What does it mean to "work with our younger selves," and why even bother? In this solo episode with me (host, Adam James Cohen, LMFT!) we will cover this and more.

We ALL carry the wounds of our younger selves. And, like ghosts with unfinished business, the wounds of our younger selves - if left untended - can remain within us, like toxins, and come out in ways that interrupt the life we want for ourselves. Actively working with our younger selves is core to the whole theory of Second Adolescence as a framework for queer healing.

In this episode, we'll cover:

• WHY it is valuable (and, likely, necessary) for LGBTQ+ adults to develop and maintain accessible relationship to our younger selves if we seek to find healing and liberation after growing up in an anti-queer world.
• WHAT it actually means to "work with our younger selves," and
• HOW we can more intentionally do this

If after listening to today's episode you notice having a question you'd like answered or a comment you'd like to make and have either included in future Q&A episodes of the show, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com/ask to submit!

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod (IG).

Download episode transcript here.

This week’s guest is writer Jared Dixon (he/him). Jared is a conversion therapy (CT) survivor and this conversation is all about his experience with CT. Jared lets us in to his personal story. We hear about his experience growing up, discovering his queerness, being sent to conversion therapy, and what healing has meant for him. Something so powerful about Jared is how he has used his experience as a CT survivor to really turn it into purpose, through both his award-winning debut novel, Corrupted: The Truth Shall Be The Nail In Your Coffin, and the work he does with the non-profit organization CT Survivors, a support group that provides holistic peer support for survivors of conversion therapy.

About the guest:
Jared Dixon is a writer and conversion therapy (CT) survivor who lives in Baltimore County, Maryland with his husband. His debut novel, Corrupted: The Truth Shall Be The Nail In Your Coffin, won the National Indie Excellence Award in the sexuality category, was awarded the bronze medal in the LGBTQ fiction category of the Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Awards, and was a finalist in the LGBTQ category of the Next Generation Indie Excellence Awards. He is the finance manager for the non-profit organization CT Survivors, a support group that provides holistic peer support for survivors of conversion therapy. Jared is also the vice president of the Baltimore chapter of DignityUSA, an organization committed to sacramental and social justice for LGBTQ+ people and their friends and families within the Catholic church. In his spare time, Jared enjoys reading, baking, and yoga and loves sharing his favorite books on his Instagram page. To learn more about Jared’s story and writings, follow him on Instagram (@dijared13) or visit www.jareddixon.com.

CT Survivors Email: conversiontherapysurvivors@gmail.com

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

Adam here, sharing about a new thing we’re going to be doing here on Second Adolescence!

Since launching this podcast and Instagram community a couple years ago, I’ve received SO many DMs and emails from listeners sharing about their own experience, where they are at in their own Second Adolescence and healing journey, and asking me questions for advice on their situation. I also keep hearing from folks that they’d love the opportunity for listeners to ask me questions and have them answered on the podcast as a Q&A. And so, we are going to be doing just that!

If YOU ever find yourself with a question you’d be curious to hear my take on and have these included in a future Q&A episode of the podcast, here are a few ways you can submit your question:

VOICE MESSAGE: If you’d like to submit your question by voice message with the possibility of your recording being included in a published episode of the show, you can leave your voice message at: https://memo.fm/secondadolescence/

WRITE IN: if you’d like to write out your question to remain anonymous, you can do so at secondadolescencepod.com/ask.

Stay tuned for a new episode later this week, and keep posted for future episodes where I’ll get to spend time with all your lovely questions. It continues to be such a treat to get to do this, I’m so grateful you are here.