CONTENT WARNING: This episode mentions suicide. Please take gentle care when listening.

Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

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On October 1st, 2005, I got a phone call that would change my life forever. It all started the night my sister and I decided to throw a house party that got way out of control. It ended with my friend in the hospital with a (self-inflicted) gunshot wound to the head.

This was not an easy episode to record or produce, but I'm still here and ready to share pieces of this story with you. Thanks for listening and take good care.

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

This episode starts with me getting kicked out of my house and ends with me rolling around in bed with someone from my past. Oh, by the way, I'm 17.

Things at home are the worst they've ever been, but my parents are almost completely absent from this one. I'm left to my own devices and surprise, surprise, chaos ensues.

Join me as I reminisce about my first "grown-up" date where we sit on his bed and watch South Park. I'll introduce you to a few new friends and walk you through the bender I went on when my new best friend's parents leave us alone for a week. I also share a traumatic event where a lot of my friends were assaulted in the park and I had to run for my life... so take it easy with this one!

This episode is ripe with my own reflections. I feel trapped between two worlds and am distraught and confused after my breakup with Grnt. It's a heavy one, and it's about to get so much worse.

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Up next, I'll be sharing about a big trauma in my life. I wanted to share an interview from a few years back, where I talk more about the incident I'll be diving into next episode, in case you want to prepare yourselves! Here's my conversation with Najwa Zebian: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cb6MmppWc5GdI0wMhbo0p?si=PogwDKddR_-pmxh8KfNT5w&nd=1&dlsi=8ad2e8248edf4684

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

Content notes: This episode mentions suicidal ideation multiple times. Take good care!!

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After a lil break, I'm back with another episode and this one SHOOK me. I turn 17 and get completely black out drunk and basically decide to RUIN my life. I am bursting at the seams with jealousy and when my anger causes a big friendship rupture, I turn to... you guessed it... cocaine! to soothe my heart.

The toxicity level in my relationship is rising but in this episode, I actually focus on my relationship (then and now!) with my parents and do a little deep dive on how everything is feeling on that front.

Please take good care with this one. <3

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

In this episode, I share my first experience using hard drugs and what it was like to have my boyfriend call me a "dirty dirty e-head" in front of all my friends. I am self-conscious about my clothes, worried that what I wear will start a fight. I am drinking everything in sight and things at home are getting really, really bad. I can't concentrate at school, but for the first time, I wonder about my future - Will I be a professional chef? Or a writer? (Spoiler alert: I did both.)

This episode is a bit of a mess, but I think these stories are too important not too share. <3

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

I'm taking a pause from my regular scheduled programming to bring you a special episode about the life and death of my dog, Gnowee.

In this episode, I share tons of memories from the day I adopted Gnowee right up until her death. I share a little bit about what she taught me and how I've been handling the grief of her passing.

Gnowee died on May 5th, 2025 and will forever be remembered as the sweetest, calmest, coolest, silliest dog in my heart. This episode is not for the faint of heart <3

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

It's summer 2004 and I am learning everything I can about how to be a anxious/avoidant-attached-codependent... and I'm ACING IT. I miss my friends terribly and start telling my diary about my fantasies of being on my own and then SPOILER ALERT: my boyfriend reads my diary!

This episode has ALL the drama, betrayal, love, friendship, and loneliness. I'm accused of cheating and I'm comforted all in the same page. It's a doozy, I tell ya!!!

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

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Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

Content Notes: This episode contains mentions of suicide, drug use, disordered eating, death, and other potentially triggering topics. Please take gentle care while listening. <3

In this episode, I have a long chat with my pal jp! We met in April 2024 when we both stumbled into the same writing workshop. Our connection was immediate, and shortly after, jp hired me to help edit their book of poems—the rest is history!

jp thorn (he/they/any) is a queer, neurodivergent artist raised in & returned to the bible belt. advocate for destigmatization & radically open communication, their work is inspired by humanness, reframing traditionalism, therapeutic processes, unlearning patriarchy, identity, & global patterns.

We cover a lot of big topics in this episode, including jp’s experience with an eating disorder, substance use/abuse/recovery, unmedicated mental health struggles, suicide, love, and heartbreak. jp also reads poems spanning the last 20 years, which they have meticulously archived.

My favorite part of this episode was asking jp what advice they would give to people starting out in the poetry world—and, of course, sharing plenty of laughs over how emo we used to be!!!

You can find more from jp at thorn.jp and join us both in Unfold by going here.

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

------------

Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support

Content Notes: This episode mentions self-harm, drug/alcohol abuse, and sexual assault. Please take gentle care while listening. <3

It's summer 2004 and I'm working my afterschool job as an egg picker at a local farm. When I'm not at work or school, I am spending every waking moment getting high and drunk. Oh, and did I mention, I aM sO LiKe iN LoVe?!?!

A lot of things came to the surface in this episode but the main thing is learning that a relationship that I always thought of as not that bad, turns out to be really disturbing.

This episode is LACED with drama and I really dive deep into some insane things that happened to me around this age. This episode has it all! Betrayal! A love triangle! Sex! Drugs! Rock and Roll! Poetry!

Have a listen and take good care - this episode deals with both sexual assault and self-harm (which was a HUGE surprise that I am still processing!)

For more info on my work as a writing coach or to sign up for workshops, head to www.doulaofwords.com

To sign up to be a guest, please email Yoda at yoda@thedoulaofwords.com - we'd love to have you!

Find my books here <3

------------

Kid's Help Phone: You can reach a professional counsellor at Kids Help Phone in English or French 24/7 by calling 1-800-668-6868

9-8-8: Call or text from anywhere in Canada or the U.S., anytime

CMHA: Call Reach Out at 1-866-933-2023 to receive mental health and/or addictions support