Parenting through the storm-- Adoption, trauma, acceptance, and humility
Back from the Abyss: Psychiatry in Stories | Psychotherapy, Trauma, and Psychedelics
11/14/25
•61m
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BFTA storyteller Frank shares the joy, confusion, chaos, utter fear, and deepest gratitude when he and his partner Brad adopted and raised two boys, ages 4 and 2, from the foster care system. Twenty years ago, when Frank adopted the boys, trauma was not in the public awareness as it is today, and he was told that these little boys, who had spent some time in a meth house, might well have some challenges.....but he never could have expected what awaited.
Can love overcome trauma? Can stability and structure and patience and compassion adequately compensate for profound early childhood neglect and abuse? Frank’s story is just one example, but it’s a beautiful one, these two dads trying to find a way to heal deep attachment wounds without a roadmap.
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Previous Episode
Rachael, a trauma therapist and today's storyteller, describes how her early childhood abuse was buried by the protective mechanism of dissociative amnesia. As Rachael wrote to Dr. H, “The only way I could continue to live, with no way out, with no one to tell, with no words even to describe what was happening to me, was to forget what was happening to me....when our minds forget, our bodies remember.”
Rachael saved herself by forgetting, then was forced to finally face what happened to her when her body carried out its ultimate rebellion in the context of having her third child, her first girl....a little baby girl, with no one to protect her....or at least that’s what the terrible and unrelenting obsessions began to say.
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Rachael Parsons Svendsen
https://www.rachaelsvendsen.com/
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The BFTA CODEX is a listener-built and curated field guide to every episode.
"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?" An intensive experiential workshop exploring transference with Dr. H and Dr. Hillary McBride, June 18-20 2026 in Vancouver BC
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/i-love-you-i-hate-you-are-you-my-mom/
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Next Episode
Is DID real? Parts, alters, exiles, and what's allowed in the therapeutic space
November 28, 2025
•67m
Dr. H sits down with Jade Miller, a peer support specialist and advocate for public education about DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder). In the first part of this episode, Jade shares her story and how she came to understand that the puzzling gaps and often frightening incongruities in her life were caused by her rotating through a number of dissociated identities or alters, initially protecting her... but eventually leaving her powerless to stop repeated traumatization. Jade and Dr. H then talk shop about DID and Jade challenges some of Dr. H's long held beliefs.
Jade Miller
https://peersupportformultiples.com/
Support the show!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/396871/support
Explore the podcast through themes, domains, formats, and speakers.
The BFTA CODEX is a listener-built and curated field guide to every episode.
"I Love You, I Hate You, Are You My Mom?" An intensive experiential workshop exploring transference with Dr. H and Dr. Hillary McBride, June 18-20 2026 in Vancouver BC
https://www.craigheacockmd.com/i-love-you-i-hate-you-are-you-my-mom/
BFTA episode recommendations/Podcast page
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