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Adult Child

Adult Child

By: Andrea Ashley
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About this listen

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.

© 2021 Adult Child Hygiene & Healthy Living Personal Development Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Relationships Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Nate Postlethwait: Building a Life Your Nervous System Can Handle

    Nate Postlethwait: Building a Life Your Nervous System Can Handle
    Dec 24 2025
    ✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & ReceiveIf 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 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 PostlethwaitNate's Retreat-----------------------⚓JOIN THE SHITSHOW — The Adult Child Healing Community6 weekly Zoom support groups · Discussion boards · Peer connection👉 theshitshow.mn.co🗞️ SIGN UP FOR SHITSHOW NATIONGet 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 ANDREAInstagram → @adultchildpodTikTok → @adultchildpodYouTube → @adultchildpodSPONSORSCheck out Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchildCheck out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILDCheck out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com.Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/Check out Bioma for 15% of your order gobioma.com/adultchildOur Sponsors:* Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://happymammoth.com* Check out PharmaNutra and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://pharmanutra-us.comAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 17 mins
  • SHITSHOW SATURDAY #183 - Navigating Safety Inside & Out

    SHITSHOW SATURDAY #183 - Navigating Safety Inside & Out
    Dec 20 2025

    ✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive


    ⚓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 Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild

    Check out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD

    Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com.

    Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/

    Check out Bioma for 15% of your order gobioma.com/adultchild



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://happymammoth.com
    * Check out PharmaNutra and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://pharmanutra-us.com


    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Show More Show Less
    43 mins
  • Dissociated & Disconnected: When Feeling Nothing Was How You Survived w/ Andy Carlson

    Dissociated & Disconnected: When Feeling Nothing Was How You Survived w/ Andy Carlson
    Dec 17 2025

    ✨ Join Breathe to Heal: A 7-week Somatic Journey to Release & Receive

    When childhood trains you to make yourself invisible, your body learns to go numb. And your mind becomes the place you live — because it’s the only place you can. This episode explores how to rebuild safety from the inside out.

    Andy Carlson is a trauma coach, LIFT facilitator, and co-host of Time with Tim Fletcher. In this conversation, he opens up about growing up in a home where strict control and chronic criticism made “aliveness” feel unsafe — and disconnection became his default. He shares how the collapse of his marriage became the breaking point that forced him to confront shame, codependency, and the long road back to feeling, agency, and self-trust.

    ✨ What this episode explores:

    ▪️Invisible Child → Numb Adult — Why dissociation and emotional shutdown can be the cost of learning “don’t be seen, don’t be loud, don’t be human” in a rigid or shame-based home.

    ▪️Dorsal Shutdown + Sympathetic Panic — How CPTSD can swing between collapse and over-control, leaving you feeling “blank” in your body while your mind stays stuck in hypervigilant chaos.

    ▪️State Precedes Story — Why your nervous system creates the conditions for spiraling thoughts, and how the brain builds a narrative to match dysregulation (instead of telling you the truth).

    ▪️Somatic Reconnection That Doesn’t Overwhelm You — How slow, structured somatic practices rebuild body awareness when stillness feels unsafe, and why “just meditate” often backfires for trauma survivors.

    ▪️Widening Your Window of Tolerance — How small, consistent “micro-doses” of sensation build distress capacity over time, so your system can feel more without slamming into numbness.

    ▪️Agency, Boundaries & Healthy Aggression — Why fawning and shutdown often require reclaiming assertive energy, and how embodying a real “no” can rebuild self-trust from the inside out.

    -----------------------

    ⚓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 Uncommon Goods: https://uncommongoods.com/adultchild

    Check out Calm: https://calm.com/ADULTCHILD

    Check out Happy Mammoth, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 15% off happymammoth.com.

    Check out SiderAL, Use Code ADULTCHILD for 10% off https://pharmanutra-us.com/

    Check out Bioma for 15% of your order gobioma.com/adultchild



    Our Sponsors:
    * Check out Happy Mammoth and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://happymammoth.com
    * Check out PharmaNutra and use my code ADULTCHILD for a great deal: https://pharmanutra-us.com


    Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

    Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy
    Show More Show Less
    1 hr and 38 mins
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