Trauma for Breakfast

Join me as I speak to a Sheriff in Arizona who is trauma-informed and pushing out programs that truly help. You do not want to miss this truly informative podcast on how a county is dealing with substance-use disorder in a different way.

Even when we finish the interview, our producer keeps the tape rolling. This producer's outtake with Doug Dolan is excellent information for those who are dealing with addiction and treatment.

What are barriers to recovery?
What does effective treatment look like?
What do I look for in a treatment center?

This episode is a must-listen. 
Join me as I talk to Doug Dolan, COO of Recovery in the Pines.

Doug began his own recovery walk on April 19, 1997. He has experienced many life-defining moments, including the passing of his brother, Andy, to an overdose, the loss of his close, childhood friend, Craig, to a suicide, to extreme financial highs and lows, almost losing his wife, Donna, to significant health issues, and significant marital strains.

He intimately understands the personal despair, hopelessness and destruction experienced by active alcoholics and addicts and their loved ones. 

Tara Sundem, RN, NNP-BC, MS, used to think the best place for babies going through withdrawal was not with their parents. Sundem admits that she, like many of her colleagues, used to judge parents when newborns in her neonatal ICU were going through withdrawal.

The journey started when Sundem was working in a hospital NICU and noticed growing numbers of babies in withdrawal. The opioid epidemic was affecting the most vulnerable at an alarming rate.

Centers for Disease Control reports that there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States  in 2021. Prenatal maternal drug-use has increased considerably in recent years. This increase has contributed to a significant rise in the rate of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a collection of symptoms in newborns exposed to any of a variety of substances in utero, including opioids.

Babies born with NAS (neonatal abstinence syndrome), require a complex and painful detoxification process in the days following birth. Nationwide, neonatal abstinence syndrome diagnoses have increased 235% since 2008.

When Tara read the data, it changed her thinking from ‘We have to save the babies,’ to ‘We have to save the families.”

Join Tara and Michael White as they talk about their upstream approach to family preservation.

You will not want to miss this episode. Join three moms who talk about all-the-things parenting and working with teens. 

Between the three of us, we are parenting 21 children, have lots of letters behind our names and countless years of experience navigating the hardest and best job in the world...PARENTING. 

This podcast episode is a must for every parent and professional working with teens.

From foster care, abuse, and homelessness, Gaelin's adverse childhood communicated that he wasn’t worthy of belonging.

This belief greatly impacted how he navigated life and relationships. Namely, running away from anything that required vulnerability.

It’s one thing to “not belong.” It’s entirely different to believe that you are unworthy and incapable of belonging.

Gaelin believes that this gap in belonging isn’t a burden that any youth should carry alone. It only cements the harmful beliefs they already have. Instead it should be shouldered by the caring and knowledgeable adults in their lives.

On today's podcast, Gaelin  speaks of his journey from forgotten foster youth to a champion of belonging.

From foster care, abuse, and homelessness, Gaelin's adverse childhood communicated that he wasn’t worthy of belonging.

This belief greatly impacted how he navigated life and relationships. Namely, running away from anything that required vulnerability.

It’s one thing to “not belong.” It’s entirely different to believe that you are unworthy and incapable of belonging.

Gaelin believes that this gap in belonging isn’t a burden that any youth should carry alone. It only cements the harmful beliefs they already have. Instead it should be shouldered by the caring and knowledgeable adults in their lives.

On today's podcast, Gaelin will speak of his journey from forgotten foster youth to a champion of belonging.

Join us for Pt 2. 'The Truth about FASD' as I continue a converstion with Jeff Noble.

Let's have a fun conversation about a hard topic! Join Stacey Gagnon and Jeff Noble as they talk about FASD.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to pack up all your belongings in a trash bag and get dropped off at a new home? 

A real, raw story of Shen-Quia; a young girl who spent most of her childhood moved from foster home to foster home in Chicago. This podcast episode talks about hard luck, tough love and innocence lost. Listen in as Shen-Quia recounts her childhood perspective walking into a new foster home, meeting her adoptive mom and being ultimately cared for by her church family. 

As the host, I laughed, I cried and the interview stayed with me long after we stopped talking. You do not want to miss this beautiful and courageous episode.