Second Adolescence

Ep. 70: Ilan Meyer, PhD (he/him) on The Impact of Minority Stress on LGBTQ+ People

Fri, 29 May 2026 07:00:00 -0700

On today's episode, we have Dr. Ilan Meyer (he/him) who can be thought of as one of the Beyoncé's of research on the LGBTQ+ experience. His work - which is perhaps the most cited in LGBTQ+ psychological research - has been devoted to highlighting the unique minority stress LGBTQ+ folks endure, and the physical and psychological impacts this can have. In this chat, Dr. Meyer takes us back in time to learn what led him into this work, and then dives into a conversation all about what minority stress is for LGBTQ+ folks and its impacts. We also hear from him about his experience providing expert testimony in the landmark case that overturned California's infamous Proposition 8's ban on gay marriage. It was such an honor to sit down with Dr. Meyer, I'm so excited to invite you into the conversation.

About the guest:

Ilan H. Meyer, Ph.D., is the Williams Distinguished Senior Scholar of Public Policy at the Williams Institute and Professor Emeritus of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University. In several highly cited papers, Ilan has developed a model of minority stress. The model has guided his and other investigators’ population research on LGBT health disparities by identifying the processes by which social stressors impact health and describing the harm to LGBT people from prejudice and stigma. Ilan is the Principal Investigator of the Generations Study, a U.S. national probability study of stress, identity, health, and health care utilization across three cohorts of sexual minorities, and TransPop, the first national probability sample of transgender individuals in the U.S. Ilan received a Ph.D. in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University.

Generations study: https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/projects/generations/

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

Ep. 69: Daniel O'Shaughnessy (he/him) and Healing Body Dysmorphia: Addressing the Shame Underneath

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0700

On today's episode, we have Daniel O'Shaughnessy (he/him). Daniel is a London-based, nutritionist, Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner, mindset coach, and author. The topic of today's conversion is body dysmorphia is, why queer people, particularly gay men, are susceptible to it, and how we can heal from it. Ultimately, this conversation is about healing shame the world put onto us, and I so appreciate Daniel both for his work and sharing his own story of suffering and then what has supported his own healing (shoutout: psychedelic therapies!). This is an important topic and a layered conversation, and I'm excited to get to invite you into it.

About the guest:

Daniel O'Shaughnessy (he/him) is a nutritionist, Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner, breathwork facilitator, and mindset coach whose work sits at the intersection of physiology, psychology, trauma, identity, and lived experience.

He is the author of The Queer Guide to Nutrition and Lifestyle, publishing in August 2026, and Letting Go of Perfect: A Gay Man’s Guide to Healing from Body Dysmorphia. His books explore LGBTQ+ health, body image, shame, self-worth, and the deeper patterns that shape our relationships with food, body, and wellbeing.

With a Master’s degree in Trauma and Transpersonal Experiences, Daniel brings together evidence-informed nutrition, functional medicine, breathwork, and transpersonal practice to create spaces for safety, reflection, and meaningful personal change. His work is shaped by both professional training and lived experience, including neurodivergence and trauma, giving him a grounded understanding of how healing often requires more than information alone.

You can learn more about Daniel at danieloshaughnessy.com/

Instagram + Tik Tok @thenakednutritionist.

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

Ep. 68: Dr. Julian-Pascal Saadi (he/him) on What Makes People Homophobic?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 07:00:00 -0700

We all know what homophobia is but what exactly makes people homophobic? Yes, culture, religion, and media have historically perpetuated homophobic messages but not every person who receives those messages becomes homophobic, and definitely not every one of those people engage in homophobic violence or actions. So what exactly makes people homophobic? That’s the question counseling psychologist and psychodynamic psychotherapist Dr. Julian-Pascal Saadi (he/him) has spent so much time exploring in his research and he’s here with us today to talk about it. Specifically, we’ll be exploring why men in particular are often perpetrators of homophobic violence, what’s happening here, and why as queer people it could be helpful for us to have this understanding. This was such a fascinating conversation for me to be in, I so appreciate Julian and his work, and for also sharing with us his own personal story which was also just so powerful.

About the guest:

Dr Julian-Pascal Saadi (he/him) is a Counselling Psychologist and Psychodynamic Psychotherapist working with the LGBTQIA+ community in Australia and the United Kingdom. He has an interest in the ways psychoanalysis can help us make sense of cultural issues and politics. His work focuses on the developmental origins of homophobia and internalised homophobia, and what this means for Queer people as they embark on their healing journeys. You can find him on Instagram at @drjulianpascalsaadi, or visit his website at www.juliansaadi.com.

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

Ep. 67: We're Back! Plus: Guided New Year Check-In on Healing from Anti-Queerness

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0800

We are back after quite a pause! Our last episode was in June 2025, and host Adam James Cohen shares about the reason for the pause plus brief discussion about why we're returning now amidst everything going on in our world.

The bulk of today's episode is Adam guiding listeners who are interested in space to check-in on their queer healing journey. Adam created a FREE PDF reflection guide: "THIS QUEER YEAR: A New Year Reflection Guide for LGBTQ+ Adults Healing From Anti-Queerness" which you can download here. Today's episode is an audio companion to this guide, inviting listeners to reflect on the 6 key areas supportive of helping LGBTQ+ adults heal from the impacts of having grown up queer in an anti-queer world.

More episodes are coming soon. If you are interested in being a future guest on the show, guest submissions are currently open. Visit https://www.secondadolescencepod.com/beaguest to submit your interest!

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

Ep. 66: Bella Crum (they/she) on Listening and Returning to Our Bodies as Queer and Neurodivergent People

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 07:00:00 -0700

On this week's episode we have Bella Crum (they/she). Bella is a queer and neurodivergent somatic practitioner specializing in supporting queer and neurodivergent folks. In this conversation, Bella lets us into their own journey of understanding her queerness and neurodivergence, what healing and support has been for them in this process, and what somatic work actually is and how it can help us unmask, heal, and actually feel like our most true and free selves. I SO loved learning from and connecting with Bella, and am sure you will too!

About the guest:

Bella Crum is a queer and neurodivergent somatic practitioner who helps people become friends with their past, present, and future selves and the bodies that carry them—without shame, pressure, or pretending to be someone they’re not. She blends nervous system science, identity exploration, and a handful of swear words to support folks in unmasking, healing, and actually feeling like themselves. Basically, if you’ve ever thought “Am I queer enough?” or “Why does being a person feel so hard?”—they’re your people.

Links: For free resources, coaching and to sign up for the Somatic Yes course, you can visit www.rainbowwillows.org

To find Bella on social media, search @SomethinAboutBella on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube or click directly to the links on RainbowWillows.org

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

Ep. 65: Liz Rhea (she/her) on Breaking Free to Exist Fully

Tue, 08 Apr 2025 09:00:00 -0700

On this week's episode we have Liz Rhea (she/her). Liz is a therapist who many folks may know on social media for her really helpful work of providing an affirming, validating, and helpful perspective about what it means to be a therapist and how folks who attend therapy can continue getting what they need out of it. So much of her therapy practice centers on support queer and trans people and people with religious trauma and that became a focus of today's conversation. Liz takes us into her own personal journey as a queer person who engaged in really meaningful deconstruction of beliefs that growing up in a conservative religious context left her with and kept her from existing fully as herself. Blending her own personal experience with her perspective and work as a therapist, Liz dropped so many nuggets of wisdom and affirmation throughout this chat!

About the guest:

Liz Rhea, MSW, LMSW is an associate licensed social worker and private practice owner in Atlanta, Georgia. Liz is a queer-identified therapist and specializes in supporting queer and trans folks, as well as folks navigating complex trauma, including religious trauma and purity culture recovery. Liz believes deeply in the utilization of reclaiming and healing within community in the therapeutic space. In addition to her work as therapist, Liz is a Founding Organizer for Let's Talk About It, a queer and trans-centered mental health training organization, and she creates content about being a chill therapist for both therapists and therapy-goers on instagram and tiktok!

Reclamation Collective: https://www.reclamationcollective.com

Let's Talk About It: https://www.letstalkaboutitcon.com

Liz's Website: https://www.lizrheatherapy.com

Tiktok: @lizrheatherapy

Insta: @lizrheatherapy

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

Ep 64: Tom Bruett, LMFT (he/him) on Couples & Relationship Therapy for Gay Men

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 10:00:00 -0700

Today we have couples and relationship therapist, Tom Bruett, LMFT (he/him). Tom specializes in supporting gay men and is the author of The Go To Relationship Guide for Gay Men: From Honeymoon to Lasting Commitment (out now!). I was excited to have Tom on because I want to create more space to talk about the power and complexities of the romantic relationships we pursue in our Second Adolescence. In this conversation, we chat about a lot of the work Tom does with gay men, what couples and relationship therapy entails, how and why unaddressed trauma comes up in our relationships, how relationships can be containers for our own personal growth and healing, and so much more. I so loved getting to connect with Tom and am excited to invite you all into the chat!

About the guest:

Tom Bruett, LMFT is a therapist, trainer, consultant, and author who works extensively with the queer community. He is the founder of the Queer Relationship Institute, which provides therapy for queer folx and training for therapists who work with queer relationships. Tom has trained under Drs. Ellyn Bader and Peter Pearson in the Developmental Model of Relationship Therapy, which he now trains other therapists in. His book The Go-To Relationship Guide for Gay Men: From Honeymoon to Lasting Commitment will be published by Jessica Kingsley in March 2025. In his downtime, he loves theatre, travel, and collaborating with his partner to keep their rescue dog, Millie, from causing too much mischief.

Get Tom's book HERE.

You can follow Tom's work at @queerrelationshipinstitute and www.queerrelationshipinstitute.com.

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

Ep. 63: Brandan Robertson (he/him) on Being Queer & Christian

Thu, 20 Feb 2025 07:00:00 -0800

On today’s episode, we have Brandan Robertson (he/him). Brandan is known on the internet as the “TikTok Pastor,” with lots of folks tuning into his inclusive theological digital content across social media. I was curious to have Brandan come on to add to the conversation we’ve been having about queerness - I’ve gotten to speak with lots of folks whom as part of their healing have created distance between themselves and religion and God, but I’ve also heard from folks who are seeking ways to integrate their queerness with a faith as an adult. Brandan is a great resource here because he author of the forthcoming book “Queer & Christian: Reclaiming the Bible, Our Faith, and Our Place at the Table." The book and todays conversation are really about how queer folks can do just that - reclaim their faith. Even if you’re not seeking this for yourself, I found this conversation to be interesting and informative.

