Hi! I'm Janice Ho, a Korean-Canadian born and raised in what is colonially known as Toronto, Canada. I'm also a fellow human on her journey of healing from complex trauma and working toward personal and collective liberation.
Here are some must-knows about me so you can get a better sense of the lenses I speak through on the podcast:
- I hold several privileged identities including being a Canadian citizen, a cisgender woman, well-educated, financially privileged, able-bodied, and Korean (privileged relative to certain other ethnicities).
- I have also experienced identity-based oppression as an Asian woman in a white supremacist culture, and as someone who struggled financially for many years in the past.
- I was in monogamous, heteronormative relationships for most of my life, but have been practicing solo polyamory and relationship anarchy since 2021.
- I value transparency/honesty, courage, self-development, creative expression, social justice, and freedom/autonomy.
- I do not subscribe to the following: toxic positivity, spiritual bypassing, a hyper-focus on rational thinking over emotions/the body, "all lives matter," "positive vibes only," etc.
- My soul feels most at home in nature. I used to live on a farm and I'm an avid backcountry camper.
- I have experienced complex trauma (a.k.a. C-PTSD, including developmental, relational, attachment, racial and intergenerational trauma). Going on my trauma-healing journey over the past few years, including working with an amazing therapist and nerding out on the trauma psychoeducation, has been life-changing.
- I started school in 2022 to train to become a psychotherapist! You can follow me on Instagram @janicehocounselling to follow my therapist-in-the-making journey.
Season 1 (Jan–July 2018)
In 2018, I started The Soul's Work Podcast to share about the self-development lessons I had learned (and was continuing to learn) around things like connecting with my intuition, identifying my core values, learning self-care practices, and exploring my internalized oppression as an Asian woman. I also had a few guests who graciously shared about their own personal experiences with mental illness, relationships, and more.
(I recently unpublished my Season 1 episodes, except for my guest episodes, a decision I didn't take lightly. Happily, I've written four-years-later reflections on most of my Season 1 solo episodes on the blog, which include summaries of what those episodes were about. You can start here if you're interested: S1 | EP1: The Birth of The Soul's Work Podcast.)
Back then, I didn't see many Asian women's voices represented in the podcasting and/or "self-development" landscape. Knowing that I would have loved to see people (or even a person) who looked like me sharing about similar life challenges when I was in the depths of my struggles, I decided to add my own voice to the narrative.
By the end of Season 1, I was ready to take a break so I could focus on doing more of the work rather than sharing about the work. I had started learning about trauma and was experiencing a lot of grief as well as relational triggers and attachment issues. It was a lot to process.
I didn't know it'd be two years until my next episode. Actually, I thought I might never podcast again. But that all changed during the pandemic…
Season 2 (May 2020–Feb 2022)
In April 2020, we began the lockdown and I started my alcohol-free journey. Trying to find podcasts on alcohol dependency reminded me that Asian voices are underrepresented when it comes to these public discussions. So I got on the mic again to share about my experiences going alcohol free (and why it was so hard).
By the beginning of Season 2, I had been well underway in my trauma-healing journey so there was lots to share. I had learned a lot about how my past adverse experiences influenced the present-day me, and ways I could work toward disrupting long-standing patterns that no longer served me, including doing therapy.
By the end of Season 2 (it was a long one), I felt like I had uncovered and healed so many layers of trauma and really connected with my authentic self in a much deeper way than ever before. It’s taken a lot of hard work and incredible support. It will always be a work in progress, but it truly does get easier. And the profound level of groundedness, healing, and love for my Self and others that I've gained has been well worth the journey.
Season 3 (Feb–Sept 2022)
In Season 3, I continued the Healing Trauma series and had some awesome guests on the podcast to talk about relationships, sex and intimacy, connecting with our intuition, and more.
A big theme of this season was embodiment, as it was in my personal growth journey. Becoming more in tune with my body through somatic practices, therapy that takes a body-mind-relational approach, etc. has been a huge game-changer in my healing process, so I (and my guests) dove into discussing how we can develop that deeper connection with our body's wisdom.
I also shared about my experiences exploring solo polyamory, and even had a couple of my dating partners on the show talking about healing the abandonment wound and interviewing me for my 40th birthday episode.
Since starting school in September, I've had to pause the podcast (it's a lot of work, ya know!). But I did drop a special bonus episode in February 2023 about integrating the self-development work into real life. Learning to weave all the various tools, therapy work, and other learnings we chat about on the podcast into the messiness and complexity of everyday life and relationships has been an ongoing practice, sometimes really tough, and ultimately very fulfilling in actualizing the big shifts I've wanted to make.
Season 4 (Apr–May 2023)
In Season 4, The Soul's Work Podcast launched on YouTube @thesoulsworkpodcast! I was excited to have my guests on video, especially because many of them are Asian and I literally wanted them to be seen. It felt like I was going back to the podcast's roots of putting more Asian women's voices out into the space to talk about the things that matter to us.
With my guests, we chatted about therapy and healing trauma, polyamory, sex work, deepening romantic relationships, Asian representation, and more!
In December 2023, I dropped a special episode on doing grief work given that grieving was a big part of my process at the time witnessing the genocide in Gaza taking place.
Season 5 (Coming soon in 2024!)
After another long hiatus, the podcast will be back with a six-part series on sustaining activism and collective healing work.
A Disclaimer
My "self-development" journey is a work in progress and always will be. I am constantly learning new things about healing trauma and the ways I’ve been conditioned that aren’t aligned with my authentic self. Reflecting on the podcast four years after the end of Season 1 showed me how much my own perspectives around these topics can change, and the importance of staying open and curious to what we don't yet know.
On that note, please know that I am not an "expert" in anything I share about on this podcast. While much of what I speak about (especially regarding trauma) is based on a lot of research and education I've taken in, please remember that all of this is based on my unique personal experiences and self.
That means I will be biased as to the types of things I focus on, the types of information I seek and take in, and the perspectives I form and share here. My focus is not on being “right” but on sharing about my story, struggles, and learnings in the hopes that others might feel less alone in their own journeys.
Support the Podcast (1. Rate – 2. Review – 3. Subscribe!)
This podcast is truly a labour of love, and I am a one-woman team here! If you're enjoying the content and want to support the show, leaving a 5-star rating + review on Apple Podcasts, Podchasers, or right on this website is a great way to show your love for the podcast. You can also leave a 5-star rating on Spotify. Thank you in advance for taking the time!
And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on your favourite podcast player to be the first to know when a new episode drops. Go to the homepage for the podcast directory icons. Or click on "Follow" in the menu for a drop-down list of directories.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support, tuning in, and joining me on this complex and beautiful journey of life. Talk to you on the pod!
Updated: September 18, 2024