What happens when we stop trying to "fix" ourselves and start allowing healing to happen? In this powerful episode, we sit down with Kyla Mitsunaga, a business and life mindset magician and subconscious mind expert, to explore the profound world of Family Constellations and collective healing.

Kyla shares her vulnerable journey from deep depression in 2016 to discovering over 25 alternative healing modalities. We dive into how she uses Theta Healing®, Integrative Hypnosis, and her trademarked Mitsunaga Method™ to help BIPOC and adoptee communities in the Bay Area (and globally) navigate the complexities of identity and intergenerational trauma. Whether you are deep in your healing journey or just beginning to look for the "light," this conversation offers a roadmap for transformation that begins in the subconscious.

In This Episode, We Discuss:

• The Power of Family Constellations: Understanding how we carry the stories and traumas of those who came before us.
• Healing Without a Map: Learning to hold space for healing even when you don’t know how it will happen.
• The Mitsunaga Method™: How Kyla’s years of experience working in personal growth and healing around the globe transformed into this method used to help her clients heal at the deepest levels (Mitsunaga means "everlasting light" in Japanese.
• Support Systems: The role of "emotional support friends" and building a conscious community.
• BIPOC & Adoptee Visibility: Kyla’s specific work in the Bay Area and how she creates safe spaces for these unique lived experiences.
• Global Perspectives on Happiness: Insights from a Forbes Coach and TED speaker who has taught and coached in over 16 countries.

About Kyla Mitsunaga

Kyla Mitsunaga is a subconscious mind expert, author, and award-winning educator. After a successful career teaching at Harvard and in Korea, a personal health crisis led her to master 25+ healing modalities. She is the author of WITH vs AT and On Growing: Thoughts from the Field, and was named one of the "Top 51 Most Fabulous Global Happiness Leaders" by the World HRD Congress. Through her Mitsunaga Method™, she helps clients find and embody their inner light regardless of life's darkness.

When not coaching or running retreats, you can find Kyla swimming, cooking (without processed sugar and salt), writing, finding the best eats around town, drinking matcha lattes, and mulling over women’s rights. 

Kyla has delivered workshops in 16 countries, traveled to 51 countries and calls 5 countries “home.”

Kyla would LOVE to connect WITH you here: www.kylamitsunaga.com

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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In this episode of The Empowered Adoptee Podcast, we dive into Mel Robbins’ Let Them Theory and explore how this simple yet radical mindset shift can be deeply liberating for adoptees.

As adoptees, many of us grew up hyper-aware of other people’s emotions, expectations, and needs. We learned early how to adapt, people-please, stay quiet, or shape-shift in order to feel safe, loved, or accepted. Over time, this can leave us disconnected from ourselves, our boundaries, and our truth.

The Let Them Theory offers a powerful reframe:
👉 Let them think what they think.
👉 Let them feel what they feel.
👉 Let them do what they’re going to do.

And then, we choose ourselves.

In this episode, we share personally from our own adoptee journeys and unpack how “letting them” has helped us:

• Release the pressure to be understood, approved of, or validated
• Step out of fear, obligation, and guilt (F.O.G.)
• Build healthier boundaries without shame
• Practice deeper self-acceptance and self-trust
• Reclaim our energy for healing, rest, and joy

We also explore how Let Them doesn’t mean bypassing emotions or disconnecting - it means allowing others to have their experience without abandoning ourselves in the process.

This conversation is especially meaningful for adoptees navigating:

• Complicated family dynamics
• People-pleasing patterns
• Feeling responsible for others’ emotions
• The desire to be “good,” grateful, or easy

At its core, this episode is an invitation to soften, to come home to yourself, and to remember that your needs, boundaries, and truth matter.

✨ You don’t need permission to live your life.
 ✨ You don’t need to explain your healing.
 ✨ You are allowed to choose peace.

If this episode resonates, we invite you to listen with curiosity and compassion and maybe ask yourself:
Where in my life am I ready to let them… and choose me instead?

Your story matters. If you’d like to connect or share your adoptee journey, we’d be honored to hear from you.

