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PODCAST

The Just A Mom Podcast

My name is Susie. I have three children, the youngest of whom struggles with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. I never thought this could happen to me, and I missed the signs. Being a parent is really hard, and I"m here to help! I"m talking to parents and experts to help you with the issues your kids may face. I want you to know that you are not alone and there is hope.

kids & family parenting

All Episodes

51:01

Episode 116: Adriane Handy, Chair, American Society...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/09/30

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

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50:40

Episode 115: Joanne Martinez Dunn Part 2, Mom and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/09/23

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

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48:17

Episode 114: Joanne Martinez Dunn Part 1, Mom and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/09/16

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

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59:07

Episode 113: Dr. Curt Thompson, Psychiatrist, Author,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/09/09

Dr. Curt Thompson (https://curtthompsonmd.com/) is a widely known expert in interpersonal neurobiology, and I could not be more excited for you to hear this episode. Dr. Thompson’s genuine love and care for people shines brightly in this conversation where he highlights his unique insights about how the brain affects and processes relationships. Dr. Thompson focuses on what we all as humans want— to be known— and how shame and trauma keep us in hiding. He shares about the non-profit he

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4:17

Fall 2025 Preview

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/09/02

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56:49

Episode 112: Lynda Gargan, PhD, Executive Director,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/07/15

The summer 2025 season concludes with a great conversation with Lynda Gargan. Lynda shares some of her personal story of raising a son with mental health challenges, as well as her professional journey that led her to The National Federation of Families (NFF, https://www.ffcmh.org/). We discuss the importance of listening to our children, advocating for them, and mental health education. Lynda does a deep dive on all of the ways NFF works for families dealing with mental health issues and

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60:13

Episode 111: Iuri Melo, Licensed Clinical Social...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/07/08

Iuri Melo was inspired to look for a solution to a rash of teen suicides in his community in Utah seven years ago. SchoolPulse (https://schoolpulse.org/) is a proactive, text-based student support service available throughout the United States that texts students evidence-based, cognitive behavioral skills and strategies twice a week. This approach provides students with anonymity, confidentiality, convenience, and privacy that results in honest interactions and leads to effective

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52:01

Episode 110: Cheryl Deas, Mom, Founder and President,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/07/01

I heard Cheryl speak at the National Federation of Families Conference (https://www.ffcmh.org/) in November of 2024, where she very vulnerably shared her experience of losing her son, DJ, to suicide seven years ago. On this episode, Cheryl talks about what a gifted athlete and student DJ was, and how she and her husband had no idea that DJ was struggling. Cheryl candidly discusses the hours, days, and weeks following DJ’s suicide and how their friends and community surrounded them and held

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37:11

Episode 109: Kelly Jackson, Mom and Executive...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/06/24

Kelly Jackson shares more in-depth about her personal journey of parenting a child with mental illness in the second part of my conversation with her. Kelly discusses how she had to adjust her dreams and expectations for her daughter, and how she had to stop trying to make her daughter just like herself. While there have been many ups and downs in their journey, Kelly shares how her daughter is learning resilience. Kelly also shares how her husband’s involvement in NAMI led Kelly to attend

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33:07

Episode 108: Kelly Jackson Part 1

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/06/17

Kelly Jackson is a mom who has vast personal experience with family members experiencing mental illness. In this episode of The Just A Mom Podcast, Kelly candidly shares her journey as a parent with a child with mental illness. Kelly’s daughter started exhibiting symptoms of mental illness after she fell out of a swing and suffered a concussion as a second grader. Kelly chronicles her daughter’s mental health journey, which included in-patient psychiatric hospitalization, an intensive

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61:15

Episode 107: Kim Botto, Author of Boundless Hope for...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/06/10

This episode is a don’t-miss for all. Kim is passionate about all kids belonging, particularly in church settings. But Kim’s book and principles apply to all of us, and we ended our time together by saying, “Just be a decent human being.” While this can seem so simple, Kim helps us understand the ways that we don’t do this well and how we can do it better, especially with kids and adults who have “invisible disabilities”. Kim talks about how trauma impacts children and their attachment and

