The Resilience Project
Illuminating the unseen impacts of adoption — for all who’ve been touched by it.
The Resilience Project Podcast brings voice, visibility, and validation to the parts of adoption society rarely names - but all of us feel. Through a trauma-informed somatic lens, host Julie Brumley explores the lived experiences of the entire adoption constellation, with a tender emphasis on the adoptee experience.
This podcast goes beyond storytelling into soul-telling. It offers embodied insight, compassionate education, and a path toward awareness, strength, and hope. Each episode invites listeners to understand adoption more deeply - not just with the mind, but with the nervous system - and to reconnect with the truth, identity, and belonging that were always yours to come home to.
Episodes
29 episodes
What It’s Like to Love an Adoptee: Being Seen, Staying, and Learning Along the Way
SummaryIn this deeply personal and relational episode, Julie sits down with her longtime friend Cathy Rosenquist - someone who has had a front-row seat to some of Julie’s most defining seasons.From loss and reunion to thera...
How to Change the Meaning You Attach to Things (And Break Old Patterns)
SummaryIn this embodied, real-time conversation, Julie Brumley walks listeners through a powerful shift: the meaning we attach to our experiences shapes our stories, emotions, and the way we move through the world.Most of u...
Why Love Doesn’t Feel Safe for Adoptees (And How to Change It)
SummaryIn this personal, embodied episode, Julie Brumley shares a realization that emerged through guided journaling and somatic reflection:For many adoptees, love didn’t feel safe, it felt something to earn.Through ...
The Day Everything Changed (And Why I Created Revelation LIVE)
✨ SummaryIn this episode, Julie Brumley shares the defining moment that redirected her work from addiction into adoptee healing - and the deeper understanding of belonging that followed.She introduces Revelation LIVE
Uncovering Roots: A Bulgarian Adoptee's Search for Community
SummaryIn this heartfelt interview, Nicole Quirino shares her complex journey as an international adoptee from Bulgaria, exploring themes of belonging, identity, and the search for her biological family. This conversation sheds light...
Understanding Your Nervous System: A Guide for Adoptees and Those Who Love Them
SummaryThis episode explores the polyvagal theory, trauma responses, and how understanding our nervous system can aid in healing from primal trauma, especially for adoptees. It offers practical grounding tools and insights into self-...
Breaking Cycles: A Deep Dive into Adoption and Identity with Sydney Curtin
Join Julie Brumley in an in-depth conversation with Sydney Curtin about her complex adoption journey, healing from past wounds, and breaking intergenerational cycles. This episode offers profound insights into identity, forgiveness, and the pow...
Nothing Is Wrong With You: The Severance Cycle in Adoptee Healing
In this episode, Julie Brumley shares a framework foundational to her work with adoptees: Not because something is wrong with you… but because your body learned a different cycle. Drawing from the Satisfaction Cycle (Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen), s...
Behind the Curtain of the “I Am a Burden” Belief: What We Explored in the Gathering
SummaryJulie Brumley shares her personal journey of healing from adoption-related trauma, emphasizing the importance of body-based work and inner belonging. This episode explores limiting beliefs, the role of somatic therapy, and pra...
Adoptee Healing Beyond Talk Therapy: Plant Medicine, Identity, and Integration
Discover how adoptees can navigate trauma, identities, and healing through embodied practices, plant medicines, and community connection. Join Julie Brumley and Joni Kim as they explore innovative paths beyond traditional therapy for profound t...
Overcoming the Burden: An Adoptee's Journey to Self-Love and Community
In this heartfelt episode of the Resilience Project podcast, Julie Brumley sits down with Jennifer Skiles - an adoptee and author - to explore the deep roots of the "I am a burden" belief and how it shapes the lives of adoptees. They discuss be...
You Are Not a Burden: The Hidden Identity Belief Many Adoptees Carry
In this heartfelt episode, Julie Brumley shares her personal journey from feeling like a burden to embracing her healing. She discusses the transformative power of community, understanding body sensations, and shifting perspectives to foster be...
Surrender Over Control: The Missing Piece in Adoptee Healing
Discover how surrender, rather than control, can transform the adoptee’s healing journey. In this episode, Julie explores the deep psychological and somatic stages of adoptee awareness and how embracing surrender leads to genuine self-belonging...
Intimacy and Adoption: Why Love Feels Complicated
Slides that I shared - https://drive.google.com/file/d/13QWm6K6AIEwWYVNtO-ZNHTwB7WPscNlT/view?usp=sharingSummaryIn this episode o...
Un-M-Othered: A Revolution in Adoptee Healing
Summary In this episode of the Resilience Project podcast, host Julie Brumley welcomes Dr. Liz DeBetta, an adoptee and creator of the award-winning performance 'Un-M-Othered.' The conversation centers around the upcoming retr...
Adoption From Both Sides: A Conversation With My Adoptive Mom (Love, identity, and the lifelong impact of adoption)
SummaryIn this heartfelt episode of The Resilience Project, host Julie Brumley engages in a candid conversation with her mother, Karen, about their experiences with adoption. Julie expresses her gratitude for her mother's unwavering ...
When Rejection Becomes a Story We Live By (And How We Heal It)
SummaryIn this conversation, Julie Brumley explores the core issues faced by adoptees, particularly focusing on rejection and its profound impact on identity and emotional health. She discusses the emotional imprints of rejection, th...
From Survival to Self: The Work That Keeps Working
As we move into a new year, this episode feels especially meaningful.In today’s conversation, I’m sharing a powerful episode recorded with my longtime friend and fellow coach, Becky, from about a year ago - during a season when bo...
We’re Half Adopted: Conversations About Identity, Family, and Belonging
Keywordsadoption, identity, family, heritage, emotions, personal growth, belonging, reunion, cultural connections, resilienceTakeawaysThe importance of understanding one's identity and heritage.Experiencing a s...
Belonging Didn’t Come From Fitting In
Connect with Mike here - https://www.facebook.com/mike.potratz.2025Keywordsadoptee, resilience, somatic healing, trauma-informed coaching, mental health, self-discovery,...
When Joy and Grief Share the Same Room
In this week’s episode of The Resilience Project, I’m joined by two of my closest friends — Becky and Erin — for a raw and tender conversation about grief. Not the polished kind, not the kind we talk about in theory… but the grief that...
The Grief Beneath the Gratitude (Why Grief Is Not the Same as Loss)
The Adoptees Journey - Cameron Lee Smallhttps://a.co/d/4PYHq1pThe Grief Recovery Handbookhttps://a.co/d/b3z5QR1The Seven Core...
The Journey to Self-Trust: Lessons from a Broken Hard Drive
Here's the link to the reel about Brene's marble jar theory:https://www.instagram.com/p/DQpIryxjSZO/Here's the link to Dr. Masaru Emoto's experiement:
The Power of Vulnerability: Navigating Shame and Guilt
Here are the pdfs of what I shared in the podcastAcrostics and Limiting Beliefs -https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vwJSRMzBb67gq9vk1cJ3V5YVr8nJ4C...
Loss - The First Landscape Adoptees Walk Through
Summary:This episode of the Resilience Project delves into the complex topic of loss, particularly from the perspective of adoptees. Julie Brumley explores three distinct types of loss: ambiguous, vicarious, and secondary, and dis...