The last episode of this season, and just in time for the holidays, is an episode just for all parents! Holly Swenson, author of Stop, Drop, Grow and Glow (https://www.amazon.com/Stop-Drop-Grow-Glow-Connections/dp/1950476723), is on a mission to raise the bar for parents and infuse more joy, intention, balance, and wellness into parenting and beyond. She believes learning how to tend to you before tackling life’s asks and demands is the key to opening the door to thriving in life, and not just merely surviving. Holly will teach you how to balance the demands of parenthood with more consciousness, grace, and gentility, not just for your own benefit, but for the lives you are responsible for shaping. In this episode, Holly emphasizes how it is not only ok but necessary to fill your own tank, and that self-care is not selfish.  Make sure you check out Holly’s website for blog posts and so much more (https://liveyourglow.live/).

https://laurenhenrybrehm.com/
This is a fascinating episode about Lauren’s journey of researching her mother’s family and their mental illnesses through three generations.  Lauren has captured her research, as well as her own opinions and experiences growing up in a family with untreated mental illness, in a book entitled The French Court; Essays from One Family’s Legacy of Mental Illness (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-french-court-lauren-henry-brehm/1147219223). Lauren discusses her maternal grandmother’s decades of untreated mental illness and how the family structured everything in their lives to cater to her grandmother’s compulsions and manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Lauren talks about the generational nature of mental illness, addiction, and trauma, and how she has high hopes for the next generation of her family based on the fact that the third generation is doing what is necessary to reclaim their mental health. Lauren also delves into her complicated relationship with her mother and how she worked to raise her own daughter the way she wishes she had been raised. Lauren shares her history of her own mental illness, including depression and suicidal ideation, and a later-in-life diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Don’t miss this inspirational episode with Dr. E, a family practice physician with a specialty in pediatric anxiety and depression.  Dr. E has four children. Her second child, Sophie, has Selective Mutism, a mental health condition where a person can’t talk in certain situations because of fear and anxiety. Dr. E says she knew something was off when Sophie was about 3 1/2 years old.  Sophie was super talkative at home, but became a different person when she was out of the house. Advocating for her daughter sent Dr. E on a quest to find Sophie the right help.  After several different diagnoses and even accusations of child abuse, Dr. E set out to figure out for herself what Sophie was battling. Through her research and work, Dr. E found the diagnosis of Selective Mutism and founded the Selective Mutism Association (https://www.selectivemutism.org/). Dr. E then created the Social Communication Anxiety Treatment (S-CAT) and the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Related Disorders Treatment Center (Smart Center) (https://selectivemutismcenter.org/), where thousands of people worldwide overcome Selective Mutism. Dr. E emphasizes the importance of parents trusting their guts, and how critical it is to be your child’s advocate. Dr. E concludes the episode by talking about the book Sophie wrote called Unspoken Words (https://www.amazon.com/Unspoken-Words-Childs-Selective-Mutism/dp/1467982598) at age 13. Sophie went to college and medical school and is now married and expecting her first child. Dr. E also hosts a podcast called Unspoken Words (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/unspoken-words-a-selective-mutism-podcast-by-dr/id1621959774?i=1000732656789)

This episode is difficult but a must-listen for everyone. Libby Davis says they were just living the “average” life in 2021 when they received the call that every parent fears. The local police called to tell Libby and her husband that their 16-year-old son, Cooper, was having a medical emergency. Libby chronicles the unimaginable pain of that day and how their son, Cooper, and his friends bought 2 pills they thought were prescription Percocet and split the two pills five ways. Cooper was transported to the hospital, where he died later that day of fentanyl poisoning. The other four boys lived. Libby emphasizes that it was fentanyl poisoning, not an overdose, as the boys received counterfeit pills and Cooper took fentanyl unknowingly.

