Adult Child

Andrea Ashley

Adult Child dives deep into the lasting effects of growing up in dysfunctional families—unpacking complex and relational trauma, codependency, toxic shame, and addiction patterns with raw vulnerability and unapologetic authenticity. Hosted by Andrea Ashley, a recovering shitshow with 17 years sober, each episode shares unfiltered insights, expert conversations, and practical tools to heal your nervous system and break free from the cycles that hold you back. Whether you’re an adult child of alcoholics or from a dysfunctional family, navigating toxic relationships, or healing your inner child, this is your no-BS space for healing. New episodes every Wednesday & Saturday. And damn the join The Shitshow Healing Community for live support groups and connection with fellow cycle breakers.

  1. 221 - The Perfect Daughter Trap: Learning Who You Are Without Them w/ Vevian Vozmediano

    MAR 11

    221 - The Perfect Daughter Trap: Learning Who You Are Without Them w/ Vevian Vozmediano

    You don't know who you are because you were too busy being who she needed you to be. Viviana Vozmediano is a trauma-informed coach who works with women who grew up with emotionally unavailable mothers - and she's speaking from experience. After spending her childhood as a Jehovah's Witness trying to be the perfect daughter to earn her mother's love, she was excommunicated and lost her entire community overnight.  ✨ What this episode explores ▪️Why Being the "Good One" Never Works — How becoming the easy, rule-following child was never about being good, but a strategy to earn love that was never available on those terms ▪️The Grief of Losing Someone Who's Still Alive — What it means to mourn a parent you can still call but can't actually reach, and why no one prepared you for that kind of loss ▪️When Your Whole Identity Belongs to Someone Else — How growing up performing for an emotionally unavailable parent can leave you with no idea who you are once the performance stops ▪️Why a Healthy Relationship Feels Like the Hardest Thing You've Ever Done — How finally being safe with someone can surface everything you suppressed to survive the relationships that weren't ▪️What Happens When You Lose Everyone Overnight — How being cut off from your entire world creates an abandonment wound so deep it keeps you in the next bad situation for years 🎧 If this episode resonated, you might also love: Ep 136 | Healing the Mother Wound: Why It Hurts and How We Begin to Heal w/ Bethany Webster Ep 103 | Religious Trauma & Abuse w/ Dr. Laura AndersonEp 161 | Abandonment Trauma Expert Susan Anderson on Rejection and Equating Love with Insecurity Connects----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod TikTok → @adultchildpod YouTube → @adultchildpod SPONSORS Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 5m
  2. 220 - The Trauma You Didn't: Unconscious Wounds & Epigenetics w/ Mark Wolynn

    MAR 4

    220 - The Trauma You Didn't: Unconscious Wounds & Epigenetics w/ Mark Wolynn

    What if the anxiety you feel didn’t start with you at all? This episode uncovers how inherited trauma and unconscious patterns shape our lives, Mark Wolynn is a leading expert in inherited family trauma and director of the Family Constellation Institute. , and author of the acclaimed ‘It Didn’t Start with You. He recently published a revised and updated edition of his international bestseller It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle, along with The Official It Didn't Start with You Workbook. The 4 Unconscious Themes — The most common ways we carry or repeat family trauma without knowing itThe Latest in Epigenetics — What new research shows about inherited traumaYour Core Trauma Language — How the key to healing often lies hidden in your own wordsWhat You Carried From the Womb: How in-utero trauma shapes your nervous systemThe Break in Early Attachment: Why not feeling seen, known, or soothed by your mother qualifies as big T trauma----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod TikTok → @adultchildpod YouTube → @adultchildpod SPONSORS Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 5m
  3. FEB 25

    219 - Phone Addiction Through the Lens of Trauma: The Truth Behind Your Screen Time

    This is an epidemic no one is talking about: adult phone addiction. Millions of people are struggling worldwide—and most don’t realize how much it’s impacting their focus, mood, relationships, and ability to be present. In this episode, I break down 8 manifestations of compulsive phone behavior, how to tell when you’re in it, and why “just stop” doesn’t work when your phone has become your nervous system’s fastest relief. Device checking compulsionSocial media compulsion (passive scrolling + active participation)Mobile gamingInformation/content compulsion (news, rabbit holes, constant consuming)Online shoppingDating appsWork/productivity compulsionFitness/biometric tracking compulsion Internet and Technology Addicts Anonymous Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked by Adam Alter ----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod TikTok → @adultchildpod YouTube → @adultchildpod SPONSORS Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    44 min
  4. 218 - Finding Your Voice Through Intimacy: Beyond Freeze, Fear, and Fawning w/ Leah Carey

    FEB 18

    218 - Finding Your Voice Through Intimacy: Beyond Freeze, Fear, and Fawning w/ Leah Carey

    Leah Carey is a Sex and Relationship Coach and host of the Good Girls Talk About Sex podcast. She helps thoughtful, self-aware adults who grew up in fear-based environments to stop freezing, over-explaining, and second-guessing themselves in relationships. In other words: in a world filled with confusion and fear, Leah helps sex make sense. Drawing on her own healing journey from fear and repression, she specializes in working with people from high-control childhoods like Purity Culture, narcissistic abuse, cults, and other patriarchal abuse. ✨ What this episode explores: Freeze and Fawn in Intimacy — How these survival patterns shape your sexual relationships, and what it means to rewrite them.From Transactional Love — How receiving conditional love as a child shaped your beliefs about self-worth and connection.Releasing Sexual Shame — How letting go of past repression leads to genuine self-acceptanceBoundaries Without Fear — How learning to set healthy boundaries allows you to step out of old roles and into authentic connectionsReclaiming Your Voice — How learning to express your needs transforms your relationshipsxoleahcarey.substack.com Social media as @xoleahcarey ----------------------- ⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community 6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection 👉 theshitshow.mn.co 🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATION Get the newsletter for community updates, healing insights & early access to workshops. ➡️ Join here 💁‍♀️ SUPPORT THE POD ☕ Buy Me a Coffee – help Andrea (and her cats) eat 🛍️ Shop Shitshow Merch 💬 CONNECT WITH ANDREA Instagram → @adultchildpod TikTok → @adultchildpod YouTube → @adultchildpod SPONSORS Check out Time4Learning: https://www.time4learning.com Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

    1h 7m
4.9
out of 5
1,843 Ratings

About

Adult Child dives deep into the lasting effects of growing up in dysfunctional families—unpacking complex and relational trauma, codependency, toxic shame, and addiction patterns with raw vulnerability and unapologetic authenticity. Hosted by Andrea Ashley, a recovering shitshow with 17 years sober, each episode shares unfiltered insights, expert conversations, and practical tools to heal your nervous system and break free from the cycles that hold you back. Whether you’re an adult child of alcoholics or from a dysfunctional family, navigating toxic relationships, or healing your inner child, this is your no-BS space for healing. New episodes every Wednesday & Saturday. And damn the join The Shitshow Healing Community for live support groups and connection with fellow cycle breakers.

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