Pre-order Queer & Christian HERE

About the guest:

Rev. Brandan Robertson is a noted author, activist, and public theologian, dedicated to exploring the intersections of spirituality, sexuality, and social justice. He serves as the Pastor of Sunnyside Reformed Church in New York City and is the founder and Executive Director of The Devout Foundation. Known as the "TikTok Pastor," Robertson's inclusive theological content reaches over 250,000 followers and has garnered 6 million views. He has authored 23 books, including the INDIES Book of the Year finalist True Inclusion. His work has been featured in TIME Magazine, CNN, and The Washington Post. Robertson is a sought-after speaker who regularly presents at prestigious platforms like The White House and Oxford University, continuing to inspire and challenge audiences around the world. Robertson acquired a Bachelor of Arts in Pastoral Ministry and Biblical Studies from Moody Bible Institute, an Master of Theological Study from Iliff School of Theology, and an Master of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from Eastern Illinois University. He's presently pursuing a PhD in Biblical Studies at Drew University. He currently resides in New York City.

Connect with Brandan on TikTok & Instagram

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

Ep. 62: Help and Healing From Male Escorts: One Man’s Story of Stepping Into His Queerness While Grieving His Late Wife

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 06:00:00 -0800

Our guest on today’s episode is a man we’re going to call "David" - David is not his real name, he’s using a pseudonym.

We recorded this conversation about a year into his uncovering his bisexuality in his early 60s, something he started doing alongside grieving the passing of his wife of over 40 years. Prior to passing, his wife encouraged him to live a happy life when she's gone. Though she may not have been anticipating this turn, he is in a current chapter of stepping into his full self for the first time.

To ease the fear he held in pursuing gay experiences, David sought the support of male escorts as a way to ease into this world. The result has proven to be very powerful and healing, with escorts having acted as safe supports guiding him in unlocking his queerness and stepping into his Second Adolescence.

There’s definitely a nuanced conversation we all could and should have about sex work and the experience of sex workers, and that is so important, but this conversation is really about highlighting one man’s meaningful healing journey that has been aided by their support, and I am so grateful to David for offering this story to this collective work and am so honored to get to invite you all into it.

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

Ep 61: Valerie Baker (she/they) on Late Blooming After Fundamentalist Religious Upbringings

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is Valerie Baker (she/they). In this episode, Valerie shares with us about her experience coming into her queerness in her 30s after growing up within a culture of religious fundamentalism. They share with us about childhood, and how due to the level of conservativeness within the fundamentalist religion she grew up within, she felt like she missed out on her first adolescence for multiple reasons. After getting married to a man and beginning to find their adult self, Valerie eventually felt the pull to pursue her interest in women and so much followed. This was such a lovely conversation, I feel SO grateful to Valerie for inviting us all into their story.

About the guest:

Valerie Baker (she/they) is a writer and creative based in North Carolina. On her Substack, Breadcrumbs, Valerie writes about being a late blooming queer woman, coming out of fundamentalist religion, and their experience finding hope and healing along that journey. You can find Valerie's Substack at valeriehart.substack.com and follow on IG @writerwithadayjob.

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

Ep. 60: Lucas Wilson (he/him) - From Conversion Therapy to Queer Liberation

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 06:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Lucas Wilson (he/him). Lucas is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors' Stories of Conversion Therapy, which features personal essays written by survivors about their experience in Conversion Therapy (CT). Lucas is also a survivor of CT and this is the focus of our conversation today - his own personal journey as a survivor of conversion therapy, and his experience studying and knowing the experiences of other survivors. This conversation includes discussion of conversion therapy, religious trauma and mentions of sexual abuse. We also talk about what it means to heal and liberate after these experiences.

About the guest:
Lucas Wilson is a SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Toronto Mississauga and was formerly the Justice, Equity, and Transformation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Calgary. He is the editor of Shame-Sex Attraction: Survivors’ Stories of Conversion Therapy (out January 21st!), and he is the author of At Home with the Holocaust: Postmemory, Domestic Space, and Second-Generation Holocaust Literature, which received the Jordan Schnitzer First Book Publication Award. His public-facing writing has appeared in The Advocate, Queerty, LGBTQ Nation, and Religion Dispatches, among other venues. He is currently working on two interrelated monograph projects that examine evangelical homophobia and transphobia in the U.S.

Pre-order Shame-Sex Attraction HERE.

Instagram: @lukeslamdunkwilson
Threads: @lukeslamdunkwilson
Bluesky: @lukeslamdunkwilson.bsky.social
Twitter/X: @wilson_fw
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-wilson-2a0753b1/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luke.wilson.96

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

Ep 59: Steve Spencer (he/him) on Navigating Biphobia and HIV Stigma

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 09:00:00 -0700

September is Bisexuality Visibility Month, and I’m excited to kick it off with this week’s guest, Steve Spencer (he/him). Steve is award-winning bi+ and HIV advocate, researcher, and consultant. Steve is a bi, HIV positive man who is doing so much work to advocate for bi+ visibility and action against HIV stigma, and I was eager to have him on to give voice to all of this.

In this episode, we hear Steve’s personal story of discovering his biness at age 13 but then being told by a well-intentioned but uninformed therapist that he was gay and did not need to pretend he was bi. He went on to spend the next 13 years repressing his biness. Steve shares with us what coming into his biness has been like for him, his experience as a person with positive HIV status, and guides us through wider conversations about biness, HIV, and so much more. I so loved getting time with Steve and think what he’s doing is so important, and I’m just so excited to be able to invite you all in to the conversation.

About the guest:
Steve Spencer is an award-winning bi+ and HIV advocate, researcher, and consultant based on Gadigal Land, Sydney, Australia, and he is a proud ambassador of Qtopia Sydney and the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.

Steve sits on the board of Australia's national peak HIV body, NAPWHA, and is a leading advisor, researcher, and university lecturer in bisexual health and HIV, working with The Kirby Institute, UNSW, and Johns Hopkins University. Steve also uses his large social media following - perfecting the art of discussing serious messages with a sprinkling of thirst traps - to advocate for bi-visibility and action against HIV stigma.

Self-acceptance, community, courage, and empathy are at the core of Steve’s advocacy and you can follow his work on Instagram @ssstorven.

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

Ep. 58: Tyler Tetreault, MD (he/him) on Creating Spaces We Didn't Have Access To

Thu, 22 Aug 2024 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Tyler Tetreault, MD (he/him). In this conversation, Tyler shares with us about his journey as a transgender man who transitioned during his residency, and how his personal experience has lit a fire to create more space for LGBTQ+ folks within orthopedic medicine. I was so touched by Tyler and his story and the work he’s doing now, and am excited to invite you all into the conversation.

About the guest:
Tyler (he/him) is a pediatric spine surgeon based in Los Angeles, CA. Orthopedics is one of the least diverse specialties in medicine - as a transgender man who transitioned during residency, he learned first-hand how important community and representation can be. Now as a practicing attending, he serves as a Board member for PrideOrtho, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving LGBTQ+ representation in orthopedics and mentoring future LGBTQ+ identified individuals into orthopedic surgery. Outside of work, he can be found running and spending time with his wife and dogs.

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

Ep. 57: Morgan Henry Kerr (she/her) on Trying to Conceive as Queer Prospective Parents

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 09:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Morgan Henry Kerr (she/her). Morgan joined us to talk about all things ups and downs of being a queer person trying to conceive. Morgan shares her own personal journey creating her family, and shares about the work she's doing to support other queer people through the Trying to Conceive (TTC) process. This conversation is particularly helpful for those of you with birthing bodies, interested in navigating this path to parenthood, but I also found this chat to be super helpful for all queer people interested in pursuing parenthood through this process.

About the guest:
I'm Morgan Henry Kerr aka MAMO. I'm a creative, community builder and proud queer mom from the pacific northwest in perimenopause and preschool era, ha! I'm also a 14x unsuccessful IUI (intrauterine insemination) turned non-bio mom who along with my wife has experienced the infuriating and beautiful ups and downs of the fertility world and TTC (trying to conceive) process. The becoming parent phase is layered, complex, A LOT. It can also be an opportunity to deeply heal and make it the most empowering time of your life. This is why I created a container that helps queer couples make their TTC journey more efficient, more celebrated, more connected, more fun. Connect and learn more at @iam_mamomhk, and you can download your FREE Queer TTC E-Book here.

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

Ep: 56: Archie Arnold (he/him) and The Joy and Grief of Finding Ourselves Later

Thu, 11 Jul 2024 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Archie Arnold (he/him). Archie has a powerful story of being someone who just recently in his early fifties came to full understanding of his identity as a gay trans man. Archie lets us into his own story of uncovering his true self during the COVID pandemic and what his process has been like to deconstruct and reconstruct his experience of identity. We talk about the complicated dialectic of holding both envy and joy for other LGBTQ+ folks who have experiences we didn’t or don’t, the healing work of reconnecting with our child self, and so so much more. His story is one that illustrates the power of exploring who your most true and free self is at any age. I feel so grateful to Archie for coming on and am excited to invite you into the conversation.

About the guest:
Archie has spent his life working in the nonprofit and public sectors in a variety of areas: affordable housing, workforce development, behavioral health, and higher education. As a grant writer, he's secured approximately $30 million in funding for these various causes. Outside of work, he is a dad and a husband and his greatest joy is his little nuclear family. @genuinely_archie

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

Ep 55: Rohan Shirolkar (he/him) on Healing the Shameful Differentness Our Younger Selves Internalized

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 08:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Rohan Shirolkar (he/him). As a husband and new father, Rohan’s story has taken him to a place he didn’t see possible at its beginning, growing up as a gay boy in India in the 1980s/1990s. On this episode, Rohan shares with us his story and journey of navigating and understanding his identity, confronting and healing from anti-queerness, and eventually getting to the place of feeling such sense of freedom today. I SO loved getting to have Rohan on the show, and was so moved throughout this whole conversation.

