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A Contagious Smile Podcast
Stop surviving and start thriving. A Contagious Smile is a globally ranked podcast providing a safe haven for abuse survivors and special needs families navigating the journey of trauma recovery. Whether you are healing from domestic violence, narcissistic abuse, childhood trauma, or the daily challenges of disability advocacy, our mission is to turn your pain into power.
Each episode features raw, authentic conversations with survivors, mental health experts, and advocates who share actionable resources for PTSD healing, resilience building, and emotional wellness. We go beyond the struggle to highlight the triumphs of the special needs community, offering support for caregivers and individuals with disabilities who are rewriting their own narratives.
Hosted by Victoria Cuore, an award-winning trauma advocate and survivor, this podcast delivers the "blueprints" for recovery—not just Band-Aids. Join our community to find hope, humor, and the unstoppable spirit needed to rekindle your inner light.
Episodes
413 episodes
What If The Real Boundary Is Love
Some people don’t just accept kindness, they consume it. We’re candid about what it’s like to be the kind of person who will give time, energy, money, and care without keeping score, and how easily that generosity can attract people who take ad...
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This Is What It Takes with Michael Mackniak and Victoria Cuore with special guest Daniel Ryan Cotler. Healing Loudly After Narcissistic Abuse
Somebody Has To Say It Podcast: Are Our Words Making Us Meaner Than We Think with Mike Macknaik and Victoria Cuore
“Literally” might be the most abused word in the English language, but our real problem is bigger than a few annoying phrases. We start out laughing about the modern lexicon that drives us nuts, from “also too” to “no worries” to the oddly form...
What Legacy Are You Really Building
The scariest thing you can do in a family built on masks is tell the truth out loud. We sit down as Michael and Victoria and talk through a chain of stories that start with a simple change, Victoria’s hair after surgeries, and quickly turn into...
BRAND NEW PODCAST SOMEBODY HAS TO SAY IT WITH VICTORIA CUORE AND MIKE MACKNIAK
Electronic medical records were supposed to make healthcare simpler. Instead, we’re watching patients get buried under repeated intake forms, duplicated medication lists, and “pre-check” paperwork that seems to disappear the moment you walk thr...
When The Likes Fade, The Truth Stays
A seven-hour surgery is one thing. The days after can be the real test, especially when your body reacts, your pain is off the charts, and you’re trying to get medical people to listen while you’re still healing. We share what spinal surgery re...
Mediumship Without The Movie Magic
Your gut knows things before your brain can explain them, but how do you tell the difference between real intuition and a loud imagination? We sit down with Danielle Ribbon Clumber, an LCSW trauma therapist in Utah and founder of Willow Medella...
Surgery, Setbacks, And Self-Advocacy
One minute we’re hearing, “You can go home,” and the next we’re being warned that leaving in the wrong condition could mean paralysis. That whiplash sets the tone for a raw, honest update from Victoria and Michael after a major spinal surgery t...
His First Pedicure Michael's Father's Day
A Father’s Day pedicure turns into a surprisingly tender milestone when my husband walks in convinced it “isn’t for men” and walks out admitting the hot rocks, paraffin, and toe rubs were the best part of his day. We laugh about gifts that are ...
How The Guardian Model Rebuilds Mental Health Care
The fastest way to break a person isn’t always the illness; it’s the system that treats them like a number and calls it “care.” We sit down with veteran attorney and nonprofit leader Michael Mackniak, a nationally recognized mental health advoc...
We Cannot Keep Pouring Into People Who Never Pour Back
Some people call you a friend, then disappear the second you stop being convenient. We get blunt about that kind of fake loyalty and what it does to your trust, your energy, and your peace. From old work “friends” who vanish to the constant dra...
When A Medium Nails The Details with special guests Danniel Worthen Cullumber and Gvnage Mishipeshu
A stranger says one word that stops us cold: “hands.” Danielle Worthen Columber has never met us, never heard our backstory, and we give her nothing to work with. Then she describes what she’s sensing and I lift my arm and she realises I’m an a...
This Is What It Takes with special guest Daniel Ryan Cotler, Psychological Warfare In Intimate Relationships
The most dangerous abuse is often the kind nobody can photograph. We talk with Daniel Ryan Cotler, author of *Voiceless No More* and founder of the Heal Loudly movement, about the reality survivors describe as narcissistic psychological warfare...
Amir Arison: The Kind of Human the World Needs More Of
A kid who has endured more surgeries than most adults can fathom sits beside a mother who refuses to let trauma be the last word. Then our guest, an actor best known for his work on The Blacklist, steps in with a mix of warmth, honesty, and wil...
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Amir Arison Beyond The Blacklist: Why Faith's Poetry Touched His Heart
A few lines of poetry can hit harder than a whole hour of advice, and that’s exactly how we choose to end this one. We wrap up by reading a poem from Faith Cure Solomon that puts a mother-daughter relationship into plain, vivid words: shared hu...
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Care Coalition Caregiving Guests of Kellan Fluckinger
When you’re trying to keep a loved one safe, get the right diagnosis, or survive a crisis, the healthcare system can feel less like support and more like a test you did not study for. We sit down with attorney and systems advocate Michael Magni...
A Medium Names The Missing Hand
She said one word that changed the whole room: hands. Danielle Worthing Columber had never met Victoria before, didn’t know her history, and was doing a true cold read when that detail landed and the camera revealed an amputation. What follows ...
What A Roast Reveals About How We See Ourselves
You’re getting a front-row seat to a special kind of family chaos: we hand the mic to the crew, announce a roast of Michael, and let the night spiral in the funniest way possible. What starts as trip talk and a Stranger Things tour recap turns ...
Schizophrenia And The Long Road Back
A schizophrenia diagnosis can feel like your future just collapsed into one terrifying question: what happens now? We talk with Matthew Dixon, founder of MindAid and the first person living with schizophrenia to bicycle across Canada twice, abo...
Five Hard Truths About Caregiving Rights And Advocacy
“HIPAA” gets blamed for everything, families get shut out, and a loved one in crisis gets reduced to a label and a sedative. We’re not doing that. Michael Makniak and Victoria Cure unpack the real-world misconceptions that derail caregiving and...
Breaking The Silence On Abuse
A lot of people say they want survivors to “speak up” until the story gets messy, angry, and specific. We go there. We talk about domestic violence and coercive control the way it actually shows up: not as a single incident, but as a system of ...
Trauma Recovery Through Laughter and Honest Marriage Talk
Caregiver resilience stories come alive when you laugh through the hard moments. Your body can outpace your mind, and when sciatic nerve pain hits while life demands everything, standing tall means honest marriage talk, real laughter, and askin...
Surviving Financial Crisis | The Resilience Story You Need to Hear
When Anil Gupta's wife heard "we're homeless," she smiled. That single reaction becomes the foundation for trauma recovery, not from abuse, but from the identity collapse of financial ruin. In the 2008 crisis, Anil lost everything and convinced...
Navigating Addiction, Mental Illness & Trauma | Civil Rights with Mark Astor with special guest Mark Astor
When love alone won't stop the spiral, families need answers. A parent's worst nightmare: substance use disorder and mental illness collide, triggering crisis calls, involuntary holds, and court battles. Trauma recovery isn't just emotional; it...
A Private Message From Grandparents And A Skeptic’s Reaction
One conversation can shake your certainty, even if you’re the type of person who normally needs proof. We sit down and tell the story of meeting Danielle, a therapist who is also a medium, and why what she shared stopped us cold. Victoria is ca...