
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

Mar 23, 2025 • 1h 11min
Childhood Trauma and Self-Defeating Behavior
Abuse and neglect in childhood can set in motion lifelong trauma symptoms. The people who hurt you are 100% responsible for this harm... it's NOT your fault. It's also true that in adulthood, many of us continue to retraumatize ourselves with what I call "self-defeating behaviors." These are the habits and tendencies that can suck you right back down into dysregulation and lead you into MORE trauma in your life. In this video, I walk you through the most common self-defeating behaviors. Check which ones are holding you back now.
16 CPTSD Behaviors That Sabotage Your Success: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3mmvYdA
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 21, 2025 • 13min
The Reason They're Pushing You Away Is Not Because They Need Your "Help"
If your attachment style is so anxious and insecure that when your partner pushes you away, and says “I don’t want to be with you anymore,” – YOU hold on tighter than ever – you are stuck in distorted thinking. If you’ve ever done this – and I have – you know on some level that you’re wrong. It’s your fear of abandonment driving you to beg and humiliate yourself. And then what do you do? Rationalize it, right? You tell yourself, "I’m not clinging to someone who doesn’t me --I’m trying to HELP them!" In this video, I respond to a letter from a man who THINKS he's being nice by trying to help a partner who isn't into him.
How to Tell if Someone is Partner Material?: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3YBwKkj
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 19, 2025 • 16min
Dating Rules to To Help YOU Stop Doing EVERYTHING For Your Mate
Your partner is not your child, so if you're doing everything for them (when they could do these things for themselves), you are overfunctioning. If you grew up with trauma, you may have been “programmed” to pick up all the slack, which might work for a little bit, but eventually it breeds resentment and breakdown of the relationship. Overfunctioning doesn't change by itself when the relationship ends though. In this video I respond to a letter from a woman with CPTSD who left her underfunctioning partner, and will do almost anything NOT to play that role when she dates someone new.
How to Tell if Someone is Partner Material?: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3YBwKkj
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 17, 2025 • 24min
Trauma Makes You Prone to Conflict: Here's How to Stop
Having more than your share of conflict with other people is a common adult symptom of growing up with neglect and abuse. Fighting, arguing, and falling out with people can feel normal when your nervous system is always dysregulated. It can feel like the world is doing this to you. But if it keeps happening, the common factor may be you, and the good news is, you can heal this trauma-driven behavior. In this video I teach why people with CPTSD are so prone to conflict, and what you can do to "cool down" a conversation that's getting heated. I'll also show you how to repair the damage when relationships are damaged, with step by step instructions on the right way to make an apology.
Try the FREE Daily Practice Course: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3Y4263I
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 16, 2025 • 1h
Triggering Past Trauma in Relationships
Attachment wounds stem from your primary relationship with parents when you were a child, and affect who you fall in love with, and how you behave in relationships. In this 4-video compilation, I share four of my most popular videos in which I answer letters from people struggling with attachment styles -- disorganized, avoidant, and anxious -- and the triggers this generates in their relationships.
Do you have CPTSD? Take the QUIZ: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3X9MZ7J
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 14, 2025 • 24min
How to Tell It's Time to Leave Your "Safe" Relationship
It’s so hard to know if you should stay in a safe relationship even though it’s dull, or break up with that person so you can try for something more romantic and wild? If you grew up with trauma, you may see these as the only two options. And chances are, until you heal, no new relationship will bring the fulfillment and love you hope for. In this video I respond to a letter from a woman who is deciding if she should leave her avoidant long-term partner for someone equally unavailable.
How To Prepare For a Great Relationship: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3raZghI
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 12, 2025 • 24min
Harsh Signals (You Don't Realize You're Sending) Push Men Away
People with CPTSD often end up with a harsh "edge" to their personalities, especially when they feel vulnerable. It's no surprise that after a childhood of emotional neglect and deprivation, without protection from bullies or abusers, some of us would have "fighting energy," even when we're trying to flirt or go on dates. You can develop a distorted idea of the qualities people are looking for in a mate, and aggressively promote one aspect of your life, while using language and an emotional tone that pushes them away. My letter today is from a woman who considers herself to look "perfect on paper," but has never had a successful relationship. Hear her letter and my tough love advice for her.
Ten Signs Your Trauma Is Healing: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3raZghI
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 10, 2025 • 15min
How to Identify and Escape "Spiritual" Manipulation
Unfortunately, it can be very easy to take advantage of people who were traumatized as kids, and make them think that some uncomfortable or painful or exploitative situation will lead to being loved. When you haven’t been loved properly, almost everyone becomes vulnerable to manipulation, because love and being included is something we all want so much. We need it! And one way that manipulative people can take what they want from vulnerable people is by giving you spiritual or ideological reasons why you should go against common sense, even when red flags are flashing, accepting bad treatment, and in many cases consent to continued exploitation.
Is Past Trauma Affecting Your Dating Life? Take the QUIZ: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3EUy8Yh
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 9, 2025 • 1h 5min
Four Signs of Complex PTSD That Most People Might Miss (4-Video Compilation)
One sign that childhood trauma is still affecting you is that you probably have at least one of these common triggers -- things that set off dysregulation in your nervous system, and make it hard for you to function at your best. These include hurrying, socializing, abandonment and feeling left out. Do you have these? In this 4-video compilation I share some of my most popular videos about these four major triggers. I'll teach you how to notice them, and what to do to calm triggers before they cause you to get dysregulated.
Are You Dysregulated? Take the QUIZ: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3JwTn5r
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF

Mar 7, 2025 • 17min
Should You Let Abusive Parents Back Into Your Life?
It’s every traumatized kids’ dream, that one day, your parents will finally see how much their abusive behavior hurt you, and they’ll change, and say they’re sorry – even if you had to cut them out of your life for a long time – and do everything that’s needed to set things right. But really, what COULD set things right? And even if they really had changed, would you be able to handle picking up that relationship again without falling back down into a place you know TOO well, where you’re depressed and dysregulated and your life gets stuck? In this video I respond to a letter from a woman who is weighing whether to let her abusive parents back into her life.
Difficult People in Your Life? Try These NINJA BOUNDARIES: FREE PDF Download: https://bit.ly/3YCnpZJ
🟢 Order My New Book, RE-REGULATED: https://bit.ly/4dtGVze
Take my FREE Course or Quizzes: https://bit.ly/40M2YeW
Enroll in my Courses or Membership: https://bit.ly/3HP5qcf
Send your questions & comments to: hello@crappychildhoodfairy.com
NEED ONLINE THERAPY? *BetterHelp* can connect you with a licensed, online therapist: https://betterhelp.com/CCF