About the guest:
Rohan Shirolkar is a 42-year-old Clinical Research Professional residing in Miami with his husband and their newborn daughter. He is a listener and admirer of the Second Adolescence podcast, and finds its Instagram posts deeply relatable. Rohan is eager to share his journey of growing up as a gay child in India, confronting anti-queerness during his college and professional life, and experiencing profound transformation after meeting his husband 15 years ago. @RohanShirolkar (IG)

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

Ep 54: Mod Becher (he/they) on Navigating Internal and External Conflict on the Path to Ourselves

Thu, 13 Jun 2024 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is artist and actor, Mod Becher (he/they). I actually met Mod out in real life while being a patron at his workplace, which we go into, and it eventually led to me sharing about the podcast and unbeknownst to me Mod was navigating a pretty pivotal time and would go on to become a listener of the show and eventually wanted to come on to offer their own story as a way to help others who have been navigating his own tumultuous journey’s of finding themselves. I SO loved getting to connect with Mod and was so moved throughout this conversation, and am so honored to get to invite you all into it too.

About the guest:
Mod Becher (he/they) is trans masculine actor and artist from just outside LA, moving to the city at 19 years old. His work is often focused on the representation of the gender spectrum and LGBTQ+ community. He’s starred in a variety of projects spanning from the stage to the set and is currently working on a collection of various drawings in hopes of putting on his first art show. You can keep up on Instagram @modermelon (:

Hollywood Fringe Festival: www.hollywoodfringe.org

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

Ep. 53: SJ Janjua (they/them) and The Symbiosis of Individual and Community Liberation

Thu, 23 May 2024 05:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging leader and practitioner, SJ Janjua (they/them). In this conversation, SJ leads us through their own personal journey and how this has led them to doing the work they are doing now to create spaces that their younger self needed.

About the guest:
SJ Janjua (they/them) is the founder of Empowered for Equity Consulting, where they use their passion and expertise in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging to help equip others with the tools to create inclusive spaces in schools and workplaces. SJ is a proud queer/transgender/non-binary/biracial person who uses their lived experience to guide their consulting work. They spent 5 years teaching high school level English in the US and abroad at the start of their career, and eventually left the classroom in pursuit of a master's degree. They obtained their degree in International Education and served as a classroom evaluator, curriculum developer, and a teacher trainer in the years following. During their work at a non-profit afterschool program, they began their formalized Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging work in the education space. They specialize in providing workshops, trainings, and strategic planning support to schools and organizations on creating LGBTQ+ inclusion, creating and fostering spaces for belonging, integrating restorative practices, and empowering folks to go beyond performative allyship.

Learn more about SJ and their work at: www.empoweredforequity.com.

Get their recently released eBook, TRANSparency: Advocating for Your Transgender Child at School.

Join their email list HERE.

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

Ep. 52: Alonso Yáñez (he/him) and The Layers of Shame We Heal

Thu, 16 May 2024 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is artist Alonso Yáñez (he/him). Alonso shares with us about his own continuous journey of reckoning with and healing from the layers of shame that have existed and taken shape for him. He highlights the shape-shifting quality of shame, the tendency for queer people to develop various kinds of strategies to counter shame and gain value and validation elsewhere, and so much more. Alonso talks about still not being on the other side of shame, still not being where he wants to be, but does so because he believes in the power of all of us sharing where we are in our own journeys and owning that we are enough at every stage of it.

ART SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT: On May 18, 2024 his first virtual art show opens: Quite Spectacle. It is opening in the Artsy platform and running from May 18th to August 18th at https://www.artsy.net/show/dama-gallery-quiet-spectacle.

About the guest:
Alonso is an artist from Mexico City. An avid reader of fiction he is interested in exploring ways to tell stories through images and translate emotion into color. You can connect with Alonso and follow his art at @laber.intos.

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

Ep. 51: Helping LGBTQ+ Elders Thrive and Feel Seen with SAGE

Thu, 02 May 2024 07:00:00 -0700

This week, we dive into a conversation about the experience of LGBTQ+ elderhood in the United States with two women who work with SAGE, the world's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ elders and their caregivers: Sadiya Abjani (she/her), Director of Training and Instructional Design for SAGECare, and Darcy Connors (she/her), Executive Director of SAGEServes.

Both women offer their experience, hearts, and wisdom as we talk about the wide range of experiences LGBTQ+ elders have, the need for greater awareness of their experiences, the need for increased inclusivity and safety in spaces LGBTQ+ elders are existing within today, and so much more!

More About SAGE:
Established in 1978, SAGE is the world’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ elders and their caregivers. The organization provides a wide variety of programs and services for LGBTQ+ elders, both in New York and nationwide, to ensure LGBTQ+ elders are given the resources they need to age with respect and dignity. SAGE also conducts advocacy efforts for LGBTQ+ elders and their caregivers and does so in many forms, such asmobilizing people when rights are at stake, educating policymakers about LGBTQ+ aging issues, marching and rallying with LGBTQ+ allies and more. Visit www.sageusa.org for more.

For more about this episode and others, visit www.secondadolescenepod.com and @secondadolescencepod (IG).

Ep 50: Working With Our Younger Selves to Deepen Queer Healing

Thu, 11 Apr 2024 07:00:00 -0700

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.

Ep 49: Jared Dixon (he/him) on Recovery from the Trauma of Conversion Therapy

Thu, 25 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0800

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.

Listeners! Submit YOUR Questions for Q&A Episodes!

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 11:00:00 -0800

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.

Ep. 48: Bi+ (In)visibility w/ Meg O'Neill (she/her) and Rebecca Minor, LCSW (she/her)

Thu, 11 Jan 2024 06:00:00 -0800

This week we have two guests joining us, Meg O’Neill and returning guest to the pod, Gender Specialist therapist and educator Rebecca Minor (from episode 36!). They are the women behind bi+(in)visibility, a community and supportive space for folks who are discovering their biness and queerness later in life.

In this conversation, we chat about their group, Meg’s own personal story of understanding her bi identity in her late thirties, and about the wide variety of experiences folks can have when uncovering and integrating their biness into their lives, including:

the experience of bi folks, pan folks, and queer folks who are in straight presenting relationships,
how compulsory heterosexuality can become so deeply engrained for folks and lead to many bi and pan folks to acknowledge their own queerness,
the ways our culture seems more permissive and inclusive of women and femmes to be bi but not men,
the experience of feeling “not queer enough,”
navigating the privilege of straight passability and the need to not have our identities erased,
and so much more!

About the guests:
Meg O'Neill (she/her) seems like the "typical" suburban PTO mom. Married to her husband, Matt, of 13 years. Mom of three kids. Business owner, avid reader and passionate about all things equity. Enter lots of time at home during COVID and TikTok and she soon realized she needed to be more vocal about the other side of her life that he kept quiet for years. Deep on a healing journey of realizing she was neurodivergent, and bisexual, she started sharing more about these topics and soon realized other people desired community around being bisexual in a heter-presenting relationship. Meg and Rebecca started a monthly online group called bi+(in)visibility where people can come together to explore the topic of bisexuality. You can learn more about the group and sign up here.

Rebecca Minor, MSW, LICSW (she/her) is a neuroqueer femme, clinician, consultant, and educator specializing in the intersection of trauma, gender, and sexuality. As a Gender Specialist, Rebecca partners with trans and gender nonconforming youth through their journey of becoming, and is a guide to their parents in affirming it. Rebecca is part-time faculty at Boston University School of Social work and always works through a lens that is neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and resilience-oriented. In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca has provided cultural humility training and consultation to organizations, schools, and businesses for the past decade. You can follow her work on IG at @gender.specialist or visit www.genderspecialist.com.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 47: Dr. Leah Goodman (she/they) on Support Groups & Group Therapy for Queer Healing

Thu, 21 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is Leah Goodman, OTD, OTR/L, MSW, CYT (she/they). Leah is a therapist and education manager at The Expansive Group, a collective of queer and trans affirming therapists, led by Casey Tanner (also known on instagram as @queersextherapy). At The Expansive Group, Leah runs a support group for LGBTQ+ folks who are coming into/discovering their identity in adulthood (essentially going through their Second Adolescence!). This is the reason why I wanted to talk with Leah!

In this episode, we talk all things support groups and group therapy, and how these can be tools to support LGBTQ+ healing and liberation. Leah lets us in to really what goes on in a group, discusses the various obstacles/fears/stigmas that might keep people from pursuing joining a support group, why its particularly a fun and powerful space for LGBTQ+ folks, and so much more. This was such a tender conversation, I’m so grateful to Leah for joining us!

About the guest:
Dr. Leah Goodman (she/they) is a queer-identified therapist and educator based in Chicago, IL. She strives to build inclusive spaces full of warmth, humor, and affirmation, and finds joy in supporting folks as they navigate identity, relationships, sexuality, self-worth, and life transitions. Leah is a doctoral-level licensed occupational therapist and trained social worker with substantial educator experience in the fields of mental health, well-being and sex education. She has worked as a university professor, curriculum developer, and consultant, and is currently a therapist and the education manager at The Expansive Group. She is also a certified yoga instructor. For more about Leah, visit their website here.

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

Ep 46: Nathan Serrato (they/he) and the Identities We Adapted to Defend Against Shame

Thu, 07 Dec 2023 07:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is Nathan Serrato (they/he). Nathan is a PCC Certified Life Coach, Trauma Informed Yoga and Breathwork Instructor, and Queer Mindset Coach. Nathan helps queer folks overcome and heal from shame and religious trauma. In this conversation, Nathan and I chatted about so many aspects under the greater umbrella of queer healing, including:

the various identities and roles our younger selves learned to take on to maintain value in response to internalized shame.
the different ways internalized shame can show up in our unconscious patterns of behavior and ways of being
how we have come to internalize beliefs about success
how healing is a combination of both intentional healing work and simply living our lives,
the potential trickiness of over-identifying with our traumas.
sobriety and substance use within the queer community
and more!

I so loved getting time with Nathan, and am excited to invite you into the conversation.

About the guest:

Nathan helps queer leaders in visionaries overcome religious shame so they can live fully expressed lives. As a Trauma informed Yoga & Breathwork Instructor and PCC Certified Life Coach, Nathan Serrato takes a holistic approach to transformation by combining somatic techniques with identity shift coaching. Together these modalities provide a profound transformation to support people towards deeper intimacy, spiritual reclamation and living a purpose driven life. Visit www.queerconscious.com for more about Nathan.

www.secondadolescencepod.com
@secondadolescencepod (IG)

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 45: Queer Style Coach, Tess Clabby (they/them) on Finding Your Style as a Tool for Queer Healing

Thu, 30 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is queer style coach, Tess Clabby (they/them), and wow - this was such a fun, playful, and meaningful episode. At its core, this episode with Tess is an invitation for all of us to get more attuned to our most true and free self. Tess talks with us about how fashion and style can be tools for us to intentionally explore and uncover who we are and heal from internalized anti-queerness and anti-transness. Tess shares with us about what it means to be a queer style coach, where to even begin when wanting to explore finding the style that feels most right for us, common blocks that get in peoples' way of finding their style, how style can be an impactful way for us to connect with our Kid Self, and SO much more!

About the guest:
Tess Clabby (they/them) is a queer style coach and multimedia artist. Tess works with queer, trans, and nonbinary folks to help them heal their relationship with clothes and start expressing a more authentic and expansive version of themselves through personal style. They believe that our clothes should bring us joy and that everyone deserves to have a closet full of clothes that fit their body, their personality, and their gender expression. When they’re not transforming the world through queer fashion one client at a time, Tess is probably busy collaborating with their partner Dicapria on their next giant monster puppet. You can find Tess on instagram @topstitchbitch and you can learn more about their work at www.topstitchbitch.com

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 44: Khalid El Khatib (he/him) and The Nonlinear Path to Queer Healing

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is writer Khalid El Khatib (he/him). I originally invited Khalid onto the show after a tweet of his was sent to me that so embodied the healing process in Second Adolescence, and I'm so glad I did. Some of you may know him and his story as the person who went viral with his mom for her 'home for the holiday' food plan. We do get a fun behind the scenes of this experience (appearance on the Today show included!) but also Khalid comes onto the show to share about his own personal journey of navigating identity, coming out, and the messy, growthful process of finding ourselves. I so loved getting to talk with Khalid and am excited to invite you all into the conversation.

About the guest:
Khalid is a New York-based writer and marketer. He works for a tech company and contributes as a freelancer to various outlets on topics such as art, food, and LGBTQ+ issues. He's also working on his first book. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram @kmelkhat.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 43: Aimy Tien (she/they) of The Queer Joy Project

Thu, 16 Nov 2023 06:00:00 -0800

On this week's episode we have artist and founder of The Queer Joy Project, Aimy Tien (she/they). The Queer Joy Project is a multimedia project that celebrates queer stories: daily lived experiences, moments of happiness and serenity — each a form of resistance against today’s political climate. Through interviews with LGBTQIA+ subjects around the world and archival research, creator Tien reminds us not only of the world we are trying to build, but the community and happiness people find, even in the margins.

About the guest:
Aimy Tien (she/they) is an award-winning multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago. As an actor, writer, director, and producer, Aimy, a queer Vietnamese Chinese American, is driven by narrative plenitude, bringing the stories of people of color and marginalized groups to the page, stage, and screen. She is the founder of tinheart productions where they are developing multiple narrative projects centered on the intersections of race, healing, and sexuality. Outside of their film and stage work, Aimy facilitates conversations and workshops around the country on storytelling, queer advocacy, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. For more information about previous work and upcoming projects, you can visit their website AimyTien.com or follow them @AimyTien.

www.secondadolescencepod.com
www.instagram.com/secondadolescencepod

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 42: Eli Lawliet, PhD on Supporting Ourselves and Our Community Through Social and Political Stress

Thu, 09 Nov 2023 07:00:00 -0800

Today's guest is Eli Lawliet, PhD (he/him), known by many as The Gender Doula. This is the conversation to listen to for any of you who may be feeling some stress, anxiety, and fear in response to the continuously challenging political landscapes of our world. Anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is being proposed, passed, and upheld all throughout the world, and here in the United States we are anticipating a 2024 Presidential Election year. Eli grounds us all with such great invitations and advice for how to navigate these challenging times.

In addition to offering great resourcing practices and invitations for the listener navigating political stress and fear, Eli also talks with us about such things as:

transness and queerness as spiritual practices
the power of being in relationship with our trans and queer ancestors
what his work as a gender doula entails,
and how we all need to heal our relationship with gender

For Eli's blog, visit here.

For information Eli's Breathwork for QT Holiday Stress, visit here.

For more about Eli, visit www.thegenderdoula.com and @thegenderdoula on IG.

About the guest:
Eli Lawliet, Ph.D., (he/him) is The Gender Doula - offering full-spectrum support to folks who are transitioning, questioning, or exploring their gender. He also uses his broad training to create workshops, classes, and resources to help gender expansive folks thrive. The scope of his work is broad, but the foundation is deeply rooted in transness as a spiritual practice. He lives in Los Angeles (Gabrieliño-Tongva land) with his partner, three cats, a dog, and four snakes.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 41: Healing the Trauma of Chronic Shame

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 07:00:00 -0700

To start off Season 5, we have a solo episode with host, Adam James Cohen, LMFT. Today's topic is on the unique experience of shame that queer people who grew up in an anti-queer world know intimately. Adam talks about what Chronic Shame is, the impact this had on our younger selves (and still on our current adult selves), why he considers this an experience of complex trauma, and how we begin to heal.

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod on IG.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 40: Tony C. & the Giving of Grace to Ourselves and Our Timelines

Thu, 27 Apr 2023 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Tony C. (he/him). I loved getting to chat with Tony and was touched by his intention for wanting to come on the show, which in his words was because it might "be helpful to some of the listeners to hear from someone who hasn’t totally gotten their life together and is still in the middle of growing up.” We talked about a shared love of queer YA content, and the power that engaging in these stories has on us, his experience growing up homeschooled and how this plus being gay led to a stunted experience of adolescence compared to his peers. I so appreciated Tony contribution of his story and his mental health journey to this show, and am excited to invite you into the conversation.

About the guest:
Tony C. (he/him) is a near lifelong resident of Southern California. He was homeschooled during middle and high school in a less than traditional household. At 34, he’s still trying to figure his life out. It’s been a bit of a bumpy road with mental health issues along the way. He's speaking out now because he hasn’t heard other people with this kind of background on a podcast. You can follow in on Instagram at @imagineartony.

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

Download episode here.

Ep 39: Aubri ('Data') Drake & the Integration of Body and Self

Thu, 06 Apr 2023 04:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Aubri ('Data') Drake (they/them). They are a long-distance backpacker, hiker, and ultramarathon runner working to help those spaces become more inclusive. On this episode, Aubri shares with us about how their Second Adolescence took place on trail, thru-hiking the 2189 miles of the Appalachian Trail over 4 years, and how engaging in movement within nature became the container for a powerful process of finding integration between their body and deeper parts of self. I feel SO grateful to how Aubri is taking up space in the world and feel so grateful I got to be in conversation with them.

About the guest:
Aubri ('Data') Drake (they/them) is a white queer, ace spectrum, transgender, and genderqueer hiker, backpacker, ultrarunner, writer, researcher, and transgender activist in their mid-30s. They were raised poor and working class. They aim to be a trans and nonbinary ambassador and change-maker in long-distance backpacking, hiking, and ultramarathon running spaces.

Aubri has thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail, Europe's Tour du Mont Blanc, Vermont's Long Trail, John Muir Trail x2, Tahoe Rim Trail, New England Trail, New Hampshire's Cohos Trail, and is 85% done with the Pacific Crest Trail. They’ve also completed the Northeast 111 4000 Footers, the New England 67 4000 Footers, the Adirondack 46 High Peaks, and the New England Hundred Highest, all in both summer and winter seasons. They’ve run ultramarathon distances from 50K up to 100 miles, and set 16 Fastest Known Times. They have logged more than 8,500 miles on their feet in the last three years, and their writing has been featured in Trail Runner Magazine, Long Trail News magazine, and Nonbinary, an anthology from Columbia University Press.

They can frequently be found blogging about their adventures or sharing wilderness photos, cute cat pictures, and flying trapeze videos on Instagram.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 38: Chris Curia & the Trusting of Our Authentic Desire

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Chris Curia (he/they). I loved getting to chat with Chris for many reasons, first being that we connected over the profession of psychotherapy as he is currently a psychotherapist in training, but I also SO appreciated them coming onto to share their story because they are someone who began really discovering their queerness recently within the COVID-19 pandemic. Chris shares how the stories of his coming out and pursuing training to become a therapist are so intertwined, which was also similar to my own story. There are so many things I could say about this conversation but I’ll let it speak for itself - I’m so grateful to have had the time with Chris and am so happy to invite you all into it.

About the guest:
Chris Curia (he/they) is a pre-licensed mental health care provider finishing their training at a small psychoanalytic institution in Seattle, WA. Their therapeutic approach is person-centered, queer-informed, relationally-driven, and culturally sensitive. Keep up with their life and work on socials @chriscuringle.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 37: Lamya H & the Empathic Telling of Our Story

Thu, 09 Mar 2023 04:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is writer Lamya H (she/they). Lamya is the author of the recent debut memoir, Hijab Butch Blues (The Dial Press, Penguin Random House). I cannot recommend this book enough, it was such beautiful and powerful book, and I was so excited to talk with Lamya all about it! On this episode, Lamya shares about the process of writing the memoir, both structurally how they decided to put it together and emotionally what it was like for them to tell the story of their younger selves. Lamya also shares about her resonance with the experience of Second Adolescence, and what this has looked like in their life.

About the guest:
Lamya H is a former Lambda Literary Fellow whose writing has appeared in Vice, Salon, Vox, Black Girl Dangerous, Autostraddle, and the Los Angeles Review of Books. They currently live in New York with their partner.

You can order Hijab Butch Blues here, and follow Lamya on Twitter (@lamyaisangry) and IG (@lamyaisangry)

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 36: Rebecca Minor & .the Exploration of Our Possibility

Thu, 23 Feb 2023 04:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Rebecca Minor (she/her). Rebecca is a Gender Specialist therapist and educator who uses her platform to further the conversation, education, and support surrounding the experience of trans and gender nonconforming youth. In this conversation, we talk about her work as a Gender Specialist and also dive into her own experience of discovering and navigating the identities she holds and how this in turn supports the work she is doing in the world. As a therapist and a queer person, I SO loved getting to talk with Rebecca and am so grateful she wants to invite you all into the conversation, too.

About the guest:
Rebecca Minor, MSW, LICSW is a neuroqueer femme, clinician, consultant, and educator specializing in the intersection of trauma, gender, and sexuality. As a Gender Specialist, Rebecca partners with trans and gender nonconforming youth through their journey of becoming, and is a guide to their parents in affirming it. Rebecca is part-time faculty at Boston University School of Social work and always works through a lens that is neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed, and resilience-oriented. In addition to her clinical work, Rebecca has provided cultural humility training and consultation to organizations, schools, and businesses for the past decade. You can follow her work on IG at @gender.specialist or visit www.genderspecialist.com.

