Thriving Adoptees - Let's Thrive

Ryan found out that he was adopted just before he turned 18. It rocked his world. And not in a good way! Listen in as Ryan shares what he's learned - and continues to learn - about himself, being positive and helping others. 

 Find out more at:

https://www.booksie.com/646853-my-story

Connect with Ryan at:

https://www.facebook.com/peshy

https://www.instagram.com/peshy37

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Healing is a word that's bandied about a lot in adoptee circles. But what does it mean? How do we heal? Listen in as I run through David Hawkins' Map Of Consciousness from the perspective of us adoptees. It's an incredibly valuable tool for our healing journey.

Sir David R. Hawkins, M.D., Ph.D.,is  an internationally renowned spiritual teacher, psychiatrist, physician, researcher, lecturer and developer of the widely-known Map of Consciousness®

The map/ladder/scale https://www.reddit.com/r/ALLISMIND/comments/scf5r0/isnt_it_interesting_that_desire_is_so_low_on_this/

2 of his books

https://www.amazon.com/Letting-David-Hawkins-M-D-Ph-D/dp/1401945015

https://www.amazon.com/Power-Force-David-Hawkins-M-D/dp/1401945074

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Simon Benn was adopted at 5 weeks old and told so young he doesn’t ever remember not knowing. 

He didn't experience any conscious adoption trauma until 40 when he found out his childhood teddy bear was a gift from his birth mother. 

This caused an eruption of anger, feeling rejected and unloved. That kickstarted a healing journey exploring trauma, my roots and who he is.

He’s spent 16 years doing this and continues to be fascinated by it all and:

• working with 2,500 kids and parents in the UK and USA to increase kids’ confidence, self-esteem, resilience and ability to stop bullies upsetting them.
• conversations with over 400 global foster and adoptive parents, foster and adoption professionals, social workers and therapists as well as adults who were fostered or adopted. Many of these conversations have been for the Thriving Adoptees podcast 
• He has also run webinars for resource parents in the UK, USA and Australia.

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Have you spent a lot of your life trying to be free from trauma? I know I have! What if you could be free with trauma? Poetry can take where we've never been before. Listen as adoptee and poet Sarah shares a couple of her poems and we discuss peace, trauma and healing.

Sarah Audsley is the author of Landlock X (Texas Review Press, 2023). A Korean American adoptee, a graduate of the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and a member of The Starlings Collective, Audsley lives and works in northern Vermont.

https://twitter.com/saudsleypoet

https://www.facebook.com/sarah.audsley.12

https://www.instagram.com/saudsley

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Boom! Many of us adoptees come out of the fog with a painful explosion. Adoptee and Developmental Psychologist Sharon goes deep on understanding repressed feelings, spiritual experience and much more as we explore her healing journey to help us progress along ours.

Here's more about Sharon from her website:

I am a graduate of Harvard University, where I completed my Doctorate in Education in human development and psychology, and held an internship at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts.I have been trained in a variety of treatment methodologies and have worked with adults and children, treating eating disorders, chemical dependency and compulsive gambling.I also have a great deal of experience in conducting groups for women with post-traumatic stress disorder.

I am a co-author and co-editor of the book, Compulsive Gambling: Theory, Research and Practice (1989).In addition to 26 years providing therapy, I’ve also served as an adjunct teacher at Argosy University of Psychology in Eagan, Minnesota.

Certification And Licensure

• Licensed Psychologist in Minnesota since 1993
• Certified in Mediation for Divorce 2002
• Gambling Treatment Provider in Minnesota since 1994
• Certified Addictions Specialist since 1992
• Completed Intensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training, 2006

https://www.sharonsteinmcnamara.com/

Sharon's interview with Haley Radke Adoptees on Podcast

https://www.adopteeson.com/listen/184

Three-hour webinar on Adoption Across the Lifespan

https://mpa.ce21.com/item/clinical-issues-adoption-lifespan-87036

https://www.facebook.com/steinmcnamara

This webinar on forgiveness is coming up on June 2, 2023 and will discuss case examples of forgiveness in the adoption constellation and the adoption systemic issues.

https://www.mnpsych.org/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=480&Itemid=134&year=2023&month=06&day=02&title=first-friday-forum-forgiveness-in-psychotherapy-a-applications-to-justice-issues-a-historical-trauma&uid=339b78e80680a62a28ea4f987582dee6

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Liz's nightmares used to be so vividly terrifying that they took her all day or to get over. And depression and anxiety marred her waking hours. We go deep exploring the multiple layers of trauma, separating from it to heal. Listen in with big ears to Liz's inspirational story of transformational change.

Connect with her:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/liz-debetta-ph-d-7b4ba953

https://www.facebook.com/liz.debetta

Live soon:

https://www.lizdebetta.com

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Catie's watershed moment came when shame shifted for her. Listen in as we go deep on shifting shame through tenacity and curiosity - being mindfluid rather than being stuck in a mindset. This episode is one of the most laser focused conversations we've ever had on the show. That focus makes it incredibly powerful. I hope you love listening to the conversation as much Catie and I loved having it.

Here's some background on Catie from her website:

My name is Catie Samantha Peck. At birth I was named Samantha Claire. I was relinquished by my first mother, and then lived in 2 foster homes. At 7 weeks old I was adopted and renamed Catherine Anne by my adoptive family. I now choose to go by Catie Samantha Peck, and my friends, family, and clients call me Catie.

A little bit about me. I currently hold a LMSW in New York State, and a CCTP-I trauma certification. I began my education at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, NJ, where I received a Bachelor of Social Work degree in 2006. I then went on to obtain a Master of Social Work degree from the Greater Rochester Collaborative Master of Social Work Program (Nazareth College / SUNY Brockport) in 2007. I published my Master’s Thesis on Adoption Trauma at that time. I have practiced Social Work in New York State for the past 15 years. During my career, I have primarily served Veterans, and Caregivers of Veterans, for 10 years at the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs. I specialized in working with the Geriatric population for a portion of this time and have an affinity for working with older adults. Prior to that, at the onset of my career, I worked in a hospital setting with a medically frail population. I have additionally worked as a mental health counselor in an outpatient low-income clinic setting. The exposure and attempts at belonging to many families, along with my own genetic bewilderment until adulthood, has allowed me a uniquely empathic approach towards diversity and inclusion in my practice. 

Due to my own experience with the destructive impact of family separation, I have a particularly sensitive approach to personal and historical trauma, and the shame, fear, and pain that it causes families generationally. I find personal time in nature, relationships with our animal friends, and humor as all critical pieces to an individual’s ability to achieve mental wellness. My adoptive mother that raised me was a Late Discovery Adoptee (LDA) which means that she did not discover that she was adopted until she was an adult. Since neither of us had any post-adoption support, we had to figure out on our own that our family’s historical losses were both strengths and challenges to us. I successfully reunited with my first family (Biological Mother and Biological Father) when I was 36 years old, and they are a large part of my life. I continue to maintain close relationships with my adoptive family. When I am not doing THIS, I share my life with my husband, who is a teacher and also a helper by nature, and my definition of family, which includes close friendships, biological kin, adoptive family and furry companions. Traveling, kayaking, live music, and writing help me find my center."

https://www.truestorycounselingservices.com/

https://www.instagram.com/Truestorycounselingservices/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

With our life story missing chapter 1, it's no wonder identity can be tricky or a complete mystery for us adoptees. How can we feel good enough if we don't know who we are? Listen in as Jeff and I explore identity beyond shame, guilt and trauma.

Jeff was adopted at birth. Raised in the Bay Area by two wonderfully loving parents, Jeff still felt a pull to know and uncover the mystery of his origin. Jeff eventually found his biological roots and has been in reunion with his birthmother for almost 30 years.

Now, a photographer living in Los Angeles, a chance photoshoot with Ray Liota and discovering he, too, is adopted, a project was ‘birthed’ to photograph and interview adoptees in reunion with their biological parents.

The project has been a transformative process, but Jeff now finds himself hosting adoptee meetings at his home twice a month. Through Jeff’s involvement with the adoption community and just so happening to be a close friend of Jennifer Griffith and her husband Mark, Jeff has lent his ‘adoption constellation membership’ to Jennifer when her podcast touches the subject of adoption and foster parenthood.

He is not claiming to be an expert on adoption but a mindful devotee to living open and vulnerable. Jeff is happy to help others identify with those who have dealt with adoption/foster care issues and create a community of nourishment.

https://jeffforney.com/

https://www.instagram.com/jeffforney/

https://www.byjennifergriffith.com/jeff-forney/

https://www.facebook.com/jeffforneyphoto

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

We adoptees often believe there is something wrong with us. This is known as pathologising ourselves. Adoptee Joyce has been working in the adoption world for 55 years. Listen in as Joyce shares what she's learned about busting the belief that there is something wrong with us.

Dr. Pavao has done extensive training, both nationally and internationally.  She is a lecturer in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and she has consulted to various public and private child welfare agencies, adoption agencies, schools, and community groups, as well as probate and family court judges, lawyers, and clergy.  Additionally, she has worked closely with individuals and families touched by adoption, foster care, and other complex blended family constructions.

She has developed models for treatment and for training using her systemic, intergenerational, and developmental framework, The Normative Crises in the Development of the Adoptive Family, and her book, The Family of Adoption (Beacon Press), has received high acclaim.

Dr. Pavao has received many awards and honors, including the Children’s Bureau/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Adoption Excellence Award for Family Contribution (2003) and the Congressional Coalition on Adoption award for Angels in Adoption (2000).

http://www.pavaoconsulting.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Dr.JoyceMaguirePavao

https://twitter.com/GetKinnected

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kinnect/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.

Late Discovery Adoptee Dr Syb got tired of being mad. At times she felt she didn't want to be here - in this place or lifetime. So what did she do? Listen in as we go deep into healing. Profound. Empowering. Just like we love these conversations.

Dr. Syb is an educator by birth and a journalist by choice. She is a Vanderbilt educated, Harvard trained, two-time Emmy-award winning journalist. She is currently an Associate Professor of Journalism at Belmont University in Nashville, TN where she helped establish the New Century Journalism Program.  While Executive Director, Dr. Syb helped the program secure grants from the Ethics and Excellence and Gannett Foundations. In addition, she helped host BlogNashville with the Media Bloggers Association in 2005.

She trains educators, students and professionals on how to think about and use digital tools. With degrees from Vanderbilt University, Loyola University of Chicago and Marquette University and more than 20 years of television news experience with stints at ABC in Milwaukee, CBS in Chicago and CBS in Nashville, she is a multimedia force with which to be reckoned. Her blog is www.themultimediamaven.com and her twitter handle is: @drsyb.

She has served numerous rolls for professional associations including Program Committee Chair for the 2011 National Association of Black Journalists Convention, Chair, News Division Broadcast Education Association, 2010-11 and the Chair of the Student Newsroom for the Online News Association Student Newsroom in 2008. She also coordinated and hosted the NABJ Nashville Multimedia Institute in 2008.  She is the author of the forthcoming book The Underground Railroad is Back, Shhh, Don’t Tell Nobody, a modern day analogy about networking and innovation.

https://drsyb.com/

https://twitter.com/drsyb

https://www.linkedin.com/in/drsyb/

Guests and the host are not (unless mentioned) licensed pscyho-therapists and speak from their own opinion only. Seek qualified advice if you need help.