What If Your Pain Was Never a Problem to Fix? with Jacqueline Boylan: Episode 401

Send us Fan MailA child can survive almost anything with one steady, loving adult, but what happens when grief gets punished instead of comforted? I’m Robin Black, and I sit down with registered nurse and author Jacqueline Boland to talk about the two worlds she grew up in: the safety of her great-grandmother’s love, and the chaos of addiction, loss, and a family dynamic that taught her to feel guilty for being sad.Jacqueline shares the story of losing her mother at seven and her father soon after, then spending years trying to earn warmth from a relative who responded to her grief with anger and emotional abuse. We get honest about what that does to a kid’s self-concept, why you can still love someone who hurts you, and how a single conversation can flip your perspective into shame and self-blame. When Jacqueline finally wrote a letter asking to be seen, the silence that followed pushed her into a mental health crisis and made therapy non-negotiable.From there, we talk about what real healing looks like: naming emotional invalidation, breaking rumination loops, and learning self-care when caretaking has been your whole identity. Jacqueline explains how therapeutic writing became A Broken Twig Can Sprout, why she created Resiliency Publishing House, and how her nonprofit Help Me Sprout is building tools for kids with adverse childhood experiences, including a young writer's workshop and a vision for a safe community space she calls the Haven. She also opens up about requesting FOIL open records to finally process her mother’s death and the meaning behind her upcoming book, A Piece Of Mama’s Heart.If you’ve ever carried someone else’s pain, felt blamed for your feelings, or needed the words “it’s not your fault,” this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review so more listeners can find stories that help them heal.To reach Jacqueline Boylan - www.resiliencyhouse.org & www.helpmesprout.orgInstagram: @abrokentwigcansproutFacebook: The Resiliency Publishing House ©2022-2026 Soul Healer17:77, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Any copying of this poetry and audio in whole or part is prohibited. *I do not own the rights to the royalty free music*Have a lovely day and stay blessedSupport the show