Links mentioned in the episode:
The Myth of Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria blog post by Rebecca

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 35: Shlomo Satt & the Movement Through Continued Layers of Growth

Thu, 09 Feb 2023 03:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is Shlomo Satt (he/him) who works within the Jewish Non-Profit Sector and is based in New York City. Shlomo shares with us about his experience growing up within Orthodox Judaism and what it was like to navigate a community with limiting beliefs around queerness and mental health. He shares about his experience being sent to Conversion Therapy and then recovering from that experience, and then later walks us through how psychotherapy and 12 step programs became helpful spaces for him to heal and grow in such an empowered way. He goes on to talk about shifting emphasis in his life from growing to finally fully living, and what this means for him, what else was entailed within his Second Adolescence experience, and how Community is such a big part of both his personal and professional lives. This was a super fascinating conversation and I feel so grateful to Shlomo inviting us all into his story.

About the guest:
Shlomo Satt (he, him) is 27 years old, a lifelong New Yorker, and works in the Jewish nonprofit sector. Currently, he works for itrek: an Israel-focused organization. Shlomo has significant experience with LGBTQ nonprofits and is an Advisory Member for Shtetl: a new haredi journalism initiative. In 2021, Shlomo graduated summa cum laude from Bellevue University with a Master's in Public Administration. Shlomo is an active member of the his local Jewish community and enjoys hosting game nights and Shabbat meals with his fiancé Mattan. His dog Jax likes getting involved too!

For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 34: Lindz Amer & the Integration of Our Fullness into Our Work and Life

Thu, 02 Feb 2023 01:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Lindz Amer (they/them). As some of you may know, they are the founder and creator of Queer Kid Stuff, an entertainment company that brings LGBTQ+ and social justice media to kids and families. They also currently host of the queer and gender affirming parenting podcast, Rainbow Parenting. Their book, Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kids and Their Allies, publishes on May 30, 2023. I have been a personal fan of Lindz and their work for several years. They have done to support changing the landscape for queer youth and their parents, and so it was just so special to get to have them on to share about both their work and their own personal journey. Lindz was so generous with how much they let us into their own story and the not always easy behind the scenes of the work they are doing in the world.

About the guest:
Lindz Amer creates LGBTQ+ and intersectional social justice media for kids and families. They created their beloved LGBTQ+ family webseries Queer Kid Stuff in 2016 which now has 4M lifetime views and counting! You can pre-order their debut book Rainbow Parenting: Your Guide to Raising Queer Kid and Their Allies which publishes on May 30, 2023 with St. Martin's Press. Currently, they host the Rainbow Parenting podcast, perform at schools and libraries across the country, while also writing and consulting for children’s television. They worked with Nick Jr on the Webby award-winning Blues Clues & You “Pride Parade” music video, The Fabulous Show with Fay and Fluffy, an upcoming episode of an extremely paw-pular show, and more! You can watch their TED Talk on why kids need to learn about gender and sexuality now with more than 2.5 million views! You can follow Lindz on IG at @lindzamer and support them on Patreon here.

For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Ep 33: Chip Hall & the Advocation of Change

Thu, 26 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Chip Hall (he/him). Chip is a US Coast Guard Veteran and shares with us his experience of being a gay man in the Coast Guard while the anti-queer Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell legislation was in full effect. He was a leader in bringing internal change to the US Coast Guard and Coast Guard Academy with regards to queerness and queer visibility in the greater effort to repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Chip shares with us about all of this plus his own personal journey of discovering and navigating his identity as a gay man. Chip is a real life friend of mine and so it was an extra treat getting to chat with him in such a focused way, and I am SO excited to invite you into this conversation.

About the guest:
Chip Hall (he/him) is a San Francisco based lawyer and US Coast Guard Veteran.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 32: Kami Brannon & the Becoming of Who Our Younger Selves Needed

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Kami Brannon (she/her). Kami is a therapist based in Columbus, OH. In addition to her therapy practice she and her wife are also working to create a queer campground in Hocking Hills, OH (so cool!). On this episode, Kami lets us into her experience growing up as a Black girl navigating anti-queerness with her family system and religious community. She shares about the challenges this placed in her way and how this continued to impact her as she navigated adolescence and beyond. She lets us into her story of pain and suffering, and then the deeply powerful healing work she engaged in to eventually get to where she is at now. This conversation was such an offering by Kami, I feel so incredibly grateful she wanted to come on to offer her story to this collective work supporting queer healing and liberation.

About the guest:
Kami Brannon (she/her) is a 38 y/o black, lesbian therapist and small business owner based in Columbus, OH. She works full-time, in her business, as a queer therapist. Part-time, Kami and her wife, are working to create a queer campground in Hocking Hills Ohio. Most of Kami’s life work has been focused on turning her personal pain into purposeful action forward for the queer community. Her goal is to create the diverse, accessible, safe, queer spaces she would have benefited from. In her leisure time, Kami enjoys spending time in nature with her kids and pets .

You can follow Kami’s queer campground on Instagram @brannonacres
You can check out Kami’s Queer Therapy EAP Center at @columbusqueertherapist and www.columbusqueertherapist.com.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 31: Jake Fedorowski &.the Carving Out of Space for All of Us to Thrive

Thu, 12 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is Jake Fedorowski (they/them) who I believe is changing the running industry with their advocacy work (they created the incredible resource: The Guide to Non-Binary Inclusion in Running). And this conversation isn’t just for runners or people who sign up for 5ks, half marathons, marathons (though if you are then you’ll absolutely want to listen!). We talk about Jake’s advocacy work, but Jake also lets us in to their own story and their own journey of finding themself. They embody such an arc of queer healing that I think is really helpful for folks to be witness to. On this episode, they share with us about their youngest, most purely them self who was so playful and expressive, before the world tried to socialize them into the box of boyhood. They share with us about their process in college and beyond of finding that playful, free self again, and their journey of identity understanding and affirmation.

About the guest:
Jake (they/them) resides on the beautiful, traditional land of the Coast Salish peoples (Seattle). As an advocate for non-binary inclusion in the running industry, they have written The Guide to Non-Binary Inclusion in Running, consulted for major marathons, and founded Run Beyond (RUNN+), a community for non-binary athletes to exist, participate, advocate, and represent. Visit nonbinaryrunning.com to learn more about the movement and give Jake a follow on TikTok, Instagram, or Twitter (@jakefedorowski) if you love running, musical theatre, and makeup as much as they do.

For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 30: Eva Bloom & the Validation and Celebration of Our Queerness

Thu, 10 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0800

This week’s guest is sex educator and sex science communicator, Eva Bloom (they/she). In this conversation, Eva shares about the journey that led them to the work they do in the world now. Along the way, Eva lets us into their own personal journey. They share with us about being a queer person who didn’t have conscious awareness of their queerness until after adolescence. As with others with a similar story, Eva recounts lots of those hindsight’s 20/20 examples where they could see their queerness budding and expressing itself before they were really aware it was doing so. They go on to share about the gradual evolution of queerness coming more to the forefront and about their initial queer experiences, the ongoing coming outs we do, navigating patriarchal systems, and so much more. This was such a great conversation and I feel so grateful to Eva for wanting to come on and let us all into their story.

About the guest:
Eva Bloom (they/she) is a non-binary, queer award-winning sexuality educator and sex science communicator. With a Masters of Science (MSc.) in the social psychology of sexuality they help people of all genders and sexual orientations bust their sexual shame and cultivate their authentic desires. You can find them across social media "@whatsmybodydoing", as well as their Sex Ed for Late Bloomers Masterclass at evabloom.ca/sex-ed-for-late-bloomers

Eva mentions the Lesbian Masterdoc in this episode, here is a link to that.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 29: Khye Tyson & the Ongoing Giving of Space to Explore Our Fullness

Thu, 03 Nov 2022 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Khye Tyson (they/them). Among many things, Khye is a reproductive rights activist, birthing worker, and founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center. On this episode, Khye talks about their work and the experience that many queer and trans folks can have when navigating the birthing world, but also spends the majority of time letting us into their own personal queer journey. Get your notebooks ready as you’ll want to write down many things shared and likely inspired by Khye. I feel so grateful they wanted to come on and invite us all into their work and story. Oh, and those of you who want to dive deeper into work with Khye, check out this:

Khye’s Self-Love Card Deck:
Are you feeling the collective spiritual leveling up happening? Are you looking for a simple way to learn more about yourself or guide others to self-reflection? Pre-orders are open for Kuluntu RJC's self-care prompt card deck! Get this gorgeous tarot-size deck (2.75"x4.75") with 52 of the prompts you love to use with journaling, one on one conversations, or small group discussions. Pre-sales are open now! Click here to pre-order!

About the guest:
Khye Tyson (they/them) is an unapologetic southern queer Black femme who enjoys yoga, building community, laughing, subverting the gender binary, and reminding people that they can fire their doctors. Khye is a sacred transition guide, entrepreneur, healer, consultant, and educator. As the founder of Kuluntu Reproductive Justice Center (founded in 2018), Khye is working toward a world in which Black women and femmes can live, thrive, and raise healthy families freely within a healthy community. Khye loves to hike, sew, thrift, create art, sing, and dream of a world in which education is intuitive and culturally responsive. They are originally from Nashville, TN and currently reside in Atlanta. You can follow @KuluntuRJC to stay connected with Khye.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 28: Jen Isher-Witt & Letting Ourselves Finally Understand it All

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Jen Isher-Witt (she/her). Jen was so generous with her personal story which was such an example of what it means for us queer people to navigate through Second Adolescence. Before going into Second Adolescence, we dove into her first adolescence - talking everything from middle school, anxiety, those first indicators of queerness and the dread and panic that can come in response to internalized anti-queerness. Jen goes on to share about the rest of her adolescence which was marked by effort to be straight and distance herself from these feelings she was having. Then, it was in college that her queerness began to emerge more fully and her Second Adolescence began. I felt so much personal resonance with her and her story and feel so beyond grateful she wanted to invite us all into it!

About the guest:
Jen (she/her) is a 34-year old queer woman who grew up at the Jersey shore and now lives in North Carolina. Since coming out at 21, she’s spent a lot of time thinking, talking, and writing about the impact of her queer identity on her first adolescence and, more recently, on becoming a parent. You can check out some of her reflections on Medium. Jen also has a PhD in social psychology and gets joy from making it more accessible to others. Learn more on Instagram by following @SocialPsyQ.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 27: Jordan Killebrew & the Living With Purpose Now After the Struggle of Then

Thu, 20 Oct 2022 07:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is community organizer, Jordan Killebrew (he/him). On this episode, Jordan let's us in on the journey he’s traveled since growing up within a context that was quite oppressive to who he was, having to endure many attacks to his humanness. His younger self set his sights on college as the place he just had to make it to to get through it all and for things to change. This, it turned out, was true for him - his Second Adolescence and his own healing journey began in college. Jordan invites us into what this healing has looked liked, and what has been helpful for him to get to the place he is at now where he is truly living a life his younger selves might dream of.

