The Adapted Life, Finding Next
I’m Julie Hasselberger. For 26 years, I was the full-time caregiver for my beloved son Daniel, whose life was marked by profound disability and extraordinary beauty. This podcast began as a way to support other parents navigating the complex, often isolating world of special needs caregiving. But life changed — heartbreakingly and irrevocably — when my son passed away.
Now, The Adapted Life, Finding Next is a space for truth-telling, tenderness, and transformation. It’s about what comes after the role that once defined you is gone. It’s about grief, relational trauma, resilience, and the raw, ongoing search for next — for purpose, healing, and connection.
If you’re facing a season of reckoning, rebuilding, or rediscovery, I invite you to walk with me. You are not alone. This is the adapted life… and together, we’ll find what comes next.
Episodes
34 episodes
Reflecting on "going inward" in healing trauma
Hi. My name is Julie Hasselberger. I am going through some incredible grief and trauma healing. My son passed away at 26 years old, and losing him left a hole in my heart. Shortly after that, I experience some terrible relatio...
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38:35
Finding Next
The Adapted Life, Finding Next Podcast Season 4Episode 32I have been wandering around in a place called grief and trauma. As I write this, I can share that I most definitely am not the same person I w...
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Season 4
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Episode 32
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28:26
Grief leaves me strange and stuck. Grief is not linear either.
254 days ago, from the day I recorded this talk, my beautiful son Daniel passed away at the age of 26. The journey I am on now, is really bizarre. There is no linear progression as far as I am concerned. Having been my...
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Season 3
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Episode 31
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37:09
Even Though I Grieve ...
Even though I Grieve Even though I grieveI can smile at your photoEven though I cry I can feel grateful Even though I am brokenI can limp along todayEven though I miss you
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Season 3
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Episode 30
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25:50
Looking for the light
The Adapted Life Podcast Season 3 Episode 29 4 months of grieving. This is a checking in, of sorts. Before I begin, I would like to reach out and let you know that if you are also grieving, and th...
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Season 3
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Episode 29
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27:32
Grief. We lost our son.
The Adapted Life Podcast Season 3 Episode 28A new season. A dark tunnel. A lonely place. A monsoon of tears. A red bird. A sun rise. A blanket. A box of tissue. A pile of ...
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Season 3
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Episode 28
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29:03
Living in alignment, core values, and being a caregiver
Episode 27 As caregiver for my son, who is 26 years old, I have had quite a journey. There have been times, when I felt completely lost and down, out of sync with who I am. Not even knowing what my core values are anym...
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Season 2
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Episode 27
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42:28
WHAT WE CARRY FORWARD
In this episode, I had been pondering the work I've been doing on self-love and releasing attachments. I asked myself, what does this mean to caregivers who carry with them a lifetime of changes that traumatically altered the course of th...
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Season 2
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Episode 26
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44:39
Your health matters too, caregivers
Hello my adapting friends. Welcome to Episode 25 of The Adapted Life Podcast. In this episode I wanted to talk about that word, health. And its sister "self-care". Taking care of our own health care needs is extremely ...
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Season 2
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Episode 25
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29:09
HOW DARE YOU DO SOMETHING ELSE! (but really, its ok)
In this episode, I wanted to talk about finding space outside of caregiving to do something that your intuition is calling you to do. As we know, carrying the weight of someone else's life and well being on our shoulders is a very heavy...
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Season 2
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Episode 24
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33:37
Inside his brain. What the MRI reveals and coping with it.
In this episode, I wanted to talk about my son's recent MRI, and what it really means to the entire big picture. And I guess, what it doesn't. Thank you for being here, at the adapted life podcast. As with with my life...
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Season 2
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Episode 23
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37:01
Tilted. A reaction to expanded family caregiving.
In this episode I discuss how I experience this "tilt" reaction to having been overwhelmed with a sudden and traumatic need to care for aging family members, on top of my responsibility as a caregiver Mom to my medically complex and disabled ad...
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Season 2
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Episode 2
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36:30
Adapting into 2023
Episode 21Season 2In this episode, I am excited to be able to continue this journey with my listeners. Sharing an overview of what happened in 2022, and looking into the new year, with curiosity and intention to continue follo...
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Season 2
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Episode 1
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23:00
DEFYING THE ODDS, 25 YEARS OF ADAPTING (Happy Birthday Daniel)
Hello everyone, This is my 20 th episode. Recorded just around the time of my son's 25th birthday (November 22nd) I was so grateful and musing the concept of my past 25 years as a musical montage. I talk about a wonderful e...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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38:10
HOME CARE FOR MY SON IS A PIPE DREAM !
In this episode, I wanted to share with my listeners, what I have gone through over the past 15 plus years trying to take care of my severely disabled son, using his state benefits and programs. The puzzle I face, like so many oth...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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46:56
DON'T TELL ME TO SELF-CARE!
SELF-CARE. ONE OF THE DREADED PLATITUDES PEOPLE THROW AT CAREGIVERS LIKE MYSELF, IS "YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TO BE A BETTER CAREGIVER FOR ....." I don't share that opinion, because I see self-care as an exten...
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Episode 18
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47:10
Communicate and Ask for Help even when its hard
In this episode I'm discussing the importance of the tool of communicating to others what your needs are, and asking for help. This is easy to say, but for so many of us, very hard to do. Even with the difficult challenge of taking ...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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38:13
Gratitude Practice, Julie's toolkit for Adapted life
In this episode, I discuss my second "tool" in my tool kit for those dealing with extreme adversity and caregiving responsibilities. It is gratitude. I explain that being grateful is an empowering way to stay centered and min...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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34:16
Tools for adapting, Meditation
In this episode I discuss how my journey to finding meditation has been pivotal in helping me to manage the storms and difficulties that being a caregiver has presented.
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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31:48
Travel and Vacation With my Disabled Son
In this episode, I share with listeners an inside look at just how complicated it is for me to bring my disabled son on vacation, or traveling anywhere for that matter. May I first add, that as Daniel has aged and become a young ad...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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32:56
Nursing Care at Home, Difficult Challenges
In this episode, I discuss the challenges caregivers like myself face, with trying to get the care needed for their loved one. In my case, my son is medically fragile and requires nursing care every day. He has state insuran...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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32:03
Crisis! Special Needs Formula is Recalled
April 29, 2022CRISIS! NO FORMULA FOR MY GTUBE FED SON!In this episode, I wanted to share with you my experience with the recent recall of specialized formula that we needed to feed our 24 year old disabled son. The recall,...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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31:48
Universal Challenges for Caregivers
In this episode, I share with listeners some of the responses I have heard from other caregivers/special needs parents that are the biggest challenges they face caring for their loved one or child. As much as this life feels isolating a...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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30:35
The Cracks In Between, Slipping into Moments of Me
In this episode, I talk about something that I've written about considerably. As a caregiver, I have so much of me devoted to this role. But the true essence of who I am, what my souls true purpose is, is far greater than just my ro...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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29:01