Email us at: [email protected]

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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In celebration of National Adoptee Awareness Month (NAAM), we are honored to feature the voices of four incredible Korean adoptees: Margot, Mihyun, Josh, and Kim.

This episode is dedicated to the truth that adoptees are the experts on adoption because of our lived experience. Our intention is to bring more understanding, compassion, and much-needed awareness to the complexities of adoption.

Margot, Mihyun, Josh, and Kim generously share their unique and varied perspectives as they respond to a series of prompts and honest, vulnerable questions about their lives. 

This is a powerful, essential listen for everyone—adoptees, adoptive parents, and allies of adoptees.

Join us as we center adoptee voices and shift the narrative toward compassion and awareness!

Featured Guests:

Margot Lyons

Mihyun: [email protected]

https://www.movementflow.org/

Instagram 

Josh Oberg: 

Facebook

Kim: [email protected]

FREE Adoptee Workshop: Somatic Breathwork and EFT Tapping

Saturday Dec. 6, 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EST

Register here: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1968878951946?aff=oddtdtcreator

Join us for a powerful online workshop specifically designed for adoptees seeking deeper healing, emotional release, and self-connection. This unique event combines the transformative power of Somatic Breathwork™ with the accessible grounding technique of EFT Tapping to help you gently shed layers of stress and trauma and step into your authentic self. Give yourself the gift of an embodied experience and create space for profound integration and personal growth.

Can't wait to see you there!

XOXO

Laurie and Claire

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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In this episode of The Empowered Adoptee Podcast, we explore the evolution of National Adoption Month (NAAM) and how adoptees across the world are reclaiming it as National Adoptee Month.

What began as a government initiative to promote adoption has transformed into a powerful movement led by adoptees, a movement rooted in truth-telling, healing, advocacy, and empowerment.

We break down the history of NAAM, how it was originally created, and why its messaging often centered adoptive parents and agencies rather than the lived experiences of adoptees. And most importantly, we talk about why adoptees today are flipping the script and reshaping the month into a space that reflects complexity, honesty, and the full emotional landscape of adoption.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The origins of National Adoption Month and its original purpose
• Why the traditional narrative felt incomplete and often silencing for adoptees
• The rise of #FlipTheScript, #AdopteeVoices, and the shift toward National Adoptee Month
• How centering adoptee truth brings more compassion, awareness, and integrity to the conversation
• The emotional impact NAAM can have on adoptees and how this reclamation offers healing
• Our personal reflections on how NAAM has changed for us over the years
• What this shift means for advocacy, identity, and community connection today

We hope this episode helps listeners understand how adoptees are expanding the narrative not to erase the joy or gratitude some feel, but to create space for the whole story: the loss, the grief, the resilience, the identity work, and the empowerment that comes from owning our truth.

If you're an adoptee, we see you.
 If you're reclaiming National Adoption Month in your own way, we honor you.

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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As we enter National Adoptee Awareness Month (NAAM), we’re dedicated to giving adoptees the seat at the table to tell their own stories and define their own narrative. Join us for an incredibly heartfelt discussion with Kim, a Korean Adoptee (KAD) who shares her unique, and often-criticized, story of having a very positive adoptee experience.

Kim is close to her adoptive parents and currently has no interest in a birth search. Yet, after attending her first KAAN conference in 2022, she was surprised to realize the vast spectrum of adoptee experiences. 

In This Episode:

• Finding Her Voice: Kim opens up about initially suppressing her positive story after being criticized and told she must be "in the fog" or "too young" to know the truth.
• The Power of Community: Hear how connecting with her "tribe" within the KAD community gave her the courage to step into leadership roles and share her joyful narrative, which has since inspired others with positive experiences to speak up.
• Why It Matters: Kim explains why she feels called to ensure that positive stories are represented and celebrated, affirming that all adoptee stories deserve to be heard.
• Creating Connection: Learn about the local and virtual communities Kim is building, including her KAD Health & Fitness Facebook Group.

Tune in to be encouraged by Kim’s warmth, leadership, and commitment to inclusivity within the adoptee community.

