We’ve been told that if your faith starts falling apart, you’re in danger. But what if that’s exactly where Jesus shows up? This isn’t an episode about walking away from God. It’s about tearing down the fake, the forced, the fear-based religion— and finding a God who never asked you to perform in the first place. In this raw and redemptive conversation, author Alysha Tatiana Lee shares how the breakdown of everything she thought she believed… became the breakthrough that brought her back to the ...
Jul 08, 2025•38 min•Season 8Ep. 8
Jesus and Therapy? Yes. You can have both. — with Charles Mortensen Let’s not sugarcoat it: Needing help doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means you’re done pretending. And therapy? It’s not a betrayal of your faith. It’s how some of us finally start to breathe again. We’ve been told: “You just need to pray more.” “Therapy is for people who don’t trust God.” “If you were really spiritual, you wouldn’t struggle.” Lies. Straight-up lies that have kept too many of us silently drowning. In this raw and h...
Jul 02, 2025•59 min•Season 8Ep. 7
Church is supposed to be a sanctuary. But what happens when it becomes the place that breaks you? In this unfiltered and courageous conversation, we're diving into the kind of pain the Church doesn’t like to talk about—church hurt. We're talking spiritual manipulation, toxic leadership, cult-like control, and the paralyzing guilt that keeps many trapped in pews, afraid to walk away. Our guest, Simon Andrade—host of the Free and Redeemed Podcast—knows this pain firsthand. He’s walked the road of ...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 11 min•Season 8Ep. 6
"He turned my mourning into dancing… and my ashes into beauty." This episode will leave you speechless—in the best way. When the unthinkable happened, Ruth Santana’s world shattered. A betrayal that could’ve broken her, but God wasn't done writing her story. Through deep valleys of pain, therapy, and the relentless love of Jesus, Ruth found redemption, restoration… and resurrection . A marriage on the verge of ending. A heart learning how to forgive the impossible. A baby girl—a beautiful chapte...
Jun 17, 2025•29 min•Season 8Ep. 5
In this raw and courageous episode, we’re facing one of the hardest topics: narcissistic abuse. Whether you grew up under the manipulation of a narcissistic parent, felt emotionally hijacked in a romantic relationship, or constantly feel drained by a “friend” who leaves you confused and questioning your worth—this episode is for you. We’re not just talking psychology—we’re talking spiritual discernment, godly boundaries, and healing that starts deep in the soul. We’re joined by Jenn Chen, a cert...
May 20, 2025•1 hr 23 min•Season 8Ep. 4
This Episode Will Challenge EVERYTHING You Thought You Knew About Forgiveness! We’ve all heard it: “You HAVE to forgive AND reconcile.” But is that really what the Bible says? If you’ve ever felt pressured to restore a relationship that wasn’t safe… If you’ve struggled with guilt for enforcing boundaries… If you’ve been told, “But that’s your FAMILY, you have to make peace,”—this episode is for YOU. We’re diving into the TRUTH about biblical forgiveness, debunking harmful misconceptions, and giv...
Apr 08, 2025•1 hr 21 min•Season 8Ep. 3
Host Aggie Park and guest Joanne Choi explore the topics of money & wealth, through the lens of faith. In this thought-provoking episode, we dive into a challenging yet important question for people living in wealthy countries: Can we enjoy comfort and luxury while staying true to our deepest values and purpose? 💡What does it mean to live with purpose and integrity — even when you're surrounded by wealth and comfort? ✨ Why conversations about money and values matter — and how they impact ou...
Mar 24, 2025•58 min•Season 8Ep. 2
Aggie Park has hand-picked this Season 8 theme—"Raw, Real, & Redeemed: Christian Faith, Struggles, and what We Don’t Talk About Enough." This first episode reveals her back story, shares her experiences on TikTok and Instagram, and why she wants to start podcasting to go deeper. Asian American Christians often struggle with vulnerability due to performance-based cultural expectations that minimize emotional and mental health concerns. This season is changing that by talking about those topic...
Mar 14, 2025•26 min•Season 8Ep. 1
We close out season 7 with a great appreciation for Victoria hosting many poignant conversations. I (DJ Chuang) am very grateful for her life and she has shared that with us on Erasing Shame. Finally, I briefly talk about how religion/spirituality is helpful to many people, but also has caused adverse side effects for others. That's the new direction with season 8''s new co-host. And that's enough for now. Show Notes at https://erasingshame.com/...
