#91 Shame Out Loud: Child and Woman - An Introduction
This series began with a question I didn’t know how to answer for a long time:
What happens after something painful occurs—especially when the care, protection, or validation we needed never came?
Child and Woman is a six-part series inside the Shame Out Loud space, drawn from lived experience and creative writing, followed by intimate conversations about shame, emotional safety, nervous system regulation, and returning to love from within.
This work is not about reliving what happened or fixing what’s broken. It’s about understanding what we adapted to survive—and how curiosity, safety, and self-compassion can be relearned over time.
The series will be released in its entirety at the end of January.
You’re welcome to listen at the pace your body allows.
The series lives at loriclarkemedia.com.
Show Notes
Show Notes
This episode is the introduction to Shame Out Loud: Child and Woman, a six-part series rooted in lived experience, creative writing, and intimate conversation.
In this opening episode, Lori Clarke shares the why behind the series—how it emerged from her own lived experience, the writing of Child and Woman, and a long process of understanding what happens after something painful occurs, especially when the care, protection, or validation we needed never came.
Rather than revisiting events or analyzing trauma, this series explores how shame, unworthiness, silence, and survival adaptations live in the body—and how safety, regulation, and love can be relearned over time.
This episode offers context and orientation before the reading of Child and Woman and the five roundtable conversations that follow.
Listeners are invited to listen at the pace their body allows.
In This Episode, Lori Explores:
Why the deepest ache often comes from what didn’t happen, not only what did
How unmet needs for safety, validation, and protection shape the nervous system
The quiet formation of shame-based beliefs and how they influence love and attachment
Hypervigilance as a survival adaptation—and its long-term cost
Why this series is not about reliving trauma or fixing what’s broken
What it means to explore healing through curiosity rather than urgency
The difference between seeking safety externally and learning to feel it internally
How love can exist alongside pain—and why it may feel inaccessible after harm
The metaphor of the mountain and the seed: shame and goodness coexisting
Reclaiming love that was never lost, only covered
Turning inward without going backward
Writing as a compassionate, curious companion rather than a critical practice
Making healing work accessible, gentle, and non-exclusive
About the Series
Shame Out Loud: Child and Woman is a six-part series that includes:
This introductory episode
A reading of Lori’s creative writing Child and Woman
Five roundtable conversations with co-host Tammy Valasenti, psychotherapist
The series explores shame, emotional safety, nervous system regulation, self-compassion, and the process of returning to love from within.
The series will be released in its entirety at the end of January.
Listener Care Note
This series reflects lived experiences that may be activating.
Each episode includes a trigger warning.
This podcast is not a replacement for therapy or professional care. If you need additional support, please consider reaching out to a qualified healthcare provider or therapist.
You are encouraged to listen at the pace your body allows.
Resources & Links
Shame Out Loud: Child and Woman Series
👉 loriclarkemedia.comCurious Writing Companions (one for each episode)
Available on Lori’s website
Closing Invitation
This series isn’t about fixing what’s broken.
It’s about understanding what was adapted—and noticing what the body may be ready to loosen.
When you’re ready, the reading of Child and Woman follows.