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61:15

Episode 106: Anna McCasland

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/06/03

Don’t miss this summer kick-off episode of The Just A Mom Podcast featuring Anna McCasland. Anna has an incredible and unique journey as a person with lived experience with PANDAS, which is short for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections. PANDAS is a rare autoimmune condition that can occur in children after a strep throat infection, and is characterized by a sudden onset of obsessive-compulsive (OCD) along with other behavioral and

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55:45

Episode 105: Debi Roberts, Chief Executive Officer,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/04/15

Don’t miss the final episode this spring featuring Debi Roberts of the OLLIE Foundation (https://theolliefoundation.org/). Ollie is an acronym for One Life Lost Is Enough. The Ollie Foundation was founded in 2016 by three UK parents who had lost their teen sons to suicide. OLLIE is devoted to empowering individuals and organizations to reduce suicide in their communities through education, intervention, and prevention. Debi walks us through the myriad of resources OLLIE provides, all online

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54:18

Episode 104: Holly Miles, Executive Director of NAMI...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/04/08

In the final of a three-part series, Holly continues chronicling the unconditional love she and her husband have shown their son. Holly shares that after her son attacked both her and her husband, her son was taken by ambulance to the emergency room. Holly then shares about her injuries from the attack and the permanent problems she has as a result. Holly tells us that while she and her husband did press charges against their son for their own protection and his, she has never given up on

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57:12

Episode 103: Holly Miles, Executive Director of NAMI...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/04/01

*Trigger warning: This episode contains conversations about sex and pornography addiction and sexual abuse.This is the second of a three-part series with Holly Miles. In this episode, Holly discusses some of the behaviors her adopted son started exhibiting after she and her husband adopted him. Some of these behaviors included inappropriate sexual behaviors and pornography use, sexual abuse, and physical violence. Holly and her husband worked incredibly hard to find the appropriate

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153:37

Episode 102: Holly Miles, Executive Director of NAMI...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/03/25

Don’t miss the first of this three-part series featuring Holly Miles. Holly has quite a story of her own mental health journey, her work as a psychiatric nurse, her journey with the foster care system, and her eventual adoption of her son, Jacob. Holly shares her personal and professional experiences that led her to her present work as the Executive Director of NAMI Greater Kansas City. Holly always wanted to have children but was unable to do so. She and her husband went through the

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47:06

Episode 101: Mary Pruitt, Executive Producer and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/03/18

Since 2008, Stephen and Mary Pruitt have been making truly independent, Hollywood-quality feature films that both entertain and inspire. This episode of The Just A Mom Podcast highlights their recent film, State of Grace, which, Mary says, is a film about “fentanyl, foster care, and a family of strangers.” This must-see movie chronicles the journey of the main character, Erin, and her struggle with fentanyl, her arrest, and the subsequent loss of her daughter to state custody. Mary

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52:09

Episode 100: Susie Gurley, Creator/Host of The Just A...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/03/11

I knew I wanted to do something different and special to celebrate the 100th episode of The Just A Mom Podcast. It seems only fitting to have three of my closest friends interview me. On this episode, Debbie, Jen, Toni and I take a walk down memory lane where they ask me questions about my journey as a parent of a child who struggles with mental illness. We also talk about the inception of The Just A Mom Podcast, lessons learned, and what the future looks like for The Just A Mom Podcast

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36:53

Episode 99: Cindy Elkins and Dr. Koo Part 2

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/03/04

This is the continuation of the previous episode. Cindy chronicles her daughter, Chase’s, journey with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in 2022. Chase was part of a clinical trial, which accelerated all TMS treatments into a few days, as opposed to the traditional model that spans multiple weeks. Cindy notes how quickly Chase improved and how she became herself again. Chase is now a pre-med junior in college and doing well. Dr. Koo explains the difference between TMS and

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39:43

Episode 98: Cindy Elkins and Dr. Martha Koo Part 1

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/02/25

Don’t miss the first in a two-part series featuring Cindy Elkins and Dr. Martha Koo. I met Cindy at the 2024 NAMICon (https://events.nami.org/namicon/). Cindy shared some of her daughter’s story with me, which included being part of a clinical trial for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS, and being featured on The Today Show (https://www.today.com/video/how-magnet-therapy-can-help-treat-depression-143573573760). Cindy is not only a business executive and mom, but she also serves on

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138 results

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