Adult Child

212: The Survive and Thrive Spiral: Combining IFS and Polyvagal Theory w/ Ruth Culver

✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive [https://adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal] True healing begins when we stop choosing between our nervous system and our inner narrative—and start listening to both. Ruth Culver [https://calmheart.co.uk/] is a certified IFS practitioner and IFS constellations facilitator who has brought her own innovative contributions to the field, including the Survive and Thrive Spiral and her Drawing into Self approach. Her own trauma healing journey began when serious health issues led her to seek out hypnotherapy - first as a client, and eventually as a certified practitioner herself. She eventually found IFS and realized it offered her a compassionate framework to gently understand and integrate her parts, making it a natural fit for her healing journey. ✨ What this episode explores: ▪️The Survive & Thrive Spiral — How Ruth mapped survival states as a spiral to de-shame your reactions and show the real path from activation to shutdown to regulation. ▪️Freeze Isn’t Collapse — Why “deer-in-headlights” freeze is different from floppy shutdown, and what that distinction reveals about fragmentation and the “reservoir” of unprocessed exile feelings. ▪️Drawing Into Self — How externalizing parts through intuitive scribbling lowers overwhelm, creates instant witnessing, and helps protectors soften without forcing them to “step back” inside your body. ▪️Story Follows State — What changes when you stabilize the body enough to hear your parts clearly, so your nervous system isn’t driving the narrative while your mind tries to explain it after the fact. ▪️Multiple Parts, One Moment — How fawning, fighting, fleeing, and numbing can all cycle in the same trigger, and why mapping the whole cast (instead of picking one) can unlock the stuck “nothing works” exile underneath. THE SURVIVE / THRIVE SPIRAL [https://ec5e5565.sibforms.com/serve/MUIFANxKUZfjh4-UWGokmOWTYkaJOc_xqrWmpkNklKmc_5MPv03jwE__eQ3nYJhopdJEKzO_0_QGYUscA3aX5pSd8BtkjU5dGPJKVxAJv4QVdiEktDiMMfZEXgCMZpfprJ6tvt-TDCWUOj_YX9V8OO2miKYBSHMGpe3qQF7T26ubUoC-5Sh0rAg8vBv_IPUbzm0O4k4My41f1S4d] ----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co [http://theshitshow.mn.co/] 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here [https://adultchildpodcast.substack.com/] 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee [http://www.buymeacoffee.com/adultchild] – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch [http://www.adultchildpodcast.com/shop] 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod [https://www.instagram.com/adultchildpod] TikTok → @adultchildpod [http://www.tiktok.com/@adultchildpod] YouTube → @adultchildpod [https://www.youtube.com/@adultchildpod] SPONSORS Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild [https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild] Check out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD [https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD] Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com. [http://happymammoth.com./] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

SHITSHOW SATURDAY #185 - Trevor

✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive [https://adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal] ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co [http://theshitshow.mn.co/] 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here [https://adultchildpodcast.substack.com/] 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee [http://www.buymeacoffee.com/adultchild] – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch [http://www.adultchildpodcast.com/shop] 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod [https://www.instagram.com/adultchildpod] TikTok → @adultchildpod [http://www.tiktok.com/@adultchildpod] YouTube → @adultchildpod [https://www.youtube.com/@adultchildpod] SPONSORS Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild [https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild] Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com. [http://happymammoth.com./] Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/ [https://pharmanutra-us.com/] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

SHITSHOW SATURDAY #184 - Christmas Debrief

✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive [https://adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal] ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co [http://theshitshow.mn.co/] 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here [https://adultchildpodcast.substack.com/] 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee [http://www.buymeacoffee.com/adultchild] – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch [http://www.adultchildpodcast.com/shop] 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod [https://www.instagram.com/adultchildpod] TikTok → @adultchildpod [http://www.tiktok.com/@adultchildpod] YouTube → @adultchildpod [https://www.youtube.com/@adultchildpod] SPONSORS Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild [https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild] Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com. [http://happymammoth.com./] Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/ [https://pharmanutra-us.com/] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

211: Nate Postlethwait - Building a Life Your Nervous System Can Handle

✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive [https://adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal] If your life requires you to override your body to function… that’s not “success.” That’s survival. This episode is about creating a life that doesn’t require self-abandonment to keep up. Nate Postlethwait [https://natewrites.com/]is a writer and teacher who shares trauma recovery and inner child work from a survivor’s perspective. In this conversation, he shares how burning out after 13 years in a demanding real estate career became a turning point — one that eventually led him into a new path of teaching and guiding others through healing from a survivor’s perspective. And as his work has grown, he opens up about what it’s looked like to make choices that protect his wellbeing — even when those choices go against what the world expects. ✨ What this episode explores: ▪️ Burnout as a Turning Point — Why high-functioning “success” can actually be survival mode, and how burnout forces a reckoning with what your body has been trying to say for years. ▪️ Autism vs. Complex PTSD — How adult autism can be misread as CPTSD (and vice versa), and what shifts when you finally have the right framework for sensory overload, rigid thinking, and chronic dysregulation. ▪️ Overstimulation & Sensory Survival — What it means to live with constant nervous system activation, and how creating low-stimulation environments becomes real trauma recovery ▪️ Walking Away From Social Media — Why the healing space can become performative, noisy, and emotionally demanding and how to choose depth over visibility can be an act of self-protection (and integrity). ▪️ Spirituality After Religious Trauma — Why “raise your vibration” advice can be harmful for trauma survivors, and what a grounded, non-dogmatic relationship with meaning can look like after spiritual abuse. Unlearning Worthlessness: Spiritual Trauma, Repressed Identity & Inner Child Work w/ Nate Postlethwait [https://redcircle.com/shows/6cbac788-c2a3-4eaa-bce9-06845e610d8a/episodes/824483b3-c05b-4e87-83bd-5fda6f860f48] Nate's Retreat [https://natewrites.com/retreat] ----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co [http://theshitshow.mn.co/] 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here [https://adultchildpodcast.substack.com/] 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee [http://www.buymeacoffee.com/adultchild] – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch [http://www.adultchildpodcast.com/shop] 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod [https://www.instagram.com/adultchildpod] TikTok → @adultchildpod [http://www.tiktok.com/@adultchildpod] YouTube → @adultchildpod [https://www.youtube.com/@adultchildpod] SPONSORS Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild [https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild] Check out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD [https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD] Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com. [http://happymammoth.com./] Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/ [https://pharmanutra-us.com/] Check out Bioma for 15% of your order gobioma.com/adultchild [http://gobioma.com/adultchild] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]

SHITSHOW SATURDAY #183 - Navigating Safety Inside & Out

✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive [https://adultchildpodcast.com/breathetoheal] ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co [http://theshitshow.mn.co/] 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here [https://adultchildpodcast.substack.com/] 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee [http://www.buymeacoffee.com/adultchild] – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch [http://www.adultchildpodcast.com/shop] 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod [https://www.instagram.com/adultchildpod] TikTok → @adultchildpod [http://www.tiktok.com/@adultchildpod] YouTube → @adultchildpod [https://www.youtube.com/@adultchildpod] SPONSORS Check out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild [https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild] Check out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD [https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD] Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com. [http://happymammoth.com./] Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/ [https://pharmanutra-us.com/] Check out Bioma for 15% of your order gobioma.com/adultchild [http://gobioma.com/adultchild] Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands [https://redcircle.com/brands] Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy [https://redcircle.com/privacy]