Episodes
Stories from the Shadows
Each episode is a journey into the depths of human experience. Raw conversations. Real transformations.
The Secret She Carried for Decades: Her Father Was the Father of Her Children
We teach kids to avoid strangers. To trust their gut. To believe home means safety. But what if home was the danger? In this first episode of The Shadow Sessions, host Hiba Balfaqih sits down with Aziza Kibibi — a survivor whose story of incest, betrayal, and survival shatters the illusion of safety.
We All Have Something We Are Hiding
The Shadow Sessions is a podcast for the stories we hide, the ones too painful, too early, or too private to ever make it to therapy. Hosted by psychologist and trauma alchemist Hiba Balfaqih, each episode sits with the truths people were never given permission to speak.
A Childhood Without Safety: Growing Up Inside the Prison System
What happens when a child grows up without safety, and the system responds with punishment instead of protection? In this episode of The Shadow Sessions, host Hiba Balfaqih sits down with Sonny Van Cleaveland, whose life was shaped by incarceration before it was shaped by care.
Mikey, The Death
Doula
Not all shadows are dark. Some are quiet. Some are tender. Some ask us to slow down and sit with the one certainty we spend our lives trying to outrun. In this episode of The Shadow Sessions, host Hiba Balfaqih speaks with Mikey, a death doula who supports people at the end of life—helping them die on their own terms, with dignity, presence, and meaning.
Hacker & Identity James
Linton
We’re taught to imagine hackers as men in hoodies—isolated, brilliant, dangerous. But what if the real story isn’t about code or breaches at all? What if it’s about psychology? In this episode of The Shadow Sessions, Hiba Balfaqih speaks with a man who infiltrated some of the most powerful systems in the world—impersonating CEOs, deceiving institutions, and accessing spaces he was never meant to enter.
After the Collapse: Bankruptcy, Identity Loss and Building Again
Not all shadows look like darkness. Some look like ambition. Some look like discipline, perseverance, and the pressure to hold everything together while quietly falling apart. In this episode of The Shadow Sessions, Hiba Balfaqih speaks with Amber Duncan, who went from success as it’s culturally defined to total collapse.
The Sin Of Being a Girl: Surviving Honor-Based Violence
What if your biggest sin is being born a girl? What happens when violence is justified as tradition and silence is enforced as honor? In this episode of The Shadow Sessions, Hiba Balfaqih speaks with Nina Aouilk, a survivor of honor‑based violence who grew up in a system where abuse was normalized, and truth was punished.
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