Please join me as I continue my conversation with mother of loss to adoption Cindy Shultz. We talk about how the loss of a child can lead to substance use, and how the love of a child can lead to sobriety.

Cindy Shultz is a mother of church-coerced child loss who transforms lived experience into advocacy. Raised in the shadow of poverty and stigma, Cindy was a mother in crisis when Catholic Charities pressured her into relinquishing her son in a process she felt powerless to stop. This experience of unnecessary child loss is the foundation of her mission to support the systematically oppressed.

As the founder of Cindy's Family Preservation Alliance and a volunteer for Saving Our Sisters, she provides pregnant women the education and resource navigation she was once denied. Professionally, Cindy serves as a Wellness and Services coordinator at two local shelters, providing holistic case management for unhoused women. She is a certified Holistic Life Coach, Recovery Coach and Laughter Yoga Leader creating healing centered environments that honor the intersections of trauma, substance use, and family separation. Her work is a living testament that healing is possible and that family preservation is a fundamental human right that must be protected. If you are interested in Coaching or the healing power of Laughter Yoga, join her free Skool community Love Our Laughter.

https://www.facebook.com/familypreservationalliance/

https://www.skool.com/love-our-laughter-wellness-5520/about

https://savingoursistersadoption.org/

Mentioned in the episode

https://www.aa.org/

https://sherecovers.org/

https://recoverydharma.org/

https://celiacenter.org/

https://mentalhealthhotline.org/

The opinions of the host and the guest are just that, our opinions.

The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional

Thank you for listening!

Please join Dani and I as we continue to grapple with how spiritual and religious trauma have impacted our lives both through the lens of adoption and in our lives in general. Our conversation is being guided by the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing

https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

Dani can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy

https://www.apa.org/topics/crisis-hotlines

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, our opinons.

The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.

Thank you for listening.

Join Dani Joy and I as we talk about what we have learned so far as we finish Chaper 2 of Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride PhD

Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy

https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions

The host is not a therapist, a lawyer or an adoption professional

Please join Dani Joy and I as we continue to talk about spiritual trauma and adoption, using the book Holy Hurt: Understadning Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD

Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy

https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions.

The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.

Thank you for listening!

Please join Dani Joy and I as we continue our conversation about spiritual trauma and adoption, using the book Holy Hurt: Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing, by Hillary L McBride, PhD. We have reached page 28, and are talking about McBrides' lists of the physical, social, relational and spiritual symptoms of spiritual trauma.

Dani Joy can be found at: https://medium.com/@danijoy

Holy Hurt: https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

https://concernedunitedbirthparents.org/

https://www.facebook.com Adoption Trauma Network

https://rainn.org/

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions.

The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.

Thank you for listening!

Please join Dani and I as we continue to explore the intersection of adoption and spiritual trauma. We continue to use the book Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride, PhD as a framework for our conversation. Today we cover material from pages 37-48

Dani Joy is a first mom. She can be found at https://medium.com/@danijoy

I am a Late Discovery, Intercountry, Former Foster Child adopted and brought to the USA when I was a toddler.

https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/6392-stress-coping-with-lifes-stressors

https://www.apa.org/topics/crisis-hotlines

https://www.thetrevorproject.org/

https://rainn.org/

https://savingoursistersadoption.org

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, their opinions

The host is not a lawyer, therapist or an adoption professional

Please join me and Adriana Rockefeller as we talk about what has happened in her fight to be recognized as a person since we spoke early last year in a two part interview here on the podcast.

Adriana is still fighting to be recognized by Romania and Canada as a legal person. You can be a part of making that happen, as her court case continues.

Adriana was raised as Roxana Pamela. Two years ago, she discovered that she had been adopted to Canada from Romania using another infants birth certificate. She subsequently discovered that this invalidates her own legal identity, leaving her in limbo, and without a state.

You can help Adriana achieve personhood by purchasing her book and by donating to her fundraiser for legal funds. In a time where we often feel powerless, this is an opportunity to do something concrete for a victim of human trafficking.

Her book Ne M'appelez pas Roxana:

https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/ne-mappelez-pasroxana/9782897612764.html

Instagram: @adriana.citizenofnowhere

gofundme.com/f/Help-Adriana-Reclaim-Her-Identity

tiktok: @adriana.citizenofnowhere

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2024/12/07/adoption-et-trafic-denfants-en-roumanie-une-quebecoise-part-a-la-recherche-de-sa-veritable-identite

TVA JE Episode: Adoption ou Trafique Humain? Available in Canada or if you have a VPN

Just a short episode sharing some of what came up for me after talking with mom Cindy Shultz. Reconciling the reality of how the adoption industry uses coercion to separate families with the stereotypes and the myth of Rescue that is presented to adopted people is an ongoing struggle for me.

As my (now retired) therapist used to ask: How is that story serving you?

The opinion of the host is just that, their opinion. The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.

Thank you for listening! Please rate and review, as this helps to make the podcast more visible.

Please join me as I talk with mom Cindy Shultz about her experience with open adoption.

Cindy Shultz is a mother of church-coerced child loss who transforms lived experience into advocacy. Raised in the shadow of poverty and stigma, Cindy was a mother in crisis when Catholic Charities pressured her into relinquishing her son in a process she felt powerless to stop. This experience of unnecessary child loss is the foundation of her mission to support the systematically oppressed.

As the founder of Cindy's Family Preservation Alliance and a volunteer for Saving Our Sisters, she provides pregnant women the education and resource navigation she was once denied. Professionally, Cindy serves as a Wellness and Services coordinator at two local shelters, providing holistic case management for unhoused women. She is a certified Holistic Life Coach, Recovery Coach and Laughter Yoga Leader creating healing centered environments that honor the intersections of trauma, substance use, and family separation. Her work is a living testament that healing is possible and that family preservation is a fundamental human right that must be protected. If you are interested in Coaching or the healing power of Laughter Yoga, join her free Skool community Love Our Laughter.

https://www.facebook.com/familypreservationalliance/

https://www.skool.com/love-our-laughter-wellness-5520/about

https://savingoursistersadoption.org/

The opinions of the host and their guest(s) are just that, our opinions. The host is not a lawyer, therapist or adoption professional.

All resources shared are shared as a courtesy to the podcasts guests. The host encourages everyone to vet resources for themselves.

Thank you for listening!

Please join mom, adoptee advocate, writer and homesteader Dani Joy and me as we continue to explore the intersection of spiritual trauma and adoption through our conversation with the book Holy Hurt, Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing by Hillary L McBride PhD.

https://medium.com/@danijoy

https://hillarylmcbride.com/holy-hurt-book/

https://www.healthcentral.com/mental-health/get-help-mental-health

The opinions of the host and their guest are just that, our opinions. The host is not a lawyer, a therapist or an adoption professional.