
The Crappy Childhood Fairy Podcast with Anna Runkle
I’m Anna Runkle, also known as the Crappy Childhood Fairy, and I teach people to recognize and heal the symptoms of Childhood PTSD. Welcome to my podcast!I’m not a doctor or therapist; I know about childhood trauma because I lived it, and I discovered a radical approach to healing that focuses first on calming neurological dysregulation, which is common in people who grew up with abuse and neglect. In my podcasts, I teach about dysregulation – how to know if you have it, what it can do to your body, your thinking and your relationships, and what to do to master re-regulation. When I learned this, everything in my life got suddenly easier. I’ll also be teaching you to heal the life problems that so often develop after years of living dysregulated – feeling tired, isolated and unfocused, finding yourself always drawn to unavailable and inappropriate partners, and falling WAY short of your professional potential, for example. The thing about me is, traditional therapies never seemed to help me. When I found techniques that did work, my whole life changed. Only in the past few years has the trauma research caught up to explain why – why the techniques I use worked, why therapy didn’t, and why my healing journey was so unnecessarily long. I’ve been teaching what I learned for more than 20 years now. It started with friends who had noticed the quick and dramatic change in me, and gradually grew by word of mouth. In 2016, I had so many people seeking instruction that I made my first online video, and then an online course, and this is how Crappy Childhood Fairy was born. My techniques and principles are practical yet powerful – an approach anyone can use, whether or not you have access to professional help. In this podcast, I’ll be talking about the master of self-regulation, and teach the tough-love life-lessons that you may not have learned at home – like how to date so that stable love finds you, how to get ahead at work, and how to calm the negative hamster-wheel thoughts that block your ability to connect with other people. Today, almost half a million people follow my work and participate in my training and coaching programs. My mission is to change the paradigm of what’s possible for people like us, and to help you free yourself from the oppression of trauma wounds, and to become your full, happy and real self. I’m glad you’re here! Watch new videos on my YouTube channel every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and access my videos, courses and free tools at crappychildhoodfairy.com.
Latest episodes

Apr 18, 2023 • 32min
Succeeding at Work You Love is a Powerful Part of Trauma Healing
Work and career are important to success and happiness. But trauma from your childhood can trigger behaviors that block your advancement and ruin opportunities. In this podcast, I teach common trauma-driven behaviors behaviors that can hurt your work life, and how you can change and heal.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Apr 14, 2023 • 1h
Stop Giving Away The INNER POWER You Need to Heal Your Trauma
Trauma during childhood can teach you to "give away your power" through self-destructive tendencies, people pleasing, and an urge to flee conflict, responsibility, and intimacy. To heal trauma, you need your POWER -- the power to take care of yourself, to take action, and to hold boundaries against mistreatment by others. In this podcast, I teach about 20 ways that people with CPTSD sometimes give their power away -- and what to do to build it BACK.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
You can access my Dating and Relationships course right here: https://bit.ly/3odjqGr

5 snips
Apr 11, 2023 • 22min
Past Trauma Could Be Why You Struggle to Get Things Done
How hard do you work to keep your life on track? Some people with past trauma find they take on too much, while others are disorganized and procrastinate, hide from responsibilities, struggle to move forward toward goals. In this podcast, I respond to a letter from a woman with CPTSD. She was forced to take on adult responsibilities as a child, and today finds herself under-functioning, and is ready to change the pattern.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Apr 7, 2023 • 18min
No More Fitting Yourself to Unacceptable People And Situations!
When you were a kid, you had no choice but to adapt yourself to whatever neglectful hurtful treatment you received. But now that you're an adult, it's time to shed your ability to "Crapfit" -- my word for when you fit yourself to unacceptable people and situations. In this podcast, I respond to a letter from a woman who wants her boyfriend to treat her with more care and respect. But he doesn't seem to get the message. Hear my advice to help her stop crapfitting!
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
You can download "10 Things Romantic Manipulators Say" right here: https://bit.ly/3od3xzY

Apr 4, 2023 • 17min
How to Hold Boundaries Kindly, Without Apology
If you were raised by an emotionally unstable parent, you had no choice but to accept their chaotic life choices, lack of boundaries and ever-changing rules. This was a survival strategy for you, but now it's time to clarify for yourself YOUR needs, preferences and values -- and develop boundaries so loved ones can no longer take those away from you. In this podcast, I respond to a letter from a woman who is ready to set boundaries with her impulsive, demanding mother, but needs help preparing for the explosive emotions likely to follow.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Mar 31, 2023 • 1h 19min
Do You Procrastinate MORE Than Most People? Here's What to Do
Getting things done is a HUGE problem for many people, especially with the neurological effects of trauma complicating your ability to focus, to maintain consistent energy levels, and to handle emotional upsets that are bound to happen from time to time. In this "best of" compilation, I share strategies for overcoming procrastination and "action paralysis." Learn how you can overcome limitations from the past and accomplish important goals that make you happy.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Mar 28, 2023 • 15min
Facing Your Shame Lets You Heal It or Change It
You may have been told that shame is just a way that bad people try to make you feel bad about yourself. Sometimes this is true, but the harder kind of shame is "earned" shame -- where you feel badly about something you said or did, or failed to do. The trouble is, most of us are afraid to face shame feelings. "Shame shifting" is my term for when you feel shame and can't face it, so immediately begin to look for who to BLAME. Blame may make you feel better in the short term, but it hurts other people and stops YOU from facing yourself -- releasing shame where you can and amending mistakes you made in the past.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Mar 24, 2023 • 46min
The Destructive Attraction to Unavailable People: How to Heal
One of the most brutal but deceptive symptoms of Childhood PTSD is the romanticization of unrequited love. Loving, available partners seem boring, while those who don't want you seem to represent a higher realm of being, and give you (if only in fantasy) the experience of great love and emotion. The compulsion to love unavailable people will rob you of all happiness, and any chance of real love. In this episode, I respond to a letter from a woman who pours her life into creative collaboration with a man far younger who is not interested. Even while asking for help, she is caught in denial. Hear my answer to help her get free.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Mar 21, 2023 • 27min
Casual Sex Culture Is Toxic For People Who Were Neglected/Abandoned In Childhood
"Cool Girls" are women who appear to feel relaxed and happy about "friends with benefits" relationships, and to have no expectations that get in the way of commitment-free sex. There's a lot of social pressure to be "cool," but for people who were neglected or abandoned as children, acting cool is a charade meant to cover what they've been told is shameful -- a desire for a serious and monogamous relationship. In this episode, I respond to a letter from a young woman who has been brainwashed to believe her expectations are the problem. Hear my suggestions to get real with herself and change her entire approach to dating.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf

Mar 17, 2023 • 17min
The Trauma Won't Stop Until YOU Break the Cycle
A history of abandonment in childhood makes you prone to attach to people who abandon you and worse. But focusing on the REASON for the pattern is an explanation, but not a solution. If your pattern is terrible relationships, you will keep having them until you get the power to live, and the will to change. In this episode, I respond to a letter from a woman who is in her second abusive marriage; hear my advice to her for how to face what's happening, change her pattern, and salvage her future.
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf