Kate Angelo shares her transformative journey from foster care to bestselling author, revealing how small interventions changed her life trajectory and shaped her mission to help others heal from trauma.

• Experiencing stability when a friend's family took her in through an independent living program after facing placement in a group home
• Developing survival mechanisms that protected her during childhood trauma but required adjustment in adult relationships
• Navigating triggers from past trauma, including physical reactions to certain sounds and movements
• Creating communication strategies with her husband to break toxic cycles and build understanding
• Working through nonprofit ministry to strengthen marriages and prevent family breakdown
• Using fiction writing to explore themes of trauma, healing and redemption through her book "Girl Lost"
• Emphasizing that trauma doesn't define identity and healing is possible through understanding our true purpose

Find Kate's book "Girl Lost" at major retailers and learn more about her nonprofit work at her website. Subscribe to Kate's newsletter to receive exclusive content including deleted scenes from her books.

This is part two of Kate's powerful story on Behind the Curtain. Go back and listen to part one here:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2401115/episodes/17808468

Links to Kate Angelo's Book Forsaken:

https://kateangelo.com/forsaken/

Pre-Order Girl Lost Here:

https://kateangelo.com/girl-lost/

In part one, Kate Angelo shares her extraordinary journey from a chaotic childhood with exotic pets, parental kidnappings, and neglect to finding purpose after aging out of foster care.

• Former foster youth who became a bestselling author and now runs a nonprofit for strengthening marriages and families
• Grew up in extreme chaos with exotic pets including a lion, bobcat, and monkey while experiencing neglect
• Experienced trauma including witnessing her stepfather's murder and her grandmother's suicide
• Was "parentified" at age 12, driving and working to support younger siblings while her mother was absent
• Made the difficult choice to enter foster care as a teenager when given the opportunity
• Struggled with abandonment when her mother took her siblings back to Texas but left her alone in foster care
• Uses her experiences to help others develop healthy relationship skills through her writing and nonprofit work

This is part one of Kate's powerful story on Behind the Curtain, with part two coming in the next episode.

Links to Kate Angelo's Book Forsaken:

https://kateangelo.com/forsaken/

Pre-Order Girl Lost Here:

https://kateangelo.com/girl-lost/

Brianna Groah and her former case manager Kinsey Howell share the raw reality of foster care from the perspective of a child who lived through it. With honesty and vulnerability, they reveal what makes the difference between mere survival and genuine healing in the system.

• Life before foster care included living in tents in the Florida woods after fleeing CPS in West Virginia
• The trauma of removal and placement in eight different foster homes over five years
• Why Bri intentionally sabotaged relationships with foster families as a loyalty test
• The critical moment when Brianna realized she could love her adoptive family without betraying her biological mother
• How case manager Kinsey became the one constant in Bri's life by simply showing up consistently
• The importance of giving foster children space rather than forcing immediate connection
• Why open adoption and sibling relationships remain complicated but vital
• How Bri's adoptive moms created safety through understanding rather than punishment

If you're a foster or adoptive parent, remember that giving your child space to process emotions in their own way is often the most healing gift you can offer. The path to attachment isn't forced—it's earned through consistent presence and understanding.