Real Human Moments Project

TruthBeToldWorld with ILONA POKA
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  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

You smiled through it. Nobody knew how bad it really was. Real Human Moments is where people finally say the quiet part out loud. Stories of loss, diagnosis, breakups, job loss, and decisions still being carried. Sometimes support was there, and it wasn't the right kind. Sometimes only a couple of people ever knew the real story. Hosted by Ilona Poka, mental health educator, this is a space for the moments nobody prepared you for. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. #RealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

  1. Oct 17

    I Watched the Funeral from My Car with Alyssa Cline Spencer

    Where does your grief go when the world says you weren't family? Alyssa Cline Spencer was a young foster care caseworker, still in grad school, when an 11-year-old boy with terminal brain cancer landed on her caseload. For three years she held his hand through MRIs, ER runs, and every hard conversation, until he started calling her mom. When he died, a pandemic and a system left her standing outside a loss that was hers too, and the grief that followed took her somewhere she never expected to go. If you have ever loved someone in a role that came with paperwork, boundaries, and a title that said you didn't belong in the room, this conversation will feel like someone finallysaying it out loud. Your grief counts. Today Alyssa is a licensed clinical social worker and clinical supervisor at a behavioral health agency. She runs ACS Therapy Space, a part-time private practice offering therapy and licensure supervision, and she fosters and volunteers with Speak Rescue and Sanctuary, often with her own deaf dogs by her side. If you felt seen here, follow the show so the next story finds you too. New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.World Hello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney#FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    I Watched the Funeral from My Car with Alyssa Cline Spencer

  2. Oct 13

    This Is My Life Not Yours | Ashley Griffin

    What if being called “so strong” is why you never got to fall apart? Ashley Griffin lost Dallas, her 17-year-old dog, and three months later lost everything she owned in an apartment fire. She kept going, kept working four jobs, and kept smiling foreveryone who told her how brave she was, without ever stopping long enough to grieve. In this conversation, she shares the moment she knew something had to change, and why she stopped explaining her choices to anyone else. If this story feels familiar, follow the Real Human Moments Project so the next one finds you too. New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.World Hello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney#FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    This Is My Life Not Yours | Ashley Griffin

  3. Oct 9

    Cutting Wasn't About Dying with Janet Coburn

    Have you ever been in so much pain that you felt nothing atall?   For years, Janet Coburn did. She hid little white scars under a wristband, kept her feelings from the people closest to her, and was sure it could not be her brain because her brain worked great. In this honest conversation with Ilona Poka, Janet talks about the numbness behind self-harm, the shame she carried long after she stopped, and what her family said when she told them she was going to therapy. Then she shares the moment something finally felt different. If you have ever hidden your pain, or loved someone whodid, press play, and follow the Real Human Moments Project for more conversations like this one.  Content note: this episode includes open conversation aboutself-harm and suicide. If you or someone you love needs support, call or text 988 any time.  New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settleinto a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someoneyou trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.World Hello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney #FirstAidForRealHumanMoments#YouAreNotAlone

    Cutting Wasn't About Dying with Janet Coburn

  4. Oct 6

    It Is The Valley In Which I Live - Jason Tuttle

    What do you do when the life you planned and the life you got are two different lives? Jason Tuttle spent years being the strong one. He planned, he advocated, he showed up, and he kept every feeling in a locked room so his family could keep moving. Then one day the lock gave way. Listen as he talks about what men are taught to do with grief, why he stopped caring who disagrees, and the words he wrote that reached strangers who felt exactly the same way. Some seasons are spent in the valley. This is what he learned there. New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.WorldHello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney #FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    It Is The Valley In Which I Live - Jason Tuttle

  5. Oct 2

    The Medical System Is Not There to Make You Better

    What happens when the people meant to help you stop listening? Lisa spent decades learning to advocate for herself inside a medical system that kept dismissing her, through chronic pain, two fractured feet, a dislocated hip, and a cancer diagnosis that nearly went unseen. This episode is about what it takes to trust your own body when no one else will. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You are not alone. New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm.If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them.TruthBeTold.WorldHello@TruthBeTold.World

    The Medical System Is Not There to Make You Better

  6. Sep 29

    Abuse Doesn't Take Two to Tango

    What happens when the people who were supposed to protect you become the danger itself? Dr. Lisa Dawn Fox built a life most people would call remarkable: surgical residency finished alone with a newborn, a career saving limbs other surgeons had given up on, sixteen years leading women through questions of faith and identity. Underneath all of it sat a marriage she describes in terms of survival, not partnership. In this episode she walks through coercive control, financial isolation, and the numbers thatexplain why walking away is often the most dangerous choice a woman makes. Find Dr. Lisa Dawn Fox and herwork at Shadow and Soul Recovery: LinkedIn:www.linkedin.com/in/drlisadawnfox Instagram:instagram.com/therealdrlisafox Facebook:facebook.com/drlisadawnfox New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now,please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.World Hello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney #FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    Abuse Doesn't Take Two to Tango

  7. Sep 25

    I Will Never Be Over It

    What happens when someone tells you it's time to move on, and you know in your body that you never will? Julie lost her husband Mike after a six month fight with cancer, and years later she is done pretending grief runs on anyone else's clock. A raw conversation about partnership,caregiving, and the truth nobody warns you about: some losses do not close. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You are not alone.  New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. TruthBeTold.World Hello@TruthBeTold.World #RealHumanMomentsJourney#FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    I Will Never Be Over It

  8. Sep 22

    I Didn't Want Anyone to See Me Like That

    Too proud to let anyone see how bad it really got. Mike Robinson kept the mask on while everything underneath him was falling apart. This conversation follows what happened when pride finally gave way to the truth. If you're struggling right now, please reach out to someone you trust, or call or text 988 for free, confidential support any time. If this makes you think of someone, send it to them. New episodes drop daily through launch week, then settle into a regular Tuesday and Friday rhythm.TruthBeTold.WorldHello@TruthBeTold.World#RealHumanMomentsJourney #FirstAidForRealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

    I Didn't Want Anyone to See Me Like That
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About

You smiled through it. Nobody knew how bad it really was. Real Human Moments is where people finally say the quiet part out loud. Stories of loss, diagnosis, breakups, job loss, and decisions still being carried. Sometimes support was there, and it wasn't the right kind. Sometimes only a couple of people ever knew the real story. Hosted by Ilona Poka, mental health educator, this is a space for the moments nobody prepared you for. If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. #RealHumanMoments #YouAreNotAlone

Information

  • Creator
    TruthBeToldWorld with ILONA POKA
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    23
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © TruthBeToldWorld with ILONA POKA
  • Show Website
    Real Human Moments Project