This talk explores the "Big Feeling Days" that often come with being an adoptee and how we can learn to navigate them with greater awareness and self-compassion.
These moments don't always announce themselves. Mother's Day. Birthdays. Doctor's visits. Becoming a parent ourselves. Filling out family medical history. They can surface grief, curiosity, joy, loss, or questions of identity in unexpected ways.
Together, we'll develop a shared language for understanding these everyday moments and milestones, while exploring practical ways to support our own wellbeing and invite our village into the healing process. By naming these experiences, we create space for connection, resilience, and belonging, not only for ourselves, but for the people who walk alongside us.

Zoë Hansen-DiBello, PhD, is the Founder & CEO of Unfolding, a wellbeing app for adoptees and their village. A TEDx speaker and adoptee herself, she draws on lived experience, storytelling, and research to encourage adoptees and the people who care for them to build a daily practice around identity, belonging, and healing.