In Season 2, Episode 24 of the Element Q Podcast, host TJ Woodward welcomes Brian Nachreiner, a queer man in long-term addiction recovery. They discuss Brian's journey and the podcast's mission to highlight individuals making a difference in the lgbtqia community. This conversation explores gay self-acceptance and strategies for healing shame, fostering shame resilience, and supporting a thriving recovery. and the internalized shame many LGBTQ+ people carry—especially those raised in religious environments. Growing up in a Catholic household, he shares how early messages of “being wrong” became embedded as core beliefs, shaping his self-perception long into adulthood. Together, they unpack how internalized homophobia often becomes indistinguishable from shame and why true healing requires more than intellectual understanding. The discussion moves beyond cultural commentary into the heart of recovery and self-discovery, touching on 12-step foundations, therapy, meditation, inner child work, sobriety, emotional rock bottoms, and the myth that we are fundamentally broken.

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🔗 Learn more: Element Q Healing: https://www.elementqhealingcenter.com

TJ Woodward: https://www.tjwoodward.com

In Season 2, Episode 23 of the Element Q Podcast, host TJ Woodward welcomes Roy Sciortino, LMFT, to explore the complex layers of trauma, attachment, and healing within the LGBTQ+ community. Together, they unpack transgenerational trauma—how secrecy, shame, and survival strategies formed in earlier generations continue to shape intimacy, identity, and relationships today. Royce offers moving reflections on queer history, internalized fear, and the ways marginalized communities have learned to protect themselves—often at the cost of authentic connection.

The conversation dives into attachment theory and how early experiences of parental rejection, gender policing, and societal stigma influence adult relationships. Both TJ and Royce vulnerably share personal stories of avoidant and anxious attachment, early sexual experiences marked by secrecy and shame, and the unconscious belief of being “unlovable.” With compassion and clarity, they reframe these patterns not as flaws, but as “brilliant strategies” developed for safety and survival. They also connect trauma and attachment to substance use, highlighting how the search for safety, security, and comfort can drive both relational dynamics and addictive behaviors. This episode is an invitation to lean into authentic attachment, embrace compassion for the strategies that once protected us, and trust that the desire for healing is itself proof of our capacity to transform.

👉 Subscribe to support conversations on conscious healing, authentic living, and personal transformation.

🔗 Learn more: Element Q Healing:https://www.elementqhealingcenter.com

TJ Woodward: https://www.tjwoodward.com

Roy Sciortino: https://www.roycetherapy.com/

In Season 2, Episode 22 of the Element Q Podcast, host TJ Woodward sits down with Reese Clark explore a powerful question: What are we really talking about when we talk about healing? Moving beyond the myth of healing as a finish line, they reframe it as an ongoing return to wholeness. Together, they unpack how shame—particularly within the LGBTQ+ community—can create a false identity of brokenness, and how true transformation begins when we question that narrative. Through personal stories and clinical insight, they examine the shift from trying to “fix” ourselves to witnessing and integrating all parts of who we are.

Reese Clark, a trauma-informed clinician and member of the team at The Camp Recovery Center near Santa Cruz, brings both lived wisdom and professional expertise to this conversation. Reese and TJ discuss the capital-S Self—the essential nature beneath addiction and trauma—along with TJ’s integrative “Four Rooms” framework (physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual). This episode is a powerful invitation for clinicians, healers, and anyone on a recovery journey to move from pathology to possibility, embrace presence over performance, and rediscover the wholeness that has always been there.

👉 Subscribe to support conversations on conscious healing, authentic living, and personal transformation.

🔗 Learn more:

Element Q Healing:https://www.elementqhealingcenter.com

TJ Woodward: https://www.tjwoodward.com