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Foreign-Born Mama | Trauma Healing, Transforming Parenting, Marriage and Relationships
NOTE: The podcast is currently on pause. Feel free to explore past episodes!!.
Have you ever felt like you're doing everything right — but still feel disconnected, stuck, and, well, unhappy?
You're not alone.
I'm Nurjan Sterbenz — a foreign-born mama and trauma-informed coach who spent years chasing happiness and success outside of myself, not realizing I had to stop looking for external solutions and start doing the internal work. I needed to heal the trauma that kept me stuck in chronic exhaustion, anxiety, and overwhelm — impacting negatively my marriage, relationships, and parenting.
Welcome to Foreign-Born Mama — where we learn to heal trauma and transform our parenting, marriages, and lives.
Each week, we'll explore:
- How trauma secretly impacts every area of your life
- Why healing is the key to unlocking everything you desire
- Real tools and practices you can use to start healing today
- Inspiring conversations with experts and moms who've healed and transformed their lives
Healing is possible. The life you truly desire — filled with peace, joy, love, health and wealth — is waiting for you on the other side of healing.
It's time we heal, rise, and thrive as foreign-born mamas!
Join our free Foreign-Born Mama Community on Facebook to connect with other moms and begin your healing journey.
Want to connect further? Find me on Instagram → instagram.com/foreignbornmama
To learn more about me and how I can support you, visit foreignbornmama.com
Episodes
28 episodes
Victim mentality and trauma
On this episode, I talk about:- Signs of victim mentality- the root cause of victim mentality- difference between victimhood mentality vs survivor mentality- why it is hard to break out of victimhood mentality and hidden ben...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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29:54
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Sharing our stories with Aisulu Masylkanova
This is our first story feature with a foreign-born mama! Aisulu and I talked about motherhood in the US, how we want to be a different parent, challenges of mothering in the US and how we are navigating past and present. Aisulu brought up our ...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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51:23
Self-care for immigrant mama with Erin Hearts
I was invited to be a guest on a podcast "Self-care for Childhood Trauma Survivors" with Erin Hearts. We talked about:- How trauma affects us as moms and how it is different for immigrant moms- We shared self-care tools and how it i...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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48:03
Beauty Standards and Trauma
On this episode, I talk about:- Invisible standards we have on physical beauty and what makes us attractive and desire-able- cultural and societal conditioning of women and standards- how these standards have traumatized and sti...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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26:09
Can trauma hold us back from thriving?
On this episode, I share about:- story of how Oprah Winfrey opened a new school and how girls were not thriving despite how an amazing environment she created for them to thrive- I discuss how childhood trauma was affecting these gi...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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28:12
International Women's Day Special
On this epidose, I talk about how we, as women and moms, give away our power to men , particularly to our husbands to make this day special for us, to make us feel special. I offer a different perspective and discuss the potential old pat...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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23:41
Why do we feel guilty when we do something nice for ourselves?
On this episode, I talked about:- Turning 40 years old and how it can make us feels as women- Share my decision to celebrate my birthday big time and feeling guilt - Unconscious beliefs and thoughts in my head - where ...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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37:16
How does trauma affect our brains and nervous systems?
In this episode, I invite you to slow down and connect with natural cycles of winter season. The episode goes then to explain how trauma affected our brain size and our nervous system. As childhood trauma survivors, we need to understand the di...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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22:31
Self-Care for Childhood Trauma Survivors and Single parenting with Erin Hearts
In this episode, Erin and I talked about:- Sexual childhood trauma and how it is an effect of emotional neglect at home- Narcissistic partners and why we attract emotionally unavailable partners in life- Intergenera...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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1:03:12
Setting Goals and Intentions for the New Year as a Trauma-informed Mom
In this episode, I talk about:- the significance of New Years Eve in other countries- New Years Eve as a time to do a reset and set some goals and intentions- Difference between how goal and intention settings are done in...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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18:55
Why do we overfunction in our marriages, parenting and during holidays?
On this episode, you will learn:- what is overfunctioning and Nurzhan's story of how she overfunctioned in her marriage- why do we overfunction as moms and women?- the signs and examples of overfunctioning- how to not...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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28:58
Healing trauma through learning to prioritize yourself and creating a morning routine with Jenny Lee
On this episode, you will learn:- Jenny's personal story and how she struggled to be present as a mom- Jenny's family history and childhood/intergenerational traumas that affected her as a mom and her experience growing...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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1:02:32
How to celebrate the holidays without loosing sense of who you are?
On this episode:- I share my story of what happened with my mother-in-law and how I had to take a stand for myself and my needs- I talk about the generational gap between old and modern way of celebrating holidays and roles w...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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30:39
Power of Journaling in Healing Trauma with Becca Rae Eagle
In this episode, you will learn:- Why personal journaling can be a powerful tool in improving your personal relationship with yourself and connecting to your emotions- How journaling can help to express what is suppress...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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46:32
How to be a friend as a childhood trauma survivor?
In this episode, you will learn:- My personal story of struggle making friends and maintaining them- Why I don't have many friends - My priorities for making friendships- Childhood trauma and friendship insecurities- My ...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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31:36
Intentional parenting, self-awareness and trauma with Tammy Afriat, a mom from Israel
Have you thought about a kind of parenting style you want to model to your children? What does that look like for you? What do we need to think about and consider in designing and choosing one? Why it's important that it aligns with our v...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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50:29
Do I have ADHD or Anxiety?
This week I talk about anxiety. There’s so much that we don’t know about it yet, and it can be very similar to ADHD. It can affect our personal lives and our parenting. So, how we can spot it? What can we do about it? I share so much more in...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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18:00
How Childhood Trauma Affects Us as Adults
When I came to the U.S., I became a wife and a mom. And I was really struggling. I didn't know why though. I have noticed that many foreign born moms are traumatized one way or another, but they don't even know it. I didn't know that I was t...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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20:40
Why meditation may not be safe for Trauma Survivors?
I have been living with chronic pain for the past nine months. This all started with an at-home meditation retreat that I decided to recreate after realizing that I needed some time by myself. I would force myself to lie d...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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19:01
Identity Loss with Julie Browne
On this episode, Julie Browne and I talk about my experiences in the US, and identity loss that I experienced due to the immigration and motherhood, how identity loss is not discussed in our society and how we can overcome the challenges that c...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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1:19:38
Do you speak your truth?
I posted on FB that I launched my podcast! And I immediately had anxiety. I wondered if so-and-so would hear my stories. I even started to unfriend people. But I caught myself doing this unconscious behavior. An...
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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12:49
What do I mean by parenting authentically?
This week I go a little bit deeper into what I mean about parenting authentically. Since I became a mom in the U.S. I emulated everything about U.S. moms. I tried to do similar things as them such as playdates, classes, trips to ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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12:28
Are you neglecting yourself?
Do you know how to prioritize yourself? Was taking time for yourself modeled to you in childhood?For a long time, I thought that serving and prioritizing others’ needs made me more valuable and lovable and a better m...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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15:30
Do you embrace your foreigness?
This episode, I talk about the word “foreign” or being foreign, how it can make us feel, how we might have attached certain meaning to it, and how it can also be used as a powerful tool to guide us into who we are if we shift our perspective...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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10:48