Libby shares that she knew immediately that she wanted to use Cooper’s story to educate and spread awareness. Even though both Libby and her husband are healthcare providers, Libby says they had no idea about the counterfeit pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl that are being sold on social media to kids all across the country. She wants to use her grief to keep other families from experiencing this tragedy. Three main points Libby emphasizes are:

    1.    This can happen to any family.
    2.    We have to talk about it in schools and at home, at any chance we have.
    3.    The only safe pill is one that is prescribed to you by a physician and filled at a pharmacy. If it comes from social media, you have to assume it’s fake, full of fentanyl, and will kill you. 

Having spoken at over 70 schools to date, Libby emphasizes that this is not a one-time conversation and that one bad decision can result in death. Libby brings to light the role of drug cartels in the fentanyl crisis and shares some staggering statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration (https://www.dea.gov/ (https://www.dea.gov/)). In February of 2023, more than 99% of drugs seized by the DEA were counterfeit, and fifty percent of those seized had a lethal dose of fentanyl in them. Libby also emphasizes that drugs are no longer being sold on street corners but on social media and apps that kids and teens use on a daily basis.

Some of the helpful resources Libby references are:

https://addictionisreal.org/our-story/

https://www.dea.gov/operation-engage

https://www.songforcharlie.org/

https://www.cooperdavismemorialfoundation.org

Don’t miss this important episode featuring Michael Mackniak, attorney and founder of Care Coalition (https://carecoalition.org/). Mike shares his journey as an attorney with 30 years of experience, much of it in probate courts. Mike emphasizes how it was through this work that he saw so many people in need of help, particularly in the realm of families supporting a loved one with a mental illness. The idea of Care Coalition came about based on Mike’s experience. Mike encourages parents and family members to be part of their loved one’s mental health team, to be educated and indispensable, so that care providers include them in the decision making process. In this episode, we also talk about HIPAA (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/index.html). Mike encourages family members to learn more about what HIPAA is and the rights family members actually have when a loved one is unable to make decisions because of their mental illness. Mike also shared that he is developing an app called Care Compass, which will help family members keep all of their loved one’s information electronically organized.

*Trigger warning—this episode contains explicit talk about suicide and specific methodology

Jason is an incredible dad who lost his 11-year-old son, Carson, to suicide in 2017. Jason shares openly and candidly about losing his son, and how his closest friends, or “bus family,” came in and helped Jason and his family navigate the days following Carson’s death. Shortly after Carson’s funeral, Jason started thinking about all the people who don’t have a “bus family,” and don’t know what to do or who to call in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one. When he couldn’t find any resources online, Jason decided to establish Carson’s Village (https://carsonsvillage.org/) to assist families after losing a loved one. Carson’s Village, an official 501(c)3 nonprofit, launched in January of 2018 and helped their first family in the Dallas area, where Jason lives. To date, Carson’s Village has helped almost 9,000 families across the United States in the aftermath of losing a loved one. Jason shares that initially he thought he could help everyone in person, but quickly realized that was not possible, so they pivoted to an online format. Carson’s Village helps with practical things like selecting a funeral home, explaining the funeral process, and creating fundraising pages. Carson’s Village now provides support to families for up to two years after losing a loved one through check-ins, support groups, peer-to-peer programs, counselors, and a partnership with Better Help (https://www.betterhelp.com/ (https://www.betterhelp.com/)). Additionally, Jason and his team have developed Bereavement Village (https://bereavementvillage.com/ (https://bereavementvillage.com/)) to “support the supporters”—those on the front lines. Carson’s Village partners with school districts, hospitals, companies, police departments, and the like to help families in practical ways after the death of a loved one. Feel free to reach out to Jason personally at [email protected]  if you, your organization, or your employer is interested in partnering with Carson’s Village.