Connect with Kim & Her Work:

• Local Group Instagram: @SouthCentralPAKADs
• KAD Health & Fitness (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/share/g/17bA9FTby1/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Kim's Personal Instagram: @hye_kimmm
• Kim's Photography Instagram: @GaileyFittingPhotography

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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In this heartfelt and honest episode of The Empowered Adoptee Podcast, we explore how coping mechanisms and addictions often develop as survival strategies for adoptees navigating loss, identity, and attachment wounds.

Through personal stories and open conversation, we talk about how emotional and physical addictions can take root from people-pleasing and perfectionism to substance use, workaholism, or emotional avoidance and how these patterns were once necessary forms of protection.

Together, we uncover how healing begins when we bring compassion to these parts of ourselves, understand the deeper needs beneath them, and begin to replace survival patterns with true self-nurturing, connection, and community care.

This episode invites adoptees to gently shift from shame to self-understanding honoring that our coping strategies were not flaws, but signs of our resilience and will to survive.

🌿 What We Discuss:

• The emotional and physical coping mechanisms adoptees often turn to
• Our own stories of coping, breaking cycles, and finding new ways to heal
• How connection, community, and self-compassion support recovery

💛 Reflection Prompts:

• Which coping mechanisms helped me survive, and how did they serve me?
• What am I ready to release or soften?
• How can I create more safety and support in my daily life?

🌟  Update about The Empowered Adoptee Retreat in the Hudson River Valley, NY (10/16 - 10/19)  - New special day passes and discount bunk rooms! 

This isn’t just another retreat. It’s an opportunity to step into a powerful, transformative container of collective healing, connection, and empowerment.

When we come together as adoptees in sacred space, something magical happens. It’s not about “just talking about it” it’s about deeply experiencing healing through the body, the heart, and the spirit.

I know this to be true because I am living proof.
I once yearned for a space like this. I needed support to heal my adoptee wounds and the shifts didn’t come from talking alone. They came from:

• Reprogramming my nervous system
• Cleaning up the biochemical responses to trauma
• Upgrading my relationship with myself and others
• Finally owning my self-worth
• And most importantly… the support of a healing community

So if you’re feeling it, if your heart is nudging you… this is your moment to say YES to YOU.
Register here: https://www.theempoweredadoptee.com/

🧠 If You or Someone You Know Needs Support:

You are not alone, and help is available.

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (U.S.) — Call or text 988 for free, confidential, 24/7 emotional support.
• Crisis Text Line — Text HOME to 741741 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline — Call 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or text "HelpLine" to 62640 for mental health information and support.
• SAMHSA National Helpline (for substance use and mental health) — 1-800-662-HELP (4357), available 24/7.
• International Resources: Visit [findahelpline.com], a global directory of emotional support hotlines by country.

💬 We’d Love to Hear From You:

If this episode resonated with you, we invite you to reach out, share your reflections, or tell us your story. Healing happens in community and your voice matters.

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

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In this deeply personal and moving episode, we sit down with Gianna Peterson, who vulnerably shares her story as a Korean American adoptee. Born in Busan, South Korea, Gianna was adopted at six months old and raised in a white adoptive family in New Jersey. She grew up with an older brother (her parents' biological son) and a younger sister adopted from China.

Gianna’s adoption story took on a new twist when she became a mother herself. The birth of her son prompted a deep dive into her own identity and a sparked a longing to connect with her Korean heritage as well as a curiosity around her adoption narrative. Gianna shares her real and honest experience of growing up as a transracial adoptee and discusses the challenging, emotional reality of going through a birth family search.

This episode is a powerful testament to the strength found in vulnerability. Gianna reminds us that true healing comes from leaning into all of our parts, especially the difficult ones, and connecting with them on a deeper level. She proves that even when the journey is hard, showing up with courage to own your identity can be one of the most empowering ways to change your narrative.

What You'll Hear in This Episode:

• Growing Up Transracial: The unique experience of being raised in a white adoptive family and the challenges of breaking through the dominant narrative of adoption.
• The Power of Parts: How to lean into all the parts of your story and find strength in your full identity.
• The Emotional Reality of Search: The honest and raw truth about the challenges and complexities of a birth family search.
• Healing Through Heritage: The beautiful and emotional journey of connecting with Korean culture as an adult and the profound impact of owning your narrative.

This is a must-listen for anyone who has felt lost in their identity, is navigating the complexities of adoption, or is simply seeking a reminder that sharing our truths can be part of our powerful path to healing and empowerment.

If Gianna's story touched you and sparked an interest to learn more, feel free to  connect with her!

email: [email protected] 

Instagram: journeyswithgianna

Update about The Empowered Adoptee Retreat in the Hudson River Valley, NY (10/16 - 10/19)  - we have 2 spots left for a single accommodation!  We will be offering this chance to sign up until September 30th, or whenever we sell out.  

This isn’t just another retreat. It’s an opportunity to step into a powerful, transformative container of collective healing, connection, and empowerment.

When we come together as adoptees in sacred space, something magical happens. It’s not about “just talking about it” it’s about deeply experiencing healing through the body, the heart, and the spirit.

I know this to be true because I am living proof.
I once yearned for a space like this. I needed support to heal my adoptee wounds and the shifts didn’t come from talking alone. They came from:

• Reprogramming my nervous system
• Cleaning up the biochemical responses to trauma
• Upgrading my relationship with myself and others
• Finally owning my self-worth
• And most importantly… the support of a healing community

So if you’re feeling it, if your heart is nudging you… this is your moment to say YES to YOU.

Register here: https://www.theempoweredadoptee.com/

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

Support the show

In this inspiring episode of The Empowered Adoptee Podcast, we sit down with Min-Ae (Mindy), a Korean American adoptee whose journey is marked by resilience, strength, and deep faith. Mindy is an intuitive face reader who uses her gifts to help people better understand themselves and others, illuminating personality traits, emotional tendencies, and behavioral patterns that support authenticity and self-discovery.

Mindy opens up about her personal story as an adoptee and how her close relationship with faith has guided her through challenges, helping her find courage and resilience along the way. She shares how her intuitive work is not just about reading faces, but about creating safe, compassionate spaces where people feel truly seen, connected, and understood.

This conversation is a heartfelt exploration of authenticity, community, and healing and how discovering our truth can empower us to live with more connection and purpose.

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Mindy’s journey as a Korean American adoptee and how faith has been a source of strength and guidance.
• How intuitive face reading works and what it can reveal about personality and emotional patterns.
• The courage it takes to live authentically and the healing that comes from community.
• The importance of resilience in the adoptee journey and embracing your unique truth.

Connect with Mindy:
 🌐 Email: [email protected]
Website: https://intuitivereadingsbyminae.com/

Jewelry Facebook Page:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61575040635190

Note: Use coupon code KAD for 10% discount

Disclaimer:
The intuitive reading services offered are for entertainment and personal insight only. They are not intended to diagnose, treat, or replace professional advice in psychological, medical, legal, or career-related matters. All interpretations are subjective and should be viewed as general guidance.

🎉Special Announcement - It’s finally here!! 

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our fall Empowered Adoptee Retreat, in collaboration with @Kimchi.Healing - a truly unique experience designed by adoptees, for adoptees.  

These retreats have become more than just weekends away. They’ve become sacred spaces of laughter, healing, nourishment, and deep connection. Whether it’s sitting around a fire, moving through somatic healing practices, or sharing a meal with people who just get it, we hope you’ll feel deeply seen, heard, and at home.

We hope you’ll join us this fall, with a heart open to connection, to healing, and to being fully yourself with others who know this journey too.

This is your moment. Our special early bird discount is available now, but only for a limited time. 

Register by September 7th to secure your spot at this life-changing event!

Learn more and register now at theempoweredadoptee.com/retreats/fall-2025-retreat.

Please share this retreat with another empowered adoptee. 

Hoping to see you there!!

