a deep inner knowing, we gain Soul Freedom: the freedom to live the life that right for you regardless of what anyone else thinks or says about how you “should” be living.

No one can take your soul freedom away, even if other freedoms or aspects of your identity are made illegal by shitty politicians.

The rise of authoritarianism happens in response to progress that’s been made. Humans are meant to make progress, and we can choose to focus there, while we do what we can to push back against this regime.

ROAR’s work in the world is to help folks find Soul Freedom. What questions do you have about finding Soul Freedom? What support do you need to find it?

You can listen here on Substack. ROAR Healing Stories is also available on:

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

YouTube

Pocket Casts

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this episode! Clicking this button will take you to the Substack app or this post on your browser where you can leave public comments. You can also hit reply to this email and your thoughts will come straight to me.

Leave a comment

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Gillian Gregory Carter is a social worker, therapist, and educator. We discussed:

-the thoughts and feelings she internalized from witnessing the unhappiness in her parents’ marriage

-recognizing how she was playing out old patterns and what she did to shift

-returning to her childhood spiritual practice and community to ground her healing journey

-how motherhood has expanded her healing journey into mental, emotional, and physical domains and forced her to find balance between caring for herself and caring for others

-learning to prioritize happiness when she was single, which helped her discover more joy in life

-finding authenticity as a Black woman in academia and white space while navigating oppressive systems, curriculum, and microagressions

-heartwork: how love infuses her work and how her work has helped her heal

About Our Guest

Gillian Gregory Carter, MSW, LCSW-C is a social worker, therapist, and educator. She has a private mental health practice serving individuals, couples and families. Her primary clinical expertise is in cognitive behavioral therapy with a strength-based approach. As a social worker, Ms. Gregory seeks to serve individuals and families to foster empowerment, self-sufficiency, and prosperity in all areas of life. In addition to counseling, Ms. Gregory provides clinical supervision to licensed graduate social workers who are in process of obtaining their clinical hours for advance licensure.

She is also a Lecturer in the Department of Family Science Department at Towson University. She received her MSW from University of Maryland, School of Social Work. Prior to joining Towson, Ms. Gregory was clinical faculty with the University of Maryland, School of Social Work for over ten years. She worked as a researcher in child welfare and also as a coordinator for a community-based program that offered a holistic set of supports to families and children in West Baltimore. In this role, she also trained and supervised graduate social work students.You can connect with her through her Psychology Today profile: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/gillian-gregory-carter-baltimore-md/188879

Be a ROAR Healing Stories Guest!

Season Two of ROAR Healing Stories will feature even more great healing journeys, including yours, if you want to share! If you’re on a healing journey and you’d like to share it with the ROAR Healing Stories audience, let Ellen know you want to be a guest here: https://forms.gle/AZGNWdCMyCTE6X3HA

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to ROAR: Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these stories.

Krissy Heberlig is a non-profit program manager and single mom of three. In this episode we talked about:

*double standards for men and women around infidelity and divorce and how they have affected her

*her divorces paving the way for healing

*facing unhealthy behaviors and patterns, repeating patterns until she learned the lessons she needed to

*unlearning “If I was just {fill in the blank, calm, pretty, good, etc.) enough, he would’ve stayed”

*discovering her authenticity on a camping trip

*how her second marriage became more difficult as she healed and ultimately taught her to trust what folks’ behaviors say about their priorities

Leave a commen

About Our Guest

Krissy Heberlig has three kids. They’re 22, 20, and 9. She lives in Pennsylvania with her cats, bunny, and goldfish and works at the local office of a regional non-profit in environmental and nature conservation. She’s been on her healing journey for over two decades, and it’s taken many twists and turns.

Support ROAR Healing Stories

There are lots of ways to support this podcast:

New episodes of ROAR Healing Stories are posted every other Sunday. Never miss an episode! Subscribe to Find Your Fierce (Ellen’s newsletter) to get an email every time an episode is posted.

Subscribe now

Paid subscriptions at the monthly ($8), annual ($89), or founding ($165) level help support the creation and sharing of ROAR Healing Stories. Subscribers get about two monthly posts, occasional bonus episodes, and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you’re helping to share these healing stories and ideas with a world that really needs them.

Send this episode to a friend, frenemy, lover, family member, colleague, or anyone else who needs it!

Share

If you really want to make my heart sing, leave a rating or review on the platform of your choice. I’ve heard this is really great for the algorithm and will help even more folks hear these ideas.