Jacqueline (https://jacquelinejanssen.com/) has turned all she has learned about mental illness from her son’s mental health journey into incredible advocacy. Her latest book, Every Homeless Person Has a Mother, chronicles Jacqueline’s experience as a parent of an adult child with schizoaffective disorder. Jacqueline’s son’s battle with mental illness started when he was 19 years old. Jacqueline talks about the myriad of therapies and treatments her son received and how he ultimately ended up homeless as a result of anosognosia (https://www.nami.org/about-mental-illness/common-with-mental-illness/anosognosia/) or the lack of ability to recognize and treat his mental illness. Jacqueline has been a tireless advocate for families through her own work and with NAMI (https://www.nami.org/) and encourages families to get involved in their local NAMI chapters. Jacqueline emphasizes that when a loved one is incapable of making decisions for his or her own good, HIPAA (https://www.cdc.gov/phlp/php/resources/health-insurance-portability-and-accountability-act-of-1996-hipaa.html) allows mental health providers to talk to families. Jacqueline also discusses strategies for reunification of families if there is estrangement due to mental illness. Jacqueline graciously shares many resources with listeners:

Family Rights and HIPAA Facts: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1W6DO-beIMgMww0xH1QTUBECiSXd85W8H/view?usp=drive_link; 

HIPAA Decision Tree: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DsI-DpSCFrZLfgCknTqjaMqXTavh0AGu/view?usp=drive_link; 

Family Involvement Accelerates Recovery: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IoCvWj7H56K-F4qtSL5hiGHriEn6Nk8U/view?usp=drive_link; 

Every Homeless Person Has A Mother: https://everyhomelesspersonhasamother.substack.com; 

https://www.nationalshatteringsilencecoalition.org/; 

What I Wish I’d Known: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KnkPLJKF7TCNyvTwxgnZIhtAcDOCgoYQ/view?usp=drive_link

In this honest and vulnerable conversation, Adriane shares her extremely difficult journey as a wife who lost her husband to suicide in her late 20s. Adriane talks about her son, Braden, who was only 7 when his dad died by suicide. She also discusses how Braden struggled tremendously with his own suicidal ideation and how he lost his best friend to suicide at the age of 16.  Adriane laments the difficulty in finding a good therapy fit for her son, and how she struggled herself to deal with the grief and loss in unhealthy ways along. While she struggled with her own depression, Adriane talks about how she worked to find joy in her life again. In 2018, Braden graduated from high school, and Adriane learned about AFSP (https://afsp.org/). She had felt that she was alone in a boat in the ocean with no one to talk to, and AFSP gave her a place to talk about her experience. Since that time, Adriane has been very involved with AFSP. Adriane strives to be a healing balm for others, which is a critical part of her own healing journey. Adriane now finds joy in helping others in whatever capacity they need. Adriane concludes this episode by emphasizing the importance of talking about mental health, asking questions, and being supportive to someone who is struggling. Adriane encourages listeners to ask the direct question if there are concerns about suicide, and to utilize 988 as a resource for help.

TRIGGER WARNING—this episode contains explicit talk about suicide and methodology

This episode is the continuation and conclusion of my conversation with Joanne. Joanne discusses the myriad of therapies and therapeutic modalities she has incorporated into her own healing work. She talks about her work on her master’s degree in counseling (https://www.agoodlifeworks.com/). Joanne emphasizes how important it is for parents to take care of their own mental health. Joanne says she realized there was a missing piece in her healing, and she has found that by volunteering with ATLAST (http://joinatlast.org). Through ATLAST, Joanne is able to help Latino youth talk about their mental health.

TRIGGER WARNING— this episode contains explicit talk about suicide and methodology.

Listen as Joanne shares her heart-wrenching story of losing her oldest son, Jacob, to suicide in September 2022.  Joanne shares that Jacob was a happy, easy child, and that she started noticing changes in his junior year in high school during Covid. Jacob stopped playing baseball, which he had always loved, and became more isolated in his senior year.  He had an online relationship but did not want to socialize with others. When he graduated from high school, Joanne shares that Jacob wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. 

After sharing that he had thought seriously about suicide, Jacob agreed to go to counseling.  However, when his online girlfriend broke up with him, he was devastated. Jacob died by suicide on September 25, 2022.  Joanne was wracked with grief when Jacob’s father died by suicide less than a month after Jacob. Joanne vulnerably and honestly shares the depth of pain and grief she experienced, leading to her own suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization.