Raising Joy

We all know sleep is important, but that doesn’t mean we get enough. And when it comes to kids, sleep is especially critical for their development and mental health.

So what should you do if your child has trouble sleeping? Hilary Pearson, M.D., is the medical director of the Sleep Center at Cook Children’s Medical Center. On this episode of Raising Joy, Dr. Pearson talks to us about sleep aids, the impact of electronics on sleep and when you should seek help for your child from a medical professional.

Our relationships with our parents during childhood have a wide-reaching influence over the course of our lives. On this episode of Raising Joy, we talk to one of the leading experts in this field of research, known as attachment theory.

Casey Call, Ph.D., LPC, is the associate director of education at the Karyn Purvis Institute of Child Development at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas. She tells us how her background as an educator led to her passion of improving systems of care for children. We also explore how different attachment styles impact our child and ourselves.

Often when a person attempts suicide, we think there must have been signs ahead of the event. But this is not always the case, especially when the attempt is made by a child. This is the message Brandy and Nick Lumbert want every parent to understand. 

In 2018, their 12-year-old daughter tried to kill herself in their home. Despite going without oxygen for an extended period, she survived but doctors at Cook Children’s weren’t sure if she would ever walk, talk or have the same level of cognitive function again. She spent weeks in the ICU, followed by months in rehabilitation therapy. Amazingly, Payton surpassed everyone’s expectations. Now 17, Payton and her family are sharing their story to let others know there’s always hope.

On this very special episode of Raising Joy, we talk to the Lumbert family about Payton’s suicide attempt and how it has changed their family forever.

Physicians are not always the best at taking care of their own mental health care needs. Matthew Carroll, M.D., Associate Chief Quality Officer at Cook Children’s, says that needs to change.

After losing a colleague to suicide, Dr. Carroll recently penned an article about his own journey with mental health. On this episode of Raising Joy, we talk to Dr. Carroll about the stigma of mental health care among physicians and why so many suffer in silence.

LGBTQ youth are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to the Trevor Project. At Cook Children’s, an estimated 40% of patients admitted for mental health concerns identify as a member of the LGBTQ community.

In this episode of Raising Joy, we talk to Frank Sloan, M.D., a pediatrician with Cook Children’s Urgent Care. Dr. Sloan is also a faculty fellow for LGBTQ Health and Wellness at Texas Christian University (TCU) School of Medicine.

Dr. Sloan provides insight into the unique challenges LGBTQ youth face with their mental health, as well as in health care in general. He also helps us understand how we can better support LGBTQ youth as parents and professionals.

Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy. 

As parents, we sometimes find ourselves unsure of how to respond to something our child has said. If a child or teen says they don’t want to be alive anymore, what should you do? This is the question we asked Kia Carter, M.D., medical director of Inpatient Psychiatry at Cook Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Carter oversees a 15-bed psychiatry unit at the Rees Jones Behavioral Health Center at Cook Children’s. In this episode of Raising Joy, Dr. Carter explains when you should take your child to the emergency room for mental health concerns, and what admission into the psychiatry unit is like for the patient and their family.

Raising Joy is part of Cook Children’s Health Care System’s Joy Campaign, a communications initiative aimed at preventing youth suicides. For more information about the Joy Campaign, visit cookchildrens.org/joy.