Mar 10, 2025•11 min•Season 7Ep. 9
Do you know hard it is to deal with spiritual abuse? There's so many layers of complexities, mixed emotions, confusion from gaslighting, power dynamics, broken trust, and sometimes even worse. Finding a freely available resource to help you heal and recover can be quite a long journey. I'd imagine having extra help would be welcomed. Here's a free online event coming January 21-25 from Broken to Beloved, the 3rd annual Broken to Beloved summit . This episode of Erasing Shame opens with brief rem...
Jan 16, 2025•31 min
trigger warnings: suicidal ideation, domestic violence, child abuse, family trauma, complex trauma, church hurt, spiritual abuse, depression This extended episode is not easy listening and not family friendly. Prepare yourself for uncomfortable and painful storytelling before you tap the play button. Be ready to pause or stop listening when you feel triggered or it’s just too much. We know this is not for the faint of heart. Wellness coach Sonia Lee shares some stories from her personal experien...
Nov 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Our Asian American experiences are interwoven with multiple layers of pain and shame, intergenerational trauma, neglect, survival, both conscious and unconscious moments, that shape who we are, how we see the world, and how that shapes our spirituality in Christian churches. In collaboration with Asian American Christian Network of Atlanta (AACNA), this is the unedited raw episode of our extended conversations for nearly 2 hours, with: Dr. Stan Sonu (Pediatrics Physician), Hannah An (Worship Lea...
Oct 24, 2024•1 hr 52 min
Han Namgung spent his formative years in Korea and Kenya, and he reflects on how his upbringing shaped his path toward a career in counseling. He explores the concept of feeling like a "forever traveler," navigating different cultures and communities. Additionally, he addresses the challenges of living in a society that prioritizes high achievement and status. Han recognizes that shame is a common motivator and can stifle authenticity and connection. He affirms that our aspirations should extend...
Oct 09, 2024•58 min•Season 7Ep. 8
DJ Chuang and his younger brother Deef share openly about their personal mental health experiences with mental health, neurodiversity, and bipolar disorder. We noted the importance of finding containment to process emotions, especially in dealing with depression and lack of language. We emphasized the need for gentle approaches to healing and the benefits of practices like therapy, journaling, and meditation. We touched upon the challenges of expressing emotions in cultures that value social har...
Sep 30, 2024•54 min
A recurring sentiment is that the guilt-based theology about Christian salvation, known as soteriology, doesn't make sense to Asians and Asian Americans who have a honor-shame worldview. Vincent Mo wrote up a research paper for a seminary certificate course, in which he reviewed academic papers, known as a lit review, that addressed soteriology from honor-shame perspectives, at the intersection of systematic theology, missions, and Asian cultures. Listen to this episode and learn how Eastern per...
Sep 17, 2024•37 min
“Is it a disgrace to be Born a Chinese? Didn’t God make us all!!! What right have you to bar my children out of the school because she is a chinese Decend.” These are some of the questions Mrs. Mary Tape wrote to the California Board of Education in 1885. Marie Chan, author of Mamie Takes A Stand , highlights a hidden figure in Asian American history: Mamie Tape. The journey of learning and sharing Mamie’s story grew from Marie’s curiosity and consistent pursuit to learn about school segregation...
Sep 04, 2024•34 min•Season 7Ep. 7
Content Warning / Trigger Warning: sexual violence/rape. Midori Doumani is half Japanese and half Mexican and happy to share her heritage when directly asked. She navigates ambiguity about her perceived ethnic identity with compassion. As a kid and young adult, generationally infused shame affected her decisions. Her close-knit family dynamics and her desire to preserve the family's routine, led her to not disclose her own distressing and heartbreaking incident to anyone for ten years. Presently...
Aug 07, 2024•48 min•Season 7Ep. 6
On this Erasing Shame conversation, Rev. Dr. Ken Fong explains the difference between toxic shame and healthy shame—how they're two different things. Toxic shame carries the message that there's something inherently wrong with oneself, leading individuals to either blame others or internalize the feeling and become worthless. Healthy shame, on the other hand, acknowledges mistakes and wrongdoings, allowing for growth and the reception of grace. He also shares insights into the cultural significa...
Jul 24, 2024•44 min
How about a cold open? That's how this conversation starts with Justin Kiley (pronounced KEE-lay), where we talk about his Filipino heritage, specifically the Igorot tribe, how that flavors his experience with shame personally, given his family and cultural background, the complexities of church hurt, and how he found a healing community and authentic connection in Portland, Oregon. Justin describes different degrees of church hurt, from over-sensitivity to malicious abuse and trauma. Kiley emph...
Jul 13, 2024•43 min
Content Warning / Trigger Warning: bullying, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt. CW/TW. In this extended episode, Naomi Smith shows her prowess in storytelling in this conversation about how food affects brain health and how that is so important to life, walking through the challenges of being biracial, becoming a film maker, discovering the value of family history, and many more vignettes. Connect with Naomi Smith at https://linktr.ee/naomibowiesmith Show notes at https://erasingshame.com/naomi...
Jun 28, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Gracie Joo is a 2nd generation Asian-American and daughter of a Korean pastor. She illustrates and magnifies God’s heart for specific burdens that pastors' kids are born into with stories about her upbringing. These illustrations involve and are not limited to Dollar Tree Christmases, hand-me-downs from church eonnies, car misfortunes, a gifted and personalized Lexus, and the Holy’s Spirit's timely providence of friendship and perceptive reflection. God’s heart for pastors’ kids goes beyond the ...
Jun 19, 2024•48 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Dr. Brian Licuanan is a licensed psychologist in Orange County, California, and shares about how shame, and other factors, keeps people from getting help and treatment for their mental health challenges. Plus, he reveals a reason that goes beyond shame that causes someone to resist treatment. We believe treatment can truly help someone experience a better quality of life and health, even though sometimes finding the right treatment or doing the hard work of recovery could take quite some time an...
Jun 12, 2024•35 min
Victoria needs your help. What is our response as we bear witness to the micro and macro sufferings in our personal lives, communities, and in the world? Where and how might Biblical lament fulfill its purpose in the modern church? How can churches be better at holding space for people grieving, processing trauma, struggling with their faith, or facing mental health challenges both short term and long-term? How do we unlearn a self-centered and religiously infused savior complex? Disclaimer: Vic...
Jun 05, 2024•17 min•Season 7Ep. 4
Faith Chang, author of "Peace over Perfection: Enjoying a Good God when You Feel You're Never Enough," joins Erasing Shame for a conversation about a more nuanced perspective about perfectionism, especially for Christians, how it's related to performance anxiety, and what we can do with Matthew 5:48. Show Notes at https://erasingshame.com/how-could-perfectionism-be-a-good-thing-surprising-insights-with-faith-chang/...
May 22, 2024•30 min
Most of us, if not all of us, have experienced pain and shame for being singled out, feeling lonely and isolated. And, some people have even survived violence, emotionally or physically; we do encourage people get help to have safety, quality of life, and renew a sense of hope through those challenges. We have a conversation with Prasanta Verma, author of "Beyond Ethnic Loneliness: The Pain of Marginalization and the Path to Belonging," about all that and more. Show notes at erasingshame.com/the...
May 08, 2024•21 min
In 2016, high school Victoria met high school Christin. Somehow, Christin thought Victoria was cool- an adjective Victoria did not believe about herself to be true until 2024 when cool adult Christin met cool adult Victoria. Their current subjective definition of “cool” is equivalent to “weird- the good kind”. Listen to the story of how the two met during one pivotal transition period for Victoria. Consider their following questions: When you are in a temporary season of life (e.g. a new school ...
May 01, 2024•30 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Hanna Lee (Gospel Care Director at Tapestry LA Church, in Los Angeles) graciously takes us on a guided tour of their church's Restoration Center, where broken people are invited to be restored by Jesus in the whole of life, through means of care, healing, and prayer. • Show Notes at erasingshame.com/an-inside-look-at-tapestry-las-mental-health-ministry/
Apr 10, 2024•28 min
How does my personal background impact the way I express emotions and feelings today? How can I take care of myself while I take care of others placed within my care who are struggling with their emotional wellbeing? Mrs. Sarah Oh, friend, Pharmacist, mother, and Biblical Counseling Seminary student, provides personal insight on the topic of emotions. Listen in as she and Victoria scratch the surface of emotional expression and wellbeing within the context of being Asian women and Christ-followe...
Mar 26, 2024•28 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Isabel Tom shares about why it's extra challenging for us as Asian Americans to care for aging parents and grandparents. Isabel has worked in the field of senior care and shares so much wisdom, expertise, and practical knowledge that helps us navigate this inevitable season of life. Be sure to check out her book, "The Value of Wrinkles: A Young Perspective on How Loving the Old Will Change Your Life." https://www.valueofwrinkles.com/ (Recorded in November 2023 during national caregivers month.)...
Feb 07, 2024•23 min
Victoria's hot take: hustle culture is antithetical to human flourishing. Let's define hustle culture. Many people overvalue being productive and/or becoming an idealized version of themselves at the expense of their own health. As a result, people don't know how or when to rest properly. Burnout coupled with mental, physical, and emotional issues are too common. Productivity isn't inherently negative! Work and rest should function within God's design for humanity. Show Notes at erasingshame.com...
Jan 25, 2024•26 min•Season 7Ep. 1