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

Support the show

Welcome back to another vulnerable episode where we get really personal and dive into two concepts that have shaped our lives as Korean adoptees: Han and Jeong.

You know those feelings you have that are too big for words? That's what Han and Jeong are for us. We'll be talking about how Han is the deep, unresolved grief and anger we feel—both individually from our own adoption narratives, and collectively from a history of oppression. And then there's Jeong, the profound and healing love we feel for our people, a connection that’s a source of incredible resilience.

In this episode, we're sharing a raw, honest discussion about why these two feelings hit so deep. We'll explore:

• Where our Han comes from—the pain of losing our culture, our language, and our first families, and how the trauma from our past and from our ancestors' past still affects us.
• How moments of collective struggle, like anti-Asian hate, can amplify our Han but also strengthen our Jeong.
• The beautiful and healing power we find in community, whether it's sharing a meal with other adoptees or simply being in a space where we feel a deep sense of belonging.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever felt a grief they couldn't name or a powerful connection to a community they never knew they had. We hope it gives you a new way to understand these emotions. It’s an invitation to see how our deepest wounds can also be the very things that create our most profound connections.

Special Announcement - It’s finally here!! 

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our fall Empowered Adoptee Retreat, in collaboration with @Kimchi.Healing - a truly unique experience designed by adoptees, for adoptees.  

These retreats have become more than just weekends away. They’ve become sacred spaces of laughter, healing, nourishment, and deep connection. Whether it’s sitting around a fire, moving through somatic healing practices, or sharing a meal with people who just get it, we hope you’ll feel deeply seen, heard, and at home.

We hope you’ll join us this fall, with a heart open to connection, to healing, and to being fully yourself with others who know this journey too.

This is your moment. Our special early bird discount is available now, but only for a limited time. 

Register by September 7th to secure your spot at this life-changing event!

Learn more and register now at theempoweredadoptee.com/retreats/fall-2025-retreat.

Please share this retreat with another empowered adoptee. 

Hoping to see you there!!

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

Support the show

This week, we're joined by a returning guest and dear friend, Kirsten Mathis. We want to start by wishing Kirsten a very happy 40th birthday! In honor of her big day, let's all participate in her Birthday Love Challenge by making a commitment to show ourselves and others more love and compassion this week.

In this powerful episode, Kirsten vulnerably shares her journey of growth and change as it relates to her adoption story. She opens up about the surprising emotions that have surfaced, particularly after reunion, as she navigates what it truly means to find her identity as a daughter.

Topics you will hear on this episode:

• Motherhood and how it has influenced her understanding of her own identity.
• The challenges of finding her place in new and existing family dynamics.
• Navigating relationships and how the childhood roles she held have shaped her identity today.
• The struggle with owning her own ability to receive love and feel worthy of it.

Kirsten's honesty is both moving and relatable. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by big emotions or struggled with finding your place, you'll definitely resonate with her story.

Thank you again, Kirsten, for sharing your journey with us. We're so grateful for your wisdom and your commitment to this important work.

Save the Date! The Fall 2025 Empowered Adoptee Retreat is here 🍁

It’s that time of year again and we’re so excited to announce the location of our next Empowered Adoptee Retreat!

Join us this fall in the breathtaking Catskill Mountains of New York, nestled along the Hudson River Valley, from October 16–19, 2025.

We choose beautiful natural settings intentionally, because nature is healing. And when we gather as adoptees in safe, grounded spaces like this, something powerful always happens.

These retreats have become more than just weekends away. They’ve become sacred spaces of laughter, healing, nourishment, and deep connection. Whether it’s sitting around a fire, moving through somatic healing practices, or sharing a meal with people who just get it, we hope you’ll feel deeply seen, heard, and at home.

We hope you’ll join us this fall, with a heart open to connection, to healing, and to being fully yourself with others who know this journey too.

🗓 Save the Date: October 16–19, 2025 (3 nights)
💌 Registration opens August 18th - with an early bird discount!

Connect with us here: https://www.theempoweredadoptee.com/

We would love to connect with you and hear from you! Please send us a text and share your story 💜

Support the show