About the guest:
Jordan Killebrew (he/him/his) is the founder of Juneteenth Santa Barbara and Project IV Love. He is a community organizer, with an abnormal love of the community, especially in Santa Barbara County. He works at the Santa Barbara Foundation as Director of Communications, while his free time is spent volunteering with local nonprofits, including support for Juneteenth Santa Barbara, Community Formation Commission for the City of Santa Barbara, Healing Justice Santa Barbara, the Board of Endowment for Youth Committee, Independent Advisory Board, to name a few. Jordan is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and he revels in the pride of being a Gaucho alum. Learn more about him at jordankillebrew.com or follow him IG @jordankillebrew.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 26: Patrick Carlos Olsen & the Bringing Together of All Our Parts

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Patrick Carlos Olsen (he/him), who is the person behind the gay surfing magazine, podcast, and Instagram account, Surfer.Gay. In his work, Patrick is creating inclusion of queer people within the sport of surfing, which has been historically not too welcome of a place for LGBTQ+ people. This conversation starts here and is filled with so much more. Patrick lets us into his own story and experience growing up in Norway as an adoptee, navigating being of a different race as his peers, then dealing with his budding sexuality in adolescence while growing up within a conservative, christian part of Norway. He goes on to share about his journey in finding himself and integrating together all parts of him self. Patrick was so generous with his story, I feel so grateful he wanted to contribute it to this greater collective work supporting our community.

About the guest:
Patrick (he/him) is not your average adopted gay christian arctic surfer. He has lived and worked in his van for the last 5 years and absolutely love that lifestyle. Surfing has become a way for him to find his community local and global. For more about Patrick, visit Surfer.Gay, or follow @surfer.gay and @pcolsen on Instagram.

For more about Second Adolescence, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 25: Nat Urban & the Doing of It All for Our Younger Selves

Thu, 06 Oct 2022 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is queer, non-binary artist and writer, Nat Urban (they/them), who is currently working on a badass project on queerness and girlhood which you’ll hear them talk about towards then end of this episode. Nat brings such an interesting and important story to this show and I feel so grateful they wanted to let us all into it. You’ll hear them share about their own adolescence in which they stepped into the role as the primary out, loud, and proud queer person in their high school who other queer people started looking up to, but how this was connected to overcompensating for some painful rejection they were experiencing at home and lots of internal struggle. They go on to share about the evolution of their experience in their queerness, their mental health journey, and how stepping into their non-binary identity in the past couple of years has come with another layer of needing to travel through a Second Adolescence. This was such a powerful conversation.

(Just a heads up there is discussion of the topics of depression, suicide, and self-harm, so I invite you to do whatever you might need to take care of yourself as a listener.)

About the guest:
Nat (they/them) is an artist and academic exploring queer experience through a number of mediums. They're a recent graduate of Butler University and just stepping into their life outside of undergrad and discovering their joys and passions in this new space. They're currently working on a project on queerness and girlhood consisting of a multitude of mediums and areas of exploration as well as getting into costuming and custom clothing in Los Angeles.

For more visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 24: Nicole Liv & the Joy and Grief in Late Blooming

Thu, 29 Sep 2022 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Nicole Liv (she/her), host of Late Bloomers Clvb podcast. The Late Bloomers Clvb is a community and podcast for Late Blooming queer folks who identify as having come out later in life and find themselves later blooming into their most true queer selves. I cannot recommend this community and Nicole’s work enough. Today, Nicole sat in the role of guest and offered her own story and journey with us. She shares what led to her being someone who didn't start to have full awareness of her queerness until being in her thirties, and how so much of her story and healing has involved looking back in her story to see the moments when her queerness was hijacked from her, repressed, and not given space to fully breathe and develop, and how she engaged in undoing all this now. She talks with us about Joy and Grief being the two primary markers of her queer healing journey, and truly invites all of us to more deeply look at our own stories and our own needs for healing and liberation. I friggin loved this conversation and love everything the Late Bloomers Clvb is about and am excited to invite you into it.

About the guest:
Nicole Liv (she/her) identifies as a late blooming lesbian who came out at 34 due to compulsory heterosexuality. She's a podcast host and community facilitator whose mission is to help late blooming queer folks (and all queer folks) cultivate more joy and justice in their lives. For more about the Late Bloomers Clvb, visit www.latebloomersclvb.com or follow @latebloomersclvb.

For more about Second Adolescence, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or follow @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 23: Christos Papaioannou & the Knowing of It Never Being Too Late

Thu, 22 Sep 2022 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Christos Papaioannou (he/him). On this episode, Christos shares SO many things representative of the Second Adolescence experience that many of us will likely relate to. We talk everything from Heartstopper and young queer contemporary media, to growing up dealing with and trying to overcompensate for shame, efforts to turn straight, and, finally, those first experiences of queerness that open us up to a whole new world of experiencing. Christos shares about the meaningful first relationship and breakup he had, and the process of finding liberation and freedom in himself and his he exists in the world. There was so many gems in this conversation, I feel so grateful to Christos for sharing his story with us.

About the guest:
Christos is a 40-year old gay man living in London, UK, working as a leadership coach and a consultant for humanitarian organisations. Originally from Athens, Greece, he lived and worked in several countries across Europe, Africa and the Middle East before moving to London. He has lived in the UK for the past eight years, and he considers himself a citizen of the world. He loves connecting with other people, cooking, travelling and going to the cinema; he is active in many social justice and political issues, among others being part of the Board of Mosaic LGBT+ Trust, an organisation that supports LGBTQ+ adolescents in London.

You can learn more about him and his coaching work at www.coaching-labs.com or connect with him on Instagram or Linkedin.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 22: José Morales & the Taking Back of Who You Are

Thu, 15 Sep 2022 06:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is José Morales (he/him). José shares with us his experience growing up within a context that ended up being quite oppressive to him and his budding queerness. He shares about having an upbringing marked by a lot of people policing his masculinity and his identity, having the experienced of being told who he was and who he should not be before he himself had a chance to figure this out for himself. He then goes on to share about how all of this influenced the rest of his adolescence and his own path to finding what he experiences now as such queer liberation. I really enjoyed getting to speak with José and hear his story, and I’m so grateful he wants to invite you all into it too.

About the guest:
José Morales (He/Him) grew up in Texas, graduated from LSU with a degree in English Rhetoric, works for the US Post Office and hosts the podcast Jinxler & Professor Strange’s Cortex. You can follow José on IG at: @casa_de_jose.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 21: Caleb Irwin & the Flourishing of What Was Stunted

Thu, 08 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is Caleb Irwin (he/him). Caleb came out two years ago at age 33 which marked the beginning of his Second Adolescence. He so generously lets us in to his experience growing up in Australia in a very religious community that viewed being gay as a mental health issue that one needed to heal from, and how he too operated from this belief. He goes on to share what his evolution has been in navigating this belief system and his own identity, to eventually get to the place he is at now. I so loved getting to talk with Caleb, particularly because I felt so much personal resonance with his Second Adolescence experience, everything from feeling stunted in many ways to having the exciting and scary new first experiences, the joys of getting to share such adolescent-like excitement about dating with friends, and so much more.

About the guest:
Caleb Irwin (He/Him) is a skilled visual communicator and emerging producer. Currently based in Sydney, Australia, Caleb has a passion to see stories portrayed on screen in a way that leave audiences changed for the better. Working for his church and various international charities, Caleb has been dedicated to bringing people’s stories to the screen and plans to do this in new and beautiful ways as he steps into the film industry. Caleb chases after life experiences that push his creativity; from living in a village monastery, traveling intentionally with no plans, to now completing a Master of Arts Screen: Producing degree at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. You can connect with Caleb on IG at: @young_master_irwin.

For more, visit www.secondadolescence.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 20: Tanaya Joshi & the Holding Firm to Who You Are and What You Need

Thu, 14 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week's guest is Tanaya Joshi (she/her). This was SUCH an incredible and powerful conversation! I am so appreciative for Tanaya coming on to let us into her story. She came out 7 years ago, and now has such a happy ending but had quite a challenging journey getting here. She grew up in Mumbai and then moved over to the US at age 11. Navigating India’s historically very anti-queer beliefs greatly impacted her ability to understand her identity, leading to a delay in making sense of the feelings that were there since adolescence. She shares with us about the confusing experience of having such deep feelings for her female friends during adolescence and how this was not reciprocated. She then shares about her process of finding her identity, falling for her now wife, and then the long journey that coming out has been. What was especially powerful about this conversation was how Tanaya let us all in to some challenging dynamics with her parents she’s had to navigate with regards to acceptance and celebration of her identity. Tanaya was so so generous with her story, I felt so honored and touched to be witness to it and feel so grateful she wants to invite you all into this conversation too.

About the guest:
Tanaya is a product designer living in San Francisco, CA with her wife. To join Tanaya's Newsletter, visit: https://tanayajoshi.substack.com. If you're interested in connecting with her via email, you can reach her at tanayarjoshi at gmail.com (combine in typical email format, it is written out here to avoid bots)

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

Download episode transcript here.

Mini Pod Update & Gratitude to YOU!

Thu, 07 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0700

Host of the show, Adam James Cohen, shares a mini update about the podcast - we will be having a full new episode next week and then will be taking a summer break, returning with new episodes in September. Thank you SO much for being a part of this community and these conversations about Second Adolescence!

Ep. 19: Finn May & the Affirming of Who We've Always Been

Thu, 30 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week's guest is Finn May (they/he). Finn shares with us about their experience being genderfluid and what their journey has been to understanding and validating their identity and having this validated back to them. He talks about his own experience moving through transphobia and internalized limiting constraints around identity, and what their journey has been to find the joy and healing they experience now.

