At 28, I hit an emotional rock bottom. Despite 9 years of sobriety, I kept finding myself in toxic relationships, and I couldn’t figure out why. I had no clue that what I’d been through as a kid was the root of it all—turns out, my “not so bad” childhood had impacted me a lot more than I thought.

I grew up in an alcoholic home and was deemed the “identified patient” at 9 when I was sent to therapy for separation anxiety—while my parents conveniently ignored their own issues. I turned to drugs and alcohol myself at 12 and spent my teenage years in and out of rehabs and boarding schools. But in spite of all this, I never considered what I went through as trauma—I mean, others had it so much worse, right?  

It wasn’t until that rock bottom at 28 that I realized I was an adult child and that what I’d been experiencing in relationships was complex PTSD. That lightbulb moment changed everything. I dove into healing, and holy shit, the growth has been wild. I started Adult Child and The Shitshow to reach anyone who, like me, doesn’t realize they’re an adult child. You’re not alone, and healing is possible—I’m living proof.