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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

46:23

Episode 121: Lauren Henry Brehm, Author of The French...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/11/11

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

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57:49

Episode 120: Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum, Mom, Physician,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/11/04

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

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57:55

Episode 119: Libby Davis, Mom and Founder of The...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/10/28

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

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44:31

Episode 118: Michael Mackniak, Care Coalition

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/10/21

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

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41:43

Episode 118: Jason Dyke, Dad and Founder of Carson’s...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/10/14

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

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59:01

Episode 117: Jacqueline Janssen, Mom, Advocate, and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/10/07

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

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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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124 results

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