About the guest:
Finn (they/he) is a genderfluid/transmasc barista living in Maryland with their fiance and chosen family. He loves theater, the beach, and reading. They are a quadruplet and have been described as an 'openly queer poet', and are currently enrolled at Arizona State University. He is hoping to become a therapist specializing in LGBT+ care. You can reach out to Finn on Instagram: @finnwinn98

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 18: Saawan Tiwari & the Stepping Out in Your Full Vibrancy

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is costume designer, Saawan Tiwari (they/them). They share with us their experience navigating gender and sexuality, as a queer Indian kid born into a body of male sex within a community that was predominantly white and conservative. They share about their little kid self identifying with the label of “tomgirl,” which began their journey of understanding and finding ways to express their true identity. They go on to share about the evolution of making sense of their queerness as they progressed through adolescence, their process coming out, and then navigating queer culture as a non-binary transfem person and the subsequent toxic fetishization directed at them which led to a future need to unlearn an internalized belief of not deserving love. They were so generous with their story and are inviting us all into it.

About the guest:
Saawan Tiwari (they/them) identifies as a non-binary transfem queer Indian American. They are an up and coming costume designer born and raised in California, and currently based in New York City. They obtained their BFA from the University of Michigan in 2020, and have gone on to design for theatres around the country as well as teach for Roundabout Theatre Company among others. Follow Saawan on Instagram @saawantiwari .

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 17: Fen Sturniolo & the Journey From Repression to Liberation

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week's guest is librarian and mental health advocate, Fen Sturniolo (they/them). Before this conversation I knew librarians were incredible but, holy moly, I truly think its going to be queer librarians who are going to save this world because I felt so inspired and invigorated by Fen and the work they do as a teen librarian, first working in schools and now working in the public library. In addition to sharing about their work, Fen invites us all into their journey - their queer journey and their mental health journey. As with many queer people who come out in adulthood, Fen had an experience of having their authentic identity be resisted and repressed for so much of their life. It wasn't until recent years that space was created to embrace the fullness of who they are. Fen shares with us about this and about the liberation that has come with existing as they are now. Their story is so powerful and they were so generous with it by inviting us all in. Note for the listener: the topics of suicidal ideation and self harm are components of todays conversation so feel free to do what ever you need to care for yourself with this heads up.

About the guest:
Fen (They/Them) is a librarian, passionate about representation in literature and breaking mental health stigma. You can follow them and their work on IG at @fenwickerbasket

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

Download the episode transcript here.

Ep. 16: Brian Watson & the Reunification of Our Romantic and Sexual Selves

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s episode is writer, Brian Watson (he/him). Brian brought to this conversation his experience growing up as a gay man born in the 1960s, navigating the underground gay hookup scene in the late 70s during the beginning of his sexual awakening, coming out and navigating life as a gay man amongst the AIDS crisis, and so much more. He has a fascinating personal journey that eventually took him to Japan where much of his Second Adolescence played out and how his Second Adolescence has been about his reunification of between his romantic and sexual selves after he spent his first adolescence divorcing romance and intimacy from sex. This was such a great conversation and I'm excited to invite you into it.

About the guest:

Brian Watson is currently revising and querying his first memoir, Crying in a Foreign Language: Pink Lady, Fictional Girlfriends, and the Deity that Answered my Plea. Originally from New York State, he lives in the Seattle area after years in Massachusetts, Japan, and British Columbia. His recent essays and a book review have appeared in Brevity’s online blog. His essays and book reviews have also appeared in Hippocampus magazine. He is also the author of an upcoming article on marriage equality in the US and Japan for JETs on Japan magazine. He spends his days with his partner/spouse of twenty-nine years, Hiro. Brian lives online at iambrianwatson.com—sign up for his Out of Japan newsletter, a quirky look at Japanese history, culture, and Brian’s time in Japan, there and follow him on Twitter @iambrianwatson and on Instagram @iambrianwatson.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 15: Brandon Rumaker & the Drawing of Our Own Blueprint

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is artist Brandon Rumaker (they/them). In sharing their individual story, Brandon highlights so many gems about the greater collective queer experience. They share about their challenging childhood and adolescence, illustrating the different contortions and acts of assimilation our younger queer selves do to hide marginalized identities we hold. They then share about beginning to come out as gay in high school and about the complicated experience they had as a peer educator with their high school’s Gay Straight Alliance. They go on to share about how so much of their Second Adolescence has been about healing, as it is for all of us. They talk about healing from intergenerational trauma and how this impacted their own relationship to sex and sexuality and queerness, healing from internalized oppressive belief structures, and the healing that comes with gaining those first romantic and sexual experiences missed out on in adolescence. They then share about the pandemic igniting a chapter of meaningful internal work that led to inquiry about their true gender identity, and how they are settling into experiencing life as a continuous healing, unlearning, and growing. They also share about the synchronistic moment they found very podcast at a particularly poignant part of their own journey. This was such a powerful conversation, I’m so excited to invite you into it!

About the guest:
Brandon Rumaker (they/them) is a queer, non-binary, gay multidisciplinary creative who creates communal experiences via theater, film, performance art, event facilitation, creativity coaching and tarot for people to examine identity, expand their self-definition, and find clarity. Most of Brandon's work is informed by queer experiences and questions rigid standards of identity while searching for answers (and receiving more questions in the process) surrounding safety, power dynamics, family structures, technology, mental health, relationships, secret-keeping, creativity, and finding acceptance as an outsider.

They recently developed new work as part of the Spring 2022 Writer's Lab at Exquisite Corpse Co. Their next adventure is participating in the Stillwright Silent Writing Retreat in July 2022. They are also a peer counselor at Identity House, an LGBTQIA+ volunteer service based in NYC.

You can follow Brandon and their work on Instagram: @brandotheoriginal.

For more about Second Adolescence, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 14: Hari Ziyad & Liberation Through Abolition

Thu, 26 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is writer and screenwriter Hari Ziyad (he/they). They are author of the incredible memoir Black Boy Out of Time which explores Hari's experience of healing from anti-blackness, anti-queerness, and the carceral dissonance that separates black people from their childhood selves. In this conversation, Hari shares about the book, their writing of it, and their life story of navigating growing up in this anti-black, anti-queer world, and their connection with abolition as the path towards individual and collective healing and liberation. They were so generous with their story, I was so honored they wanted to share this with us all.

About the guest:
Hari Ziyad (he/they) is a screenwriter and the bestselling author of Black Boy Out of Time (Little A). Previously, they were the managing editor of the Black Youth Project, the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitr, a staff writer on The Neighborhood (CBS), and a script consultant on David Makes Man (OWN). You can follow Hari on Instagram at @hariziyad

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep 13: Garrett Schlichte (he/they) & the Learning Through Experiencing

Thu, 19 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week’s guest is writer Garrett Schlichte (he/they). Garrett recently had published on the New York Time’s Modern Love podcast their essay entitled "Confessions of a Late Bloomer" which literally before you listen to my conversation with Garrett you should go listen (here on Apple Podcasts, or here on Spotify) because it was such a beautiful representation of what Second Adolescence is all about. In today’s conversation, we get to hear Garrett share about writing this essay and the dynamic with their younger sister that was central to it - while their 14 year-old sister was going through her first adolescence, Garrett was going through their Second Adolescence. Garrett shares about how their experience growing up left them without the adolescence they saw her getting to have and how their twenties has been filled experiences and relationships that have allowed them to flex the muscles and parts of self that laid dormant in their adolescence and be in the continuous journey that is queer healing that so many of us have to travel. It was such an honor to get to have time with Garrett and I’m excited to invite you into it.

About the guest:
Garrett Schlichte is a writer and columnist living in San Francisco. After escaping Florida (no offense) at 22, they've been running around writing about love, dating, and relationships for The Washington Post, The New York Times, Jezebel, and in their column Love, Us for Them. Most importantly, they're looking for someone to read them one of the 17 books currently collecting dust on their nightstand. You can find their work at garrettschlichte.com, and if you can read and would like to slide into their DMs, you can do that @gschlichte.

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

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 12: Noris Chavarría (he/him) & the Integration of Our Identities

Thu, 12 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week's guest is Noris Chavarría (he/him/él). Noris is someone who has dedicated his adult life to serving others, particularly LGBTQ youth through his work in the non-profit sector, and today he’s further contributing to our community by sharing his own story. On this episode, he shares growing up in Queens, New York with his mother who had immigrated from El Salvador. He shares about his own personal journey navigating boyhood, adolescence, and adulthood within our culture of heteronormativity and white supremacy as a queer man of color. Noris was so generous with his story and I’m grateful he wanted to contribute to the collective work of this podcast.

About the guest:
Noris Chavarria (he/ him /él), a native New Yorker, and queer Latino was raised in Jamaica, Queens. He's dedicated 20+ years of his career life to social impact connecting the nonprofit, private, and public sectors to support his BIPOC + LGBTQ+ community and their many intersections. After founding Give OUT Day in New York, Noris chased his California Dream and moved to San Francisco in 2014 with Kaipirinha (Kai), his miniature pinscher. Most recently, Noris spent his summer road-tripping across the U.S. with Kai and has now become addicted. His next adventure will take off May 2022, as he makes his way back home to NYC. To learn more about his and Kai's adventures follow him on IG @SocialArtivista.

For more visit www.secondadolescence.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 11: Nikki Hiltz & Getting Back to Who Was There From the Start

Thu, 05 May 2022 00:00:00 -0700

Welcome back after a break! This week's guest is Nikki Hiltz (they/them). Nikki is a professional runner and major advocate for the greater LGBTQ+ community. Fun fact: Nikki and host of the show, Adam, knew each other when each were in their respective closets and chat a bit about this on the show. Nikki goes on to share about their experience of growing up, navigating the limiting box of society’s gender and sexuality expectations, the experience of pushing away thought of their gender and sexual identity and using their success as an athlete as a place to focus their energy instead, and then what their own process of coming out and back to their true self has looked like; first embracing their sexual and romantic identity and then embracing their gender identity, and how they have used their platform to be a voice to increase representation, visibility, and inclusion of trans and queer people both in sport and in the world.

About the guest:
Nikki Hiltz is a professional track and field athlete from Aptos, California who specializes in the 1500m. In high school, they were the 2012 California State Champion. In college, they were a 6 time All American while competing for the University of Oregon and University of Arkansas. As a professional runner, Hiltz has become a Pan American Champion, US road mile champion, and a World Championship Finalist. Hiltz is also the founder and race director of the Pride 5k and an avid advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. They are trans nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns.

For more from Nikki, follow them on Instagram @NikkiHiltz

For more about Second Adolescence, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com or @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Mini Episode: The Grief Within Second Adolescence

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 12:00:00 -0700

Today's episode is a little different than our typical episodes (which will be returning on Thursday, May 5th with new guests each week!). A lot of listeners have reached out with questions and comments about the grief that comes in Second Adolescence, and so host Adam James Cohen is on solo today to talk about this. In doing so, he shares about his own personal experience of grief within Second Adolescence and highlights one way to explore moving through it, all in an effort to support you and your own journey in navigating grief in your Second Adolescence.

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

Ep. 10: Michael Constable (he/him) & Growing Through the Firsts

Thu, 17 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0700

This week's guest is Michael Constable (he/him). Michael hosts the podcast Reaching Out on which he interviews queer people about their coming out journey, and today he’s sitting in the guest chair to share about his own story. He shares about growing up in the midwest and within the culture of football and traditional masculinity, and how his gayness was not something he was cognizant of. He shares about his own process of getting clear on his identity, what coming out was like, and how his Second Adolescence was filled with meaningful and uncomfortable Firsts as he has began finding his self as a gay man over the past four years. This was such a great conversation!

About the guest:
Michael is a 32-year old gay man living in San Francisco. While originally from the midwest, he likes to think he has found "home" in several different places around the world thanks to a few years of being a nomad prior to moving to SF (Mexico City being his all-time favorite place). As someone who came out in his late 20s, he wants to help people who are struggling with coming out through story sharing on his podcast, @reachingoutpod. In his free time, Michael loves to take photos around the city and watch Marvel easter egg videos on YouTube.

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com.

Listen to Reaching Out with Michael Constable here.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 09: Molly Fosco (she/her) & the Opening of Possibility

Thu, 10 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Molly Fosco (she/her). Molly is a queer writer in a polyamorous triad with her two partners, one male and one female. She shares about growing up in a queer supportive context but how she never even thought about if she identified as anything other than straight in adolescence despite having attraction to other girls. She goes on to share about the differences between romantic identity and sexual identity and what her own evolution was of understanding these within her. And what eventually led to being 30 years-old and opening the space to allow for her pull towards women to be able to take shape in her life and relationship. She shares so much about the realities of being in a polyamorous triad and is so generous with sharing her personal experience. Thank you, Molly!

About the guest:
Molly Fosco is a tech writer, originally from Minneapolis, living in San Francisco with her two partners. She loves traveling, her community of friends, and any excuse to dance.

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

Download the episode transcript here.

Ep. 08: The Integration of Gayness Into Our Identity

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Zach (he/him) who is a real life friend of host, Adam James Cohen. In the conversation, Zach shares about his experience as a kid and the very different feelings he had towards boys and girls, the meaningful romantic relationship he had in high school with a girl before understanding his gay identity, his own process of gaining that understanding, and what coming out and exploring his gay identity in college and beyond looked like. Zach and Adam share about personal experiences as well as talk about general experience of gayness and queerness, relationships with men, navigating gayness in straight spaces, and so much more!

About the guest:
Zach (he/him) is a high school educator in San Francisco, CA

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com.
Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 07: Becky Blanco & the Power of Queer Community

Thu, 24 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is DIY queer creator Becky Blanco (she/her) aka @becky.with.the.good.repair. On this episode, Becky shares about her experience growing up in Miami, FL to Cuban immigrant parents and within the Southern Baptist church. She shares about being a child that didn’t fit into the limited box of what she was told being a girl was, how her devotion to her faith became a place of both identity validation as well as a place where she internalized homophobic belief structures, and the conflict she faced when in college she became more and more interested in women. She goes on to share about coming out at 30 and how her Second Adolescence was jumpstarted by finding a community of other queer people that became a source of information, guidance, and support, and how her relationship with her now wife has been a place of so much healing.

About the guest:
Becky (she/her) is a queer latina DIYer fixing up her first home as a newlywed. You can follow the journey on Instagram at @becky.with.the.good.repair

For more from the show, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 06: Ryan 'twinkle' Backer & the Deviation from the Path Not Yours

Thu, 17 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is age activist Ryan ‘twinkle’ Backer (they/them). Ryan talks with Adam about a range of topics including the power of nicknames, their experience being a little kid uncertain of their gender, navigating identity exploration in first adolescence with a parent going through their own Second Adolescence, the importance of queer elders, and so much more!

About the guest:
Ryan ‘twinkle’ Backer is an age activist striving to undo ageism within an intersectional context. Ryan identifies as a white, non-binary, queer, sober, European-American, poet, anarchist, witch and ‘old person in training’ with an undergraduate degree in Gerontology. They are a co-creator of OldSchool.info, a clearinghouse of anti-ageism resources.

Learn more about the show at www.secondadolescencepod.com and @secondadolescencepod.

Download the episode transcript here.

Ep. 05: Jack Hessler & the Returning to What You Love

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is snowboarder and filmmaker Jack Hessler (he/him). In the episode, Jack talks about what it was like to put out into the world the recent article he wrote for OutSports.com about his experience navigating being gay within the sport of snowboarding. Jack then goes more in depth into what it was like for him growing up and trying to figure out his sexuality while also competing in the heteronormative, hyper masculine sport of snowboarding, and what his journey was in coming out and beginning to pursue dating and relationships for the first time. Jack and Adam chat everything from snowboarding to using other identities in adolescence to overcompensate for internalized shame to having an adult queer prom and much more!

About the guest:
Jack Hessler fell in love with skateboarding and snowboarding as a child. During his teenage years, he struggled to manage his budding queerness with his passion for action sports. While never fully leaving action sports behind, he began to pursue a career as a filmmaker, with the goal of telling stories that can inspire empathy, self-actualization, and an appreciation for the unique aspects that make us all individuals.

Learn more about him at jackhessler.com
Learn more about his film work at wzrdmedia.com
And you can follow him on Instagram at @jah_he

For more on Second Adolescence, visit: secondadolescencepod.com or follow the show on Instagram at @secondadolescencepod

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 04: Jon Carl Lewis & the Integration of Sexuality and Spirituality

Thu, 03 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's guest is Jon Carl Lewis (he/him), who is a spiritual director and writer focusing on the intersection between spirituality and sexuality for queer folks. Lewis shares about his childhood and adolescence, and what it was like for him to discover his gay identity and then later come out amidst the AIDS pandemic of the 1980's. He goes on to share about how his Second Adolescence involved completing developmental tasks missed out on from his first adolescence, and how maintaining and redefining a relationship with Christianity that invites more space for queerness has been integral to his path and to the work he now does in the world.

About the guest:
Jon Carl Lewis (he/him) is a 56-year-old, Gay Christian living with his husband of 26 years in Trenton, NJ. A lifelong Christian and undeniably gay—he has wrestled for over forty years with the question of integrating his sexuality and spirituality. Although raised in the Black church, a flirtation with fundamentalism landed him in conversion therapy—which didn’t work. Deciding to choose life rather than the living death fundamentalism prescribed, he joined the Episcopal Church, where he worshiped for almost 30 years. After a period of deconstruction, he reconstructed his approach to Christianity from a more contemplative perspective and became a spiritual director. He now worships in a radically inclusive and LGBTQ-celebrating Methodist congregation where he has been asked to preach. He is a graduate of Princeton University and has been trained to think theologically and biblically at Princeton Theological Seminary, Harvard Divinity School, and the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. In October 2020, he launched the Sex & the Gay Christian website (at sexgaychristian.com) as a place to provide resources and gather community to support Queer men seeking to live integrated sexual lives. He is currently working on a book on the topic of Sex & the Queer Christian, which is expected to be released in 2023.

For show notes and more, visit secondadolescencepod.com.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 03: Davey Feder & the Development of Our Romantic and Sexual Selves

Thu, 27 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week’s episode features a conversation with Davey Feder (he/him). Davey shares about his own experience of growing up being unconscious to his romantic and sexual identity in adolescence and how he utilized perfectionism as a tool for gaining and maintaining value and safety. He shares about how an impactful time studying abroad in college ignited something he was not aware of before, and how his Second Adolescence became about learning how to develop the romantic and sexual parts of himself that were dormant in adolescence and learn how to integrate these parts into his greater self-concept. What. A. Conversation!

About the Guest:
Davey Feder (he/him) is a cis, white, gay man in his 30s living in San Francisco. He works as a Creative Producer in the themed entertainment industry.

Learn more about the show at www.secondadolescencepod.com.

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 02: Sarah Meyer Tapia & the Inhabitance of Your Full Self

Thu, 20 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0800

This week's episode features a conversation with Sarah Meyer Tapia (she/her). We hear Sarah share about growing up within the True Love Waits and Purity Culture worlds and how this upbringing came into opposition with what she would later discover felt most true and authentic for her. Sarah goes on to talk about her own Second Adolescence involving the expansion of her experience of sexual and relational identity in her 30s, and how discovering consensual non-monogamy has enlivened her as an individual as well her relationships.

About the Guest:
Sarah Meyer Tapia is Associate Director of Health & Human Performance and Head of Wellness Education at Stanford University. Through her own business, she teaches workshops and coaches people through stress, transitions, meaningful behavior change, self-compassion, and personal development. Sarah has been on her own journey of exploring an authentic life as a queer woman, having come out in her thirties. Life keeps getting more beautiful. Learn more about Sarah at www.sarahmeyertapia.com.

For more, visit www.secondadolescencepod.com

Download episode transcript here.

Ep. 01: Ish Ruiz & the Deconstruction & Reconstruction of Belief Systems

Thu, 13 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0800

Welcome to Second Adolescence!

This first episode begins with host Adam James Cohen, LMFT sharing the backstory behind Second Adolescence. Then, we hear the first guest's story! Ish Ruiz (he/him) talks with Adam and shares about his experience growing up in Puerto Rico and within the Catholic Church, and what it was like for him within both cultural contexts after discovering his gay identity in adolescence. We’ll hear Ish share about his experience discovering his identity, his first relationship, a forced coming out, and how his Second Adolescence involved a process of deconstructing and reconstructing his beliefs systems around his sexuality, his faith, and his Puerto Rican culture.

About the guest:

Ish Ruiz (he/him) is a gay, cisgender, Puerto Rican, Catholic man in his 30's. He is an educator of youth as well as a consultant for individuals, groups, and organizations seeking support in developing an LGBTQ+ inclusive experience of Catholicism. He is the author of LGBTQ+ Eductators in Catholic Schools which you can purchase here.

Visit www.secondadolescencepod.com for more.

Download episode transcript here.

Trailer - What is The Second Adolescence Podcast?

Thu, 23 Dec 2021 09:00:00 -0800

Launching January 2022! Host Adam James Cohen, LMFT shares about what Second Adolescence is and what this show is all about.