This week's bonus is another eBook chapter.This 21-page, full-color pdf is an exploration of 'the third key' of courageous self-expression, vulnerability. The ebook pulls content from TDP Ep. 8, 9, & 10; stories and content created back in 2021.This chapter is chocked full of intimate, personal musings. As well as an exploration of trauma, triggers, and the nervous system.ACCESS pdf download via the link.
CW: This episode contains descriptions of child abuse and reference to addition, mental illness, and suicide. Please listen with care. In December of last year, I released my conversation with Trina Studebaker who shared about the fourteen years she and her family spent an abusive religious cult (see episode #42). In addition to offering a refreshingly-honest peek into her own personal journey, Trina spoke about her regrets as a mother; how due...
IF you missed part 1 of this convo, we highly recommend you circle back to it before diving into this one, because we pick up right where we left off. In this episode, Tracy & I continue our deconstruction of 'triple isolation' as defined by Alexandra Stein, who writes:"People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a...
In the intro to this week's episode, I share a little bit about my 2019 trip to the island of Vis, just off the coast of the Croatian mainland. I thought I'd drop in a few pics to offer a visual for those who are interested. Pictured Here (in order): Walking through Komiža on the island of Vis One of the weathered books at the registrars office Three distant family members I located while on the island The cemetery where my Yugoslavian...
At age sixteen, Lindsay Spyker woke in the middle of the night to two strangers hovering over her bed and by order of her parents, she was transported to Cross Creek - a youth ‘rehabilitation’ center in La Verkin, Utah where she would spend the next two years of her life. Today, she shares her harrowing experience with us. The 'troubled teen' industry is a multi-billion dollar money machine that preys on parental anxiety and uses deceptive...
Alexandra Stein writes: "People in totalist organisations are pressed so tightly together that their individuality is erased – as are any trusting interactions among them. Everyone is a ‘friend’ but true friendship is suppressed as a diversion from, and a threat to, attachment to the cause, the leader and the group. In fact, far from finding true comradeship or companionship, followers face a triple isolation: from the outside world, from...
Stacy Parish is this week’s guest on the pod. Stacy is an artist, and the creator and host of the Full Spirals podcast. In this wholehearted convo, she & Candice discuss how Stacy’s experiences in early childhood shaped her passion for creative expression as both voice and vehicle for healing. Stacy repressed memories of the early childhood trauma that she experienced; and in her thirties, an ongoing battle with addiction required she...
We're back with another episode in the Deconstructing Dogma series!This week we're finishing up a three-part language series with a focus on 'thought-terminating cliches' as defined by cult researcher, Robert Jay Lifton.We open things up with a discussion about the impact they have on folks who are experiencing grief - referencing an eye-opening conversation I had many moons ago on the podcast with Monica Welty. See Episode 29; it's a great...
Candice returns with the second half of her convo with new friends of the podcast and co-founders of the #igotout movement, Lisa & Gerette. If you missed part one, circle back because the conversation picks up where it left off. Gerette shares what a relief it is 'being human’ after 18 years spent striving to perfect herself in a therapy-based cult. Lisa acknowledges activists who are blowing the whistle on her very first guru, who has...
Tomorrow I start teaching again. And, another reminder that the photo I posted a few days ago of me dancing is from eleven(ty-million) years ago - a point that’s very relevant to this story. About an hour ago, I dug out some dance attire that I haven’t worn in years. What you see here is what I’ve held onto after two decades of teaching - 32 pairs of dance pants, 20 sports bras in almost every color, and about two dozen tops (not pictured...
