In this episode of Good Grief, Dr. Christine Malone talks with author Adrienne Caldwell about Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines—a memoir that faces childhood trauma, abusive foster care, addiction, and loss with clear-eyed honesty. Adrienne shares why she finally opened decades of CPS records, how writing forced her to “unbox” long-buried pain, and why success means changing even one life. Together they explore forgiveness, family patterns, motherhood, and what it takes to break cycles without pretending there’s a simple how-to.

Chapters

0:00 – Show intro: Good Grief & resilience mission

0:54 – Meet Adrienne Caldwell, author of Unbroken

1:25 – Why she wrote it: CPS case files & foster-care abuse

3:32 – Trigger warnings & trauma overview (what the book covers)

4:59 – Writing as exposure therapy: “opening the boxes”

6:42 – Success metric: helping even one person

7:37 – On forgiveness & the foster mother

10:03 – Family patterns, protection, and cycles

12:09 – How trauma shaped empathy & resilience

13:29 – Who the book is for (and what it isn’t)

19:38 – Choosing motherhood; breaking generational cycles

22:05 – Bedtime ritual & her father’s last words to their daughter

Trigger warnings (applicable to this episode): childhood abuse, foster-care abuse, addiction, suicide attempts, grief/loss.

Get the free prologue + chapter one (while it’s still available) at UnbrokenCaldwell.com

Thank you for listening.

To hear more from Good Grief, please visit https://open.spotify.com/episode/0x4tteAGkJTTDJ3iowsVZj

Adriene Caldwell joins The Phantom Electric Ghost Podcast to talk about survival, trauma, and finding purpose in pain. Author of Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines, Adriene opens up about her years in abusive foster care, the loss of safety in childhood, and the courage it took to tell her story.

In this conversation, she shares how revisiting her CPS case files inspired her to write her memoir, how the foster care system failed her and so many others, and why she believes her story should be used to train future therapists and social workers.

Adriene also speaks about her healing journey — addiction recovery, motherhood, forgiveness, and learning to rebuild trust — all while working toward systemic change for children in care.

Get the free prologue + chapter one (while it’s still available) at UnbrokenCaldwell.com

Chapters 0:00 – Introduction and Motivation

2:01 – Adriene Introduces Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines 3:01 – Why She Decided to Write the Book

6:12 – Finding Help and Collaborators in Writing

8:20 – Abuse in Foster Care and Nightmares That Remain

9:17 – Systemic Failures and Foster Care Statistics

15:06 – The Foster Mother’s Abuse and Emotional Damage 22:16 – Escaping Through a Scholarship to Germany

27:24 – College, Addiction, and Survival

33:13 – Attachment Disorders and Trust Struggles

38:55 – Motherhood and Sobriety

45:12 – Lessons on Gratitude, Forgiveness, and Resilience 58:03 – Purpose, Advocacy, and Closing Reflections

⚠️ Trigger warnings: discussion of childhood abuse, sexual assault, foster care trauma, addiction, and suicide. Shared for education, awareness, and healing.

To hear more from Phantom Electric Ghost, please visit https://open.spotify.com/show/7L6YyXfnnwW8LwPGQwte8X

Thank you for listening.

Adriene Caldwell joins Marcus Smith on The InnerFight Podcast to talk about surviving the unthinkable — and how she found the strength to turn trauma into purpose. Adriene, author of Unbroken: Life Outside the Lines, speaks openly about childhood abuse, foster care, and the long road of therapy that led her toward healing and forgiveness.

In this conversation, Adriene explains why she believes her story should be used as a teaching tool for future counselors and psychologists studying childhood trauma. She also shares her honest struggle with forgiveness, her continuing therapy journey, and her belief that even the smallest step forward can change everything.

Trigger warnings: emotional and physical abuse, child sexual assault, drowning death of a child, extreme poverty, mental illness, homelessness, abusive foster care, bulimia, pedophilia, incest, death, and suicide.

Get the free prologue + chapter one (while it’s still available) at UnbrokenCaldwell.com

Chapters 0:00 – Introduction to Adriene Caldwell and Unbroken 5:59 – Adriene’s Early Memories and Childhood Trauma 20:04 – The Concept of Safety and Male–Female Dynamics 32:54 – Adriene’s Therapeutic Journey and Writing Her Book 43:22 – Forgiveness, Anger, and Personal Growth 47:43 – Conclusion and Final Thoughts

To listen to more from The Inner Fight, please visit https://open.spotify.com/show/51Na7Dir4SS1ZUEKuQ9E6h

Thank you for listening.