The Place We Find Ourselves

173 I Am Badass: Loss, A Woman's Cycle, and Hope

Stephanie Duncan Smith joins me today to talk about her book, "Even After Everything: The Spiritual Practice of Knowing the Risks and Loving Anyway." Topics covered inclu

172 Spiritual and Religious Trauma with Dr. Hillary McBride

Dr. Hillary McBride talks about her new book titled, Holy Hurt: Understanding Spiritual Trauma and the Process of Healing. Topics covered include: our deep human need to

171 Your Sexuality and Your Story: Linking Past to Present

I am joined today by author Jay Stringer to talk about sexual stuckness/difficulties/struggles. Healthy sexuality is deeply tied to the degree to which we have made sense

170 Make Sense of Your Story: Dan Allender Interviews Adam

Today's episode is different. Dan Allender takes over the podcast to interview me about my new book titled, Make Sense of Your Story: Why Engaging Your Past with Kindness

169 How to Experience the Kind Presence of God with John Eldredge

John Eldredge returns to the podcast to talk about his newest book titled, "Experience Jesus. Really." Topics covered include: how to live as an ordinary mystic (someone

168 Longing for Delight and Honoring Anger

I am joined today by my friend Gail Stucker who is a trauma-informed story coach. Gail generously shares a story about herself as an 8th grader. Topics we cover: taking y

167 StoryWork: What It Is and Why It Matters with Dan Allender and Cathy Loerzel

You have a story and that story matters. Your story in your family of origin significantly affects the way you think, feel, and act in the world today. This is why Dan Al

166 Why Your Marriage Feels The Way It Does

I am joined today by Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Steve Call to talk about the complexities of marriage relationships. Dan and Steve recently co-authored a book titled, "The

165 A Concise Explanation of Avoidant and Ambivalent Attachment

I dive into a detailed explanation of avoidant and ambivalent attachment. I explain why and how a child develops each of these insecure attachment styles. I then outline

164 Engaging Your Cultural/Collective Story

The fundamental premise of story work is that your past story is affecting your present life. This is just as true for your collective story as it is for your individual

163 Implicit Memory: What It Is and Why It Matters

Memory is the way in which a past experience affects how the mind will function in the present. There are two layers of memory: explicit and implicit. There are two key a

162 Triangulation: What It Is and Why It Matters

Triangulation occurs when a parent requires a child to function as an emotional adult by meeting the parent's adult needs and wants. Were you required to give, give, give

161 Exploring Your Sexual Story With Curiosity and Kindness

Sexuality is an emotionally charged topic. Period. But when you are talking about sexuality for people with a history of trauma, you are stepping into terrain where angel

160 The Weight of Religious and Spiritual Expectations with Reid Zeller

I am joined today by therapist and friend Reid Zeller who shares a story about egging cars when he was 16. Behind every story is a backstory. The backstory includes the n

159 Revisiting the Big Six: What You Needed from Your Parents

When you were a child, you were deeply dependent on your primary caretakers. This means that the development of your brain was contingent upon the level of care and kindn

158 The Critical Relationship Between Attachment and Affect Regulation

If you have difficulty regulating your emotion, there is a reason for that! No one comes out of the womb with the ability to regulate their affect. The way you develop th

157 What If My Story Isn't That Bad? Why We All Tend to Minimize Our Wounds

This episode is for people who experience emotional pain but feel like "nothing that bad happened to me growing up. I had a pretty good childhood." As it says in Jeremiah

156 Five Objections to Engaging Your Story: A Response

When I began exploring my story, five objections kept coming up for me. These objections kept me stuck. In today's episode, I respond to each of the five objections. Obje

155 Why Engaging Your Story Heals Your Brain

My invitation to you today is simple: to take your story seriously. Engaging your story is the single most important thing you can do to experience healing. When I say "y

154 What Grief Is, How It Heals, and the Pain of Loneliness with J.S. Park

In "As Long As You Need," author J.S. Park writes that "Grief is not about letting go, but about letting in." Letting in sorrow, letting in anger, and especially letting