The host/performer @TeresaStrasser returns to talk about her misdiagnosed, involuntary stay in the psych ward after breaking down as a severely sleep-deprived, mother battling shame and perfectionism. She and Paul share their fears and loves.
The writer/performer (winner of The Moth GrandSlam) and podcaster (Family Ghosts) opens up about the family secret that harmed his ability to trust and the eventual airing of it that improved his relationship with them. He also shares about his struggles to feel validated, included, respected and seen.
Fallon aka @FallonChavezHair talks about her life as a trans woman; her desire to be “passable”, how she feels about her voice, her experiences pre-op and post-op, the fetishizing of trans women, having bottom surgery and the bathroom dilemma.
The Iraq war veteran, author and advocate talks about PTSD and moral injury he battled after returning home and the positive effects meditating has had on his struggles.
Therapist Katie Vernoy returns to answer listener questions about therapist/patient boundaries, when to report a client (in response to a very dark survey), what therapists get wrong and how to know when we’re overwhelmed.
Al has always been a comedian’s comedian, but mainstream success has always eluded him. Raised by a smothering anxious mother, fear and lack of independence have stunted his emotional growth. He talks about the fear of independence, sense of entitlement and narcissism that hinder his growth.
Despite her traumatic upbringing and becoming the woman (her mom) she swore she’d never be, Wendy went from an alcoholic PTA mother shooting at her husbands mistress to jail to getting sober and finding her life’s purpose helping others and halting the cycle of intergenerational abuse. She is an author and certified drug and alcohol counselor.
Karolyn suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disease that affects her joints and internal organs as well as being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. She rarely goes more than two weeks without a visit to the hospital. She’s the creator of #HospitalGlam, a movement that utilizes photography and fashion to create awareness of invisible injuries and help empower patients. Topics discussed are PTSD, sexism, the difficulties of dealing with chronic pain and unresponsive doctors, finding a community online of “engaged patients” with the same diagnosis, and self-care.
Ellen (a pseudonym) shares about shares about discrimination, growing up poor, living on a reservation, riding the line between native culture and “white people things” and tells her story of grooming and sexual abuse from her father, being “trapped” in her own bedroom for years to avoid him, and how getting sober herself was the catalyst for healing and forgiveness.
She speaks about the open wounds that remain from generations of government mistreatment towards Native Americans and the stories of abuse, addiction, and violence that exist on native reservations today; and the need for healing and reconciliation for the trauma of the past.