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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

48:29

Episode 134: Lisa Katona Smith, Mom, Certified Peer...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/31

In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Lisa Katona-Smith shares her journey as a mother navigating her son’s mental health challenges and substance use disorder. Through moments of fear, resilience, and hard-earned clarity, Lisa transformed her personal experience into a meaningful framework to support other families facing similar struggles—captured in her book, Parallel Recovery: A Guide for Those Who Love Someone with Substance Use Disorder (https://a.co/d/07C8FLzz).This

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48:05

Episode 133: Dr. Jenn Rapkin, Mom, Author, and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/24

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Dr. Jenn Rapkin shares her remarkable journey living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) while also parenting a child navigating the same condition. As a naturopathic physician specializing in mental health and mind-body medicine, Dr. Jenn brings both clinical expertise and lived experience to a conversation that is honest, hopeful, and incredibly insightful.She opens up about the early signs of OCD in her own life, the loneliness and

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49:27

Episode 132: Meri Viano, Mom and Associate Director,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/17

This episode of the Just A Mom Podcast features Meri Viano, an adoptive mother and mental health advocate. Meri shares her journey of adopting a sibling set of boys and a girl with Down Syndrome, highlighting the challenges she faced in navigating the mental health system and the stigma surrounding mental illness. She discusses the importance of community support, advocacy for parents, and understanding the complexities of trauma in children's behavior. Meri also shares her experiences with

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51:01

Episode 131: Dr. Karen Sheffield-Abdullah, Certified...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/10

In this episode of the Just A Mom podcast, Dr. Karen Sheffield-Abdullah discusses the critical topic of postpartum depression and maternal mental health, as about one in seven women experiences postpartum depression. She explains the differences between postpartum depression and anxiety, the importance of prenatal screening, and the role of medication management during pregnancy. Dr. Karen emphasizes the impact of social media on new moms, the significance of trauma in maternal mental

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51:01

Episode 131: Dr. Karen Sheffield Abdulla

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/10

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67:15

Episode 130: Lisa Sabey and Alison Paine, Moms and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/03/03

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Lisa Sabey and Alison Paine, two courageous mothers, share how they are using documentary filmmaking as a catalyst to revolutionize mental health education and care in the United States. What began as personal journeys navigating their own families’ mental health challenges has evolved into a mission to transform how mental health is understood, taught, and supported across the country. These women are working to bridge the long-standing gap

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64:15

Episode 129: Marcia Earhart,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/02/24

In this conversation, Marcia Earhart explores the intricate relationship between grief and joy, emphasizing how they coexist and how one can find solace in memories while living in the present. Marcia knows incredible grief herself as she has lost two sons. She shares her personal journey of incorporating the memories of her loved ones into her current life, highlighting the importance of emotional health and coping with loss. She shares about her role as a HeartSync Facilitator and her

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53:11

Episode 128: Dr. Hector Rodriguez, Integrative...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/02/17

On this episode of the Just a Mom podcast, Dr. Hector Rodriguez, an integrative psychiatrist, discusses the complexities of mental health, particularly in teens and young adults. He emphasizes the importance of understanding the brain's function through tools like SPECT scans (https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diagnostics/spect-scan) and the impact of societal changes, such as the pandemic, on mental health. Dr. Rodriguez provides insights into recognizing signs of mental health issues,

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64:01

Episode 127: Ryan Bevins and JP Claxton, Fight Club

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/02/10

On this episode of The Just Mom Podcast, Ryan Bevins and JP Claxton dive into their organization called Fight Club (https://fightclub-us.com/), a movement created to give teens—especially young men—a safe place to talk about what they’re really feeling.Fight Club was born from a simple but urgent realization: kids are struggling, and many don’t know how to talk about it. What started as a response to that need has grown into something extraordinary. Ryan and JP share how Fight Club

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61:21

Episode 126: Jeanette Yoffe, Therapist, Founder of...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/02/03

On this episode of the Just A Mom podcast, Jeanette Yoffe, a psychotherapist and advocate for children in foster care and adoption, shares her personal journey of spending six and a half years in foster care. Jeanette details the challenges she faced, including trauma, mental health struggles, and the impact of these experiences. She emphasizes the importance of understanding trauma, the healing power of creative expression, and the need for compassion towards birth parents. Jeanette also

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47:43

Episode 125: Dr. Michelle Sherman, Licensed...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/01/27

Dr. Michelle Sherman is a licensed psychologist with over 30 years of experience, providing individual and couples psychotherapy to adults in a VA medical center, urban primary care clinic, community clinic, inpatient psychiatric unit, and private practice. Additionally, she served as a Full Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and the University of Minnesota Medical School, teaching and supervising trainees from numerous disciplines. Dr. Sherman also conducts

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46:27

Episode 124: Kati Morton, Licensed Marriage and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/01/20

In this episode of the Just a Mom podcast, licensed marriage and family therapist and mental health expert Kati Morton discusses the complexities of parenting in the digital age. We explore the impact of social media on both children and parents, the importance of community support, and strategies for fostering emotional regulation in kids. Kati emphasizes the need for open conversations about mental health, including suicidal ideation, and the challenges of supporting adult children. The

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58:35

Episode 123: Matteo Esposito, Lived Experience and...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2026/01/13

Kicking off the spring season is an amazing conversation with Matteo Esposito, who very vulnerably shares his story of addiction, bipolar disorder, and loss. Matteo chronicles his journey as a high-level hockey player who played junior hockey post-high school and college hockey. Matteo shares his experience with mania, a serious health diagnosis, inpatient hospitalization, and ultimately inpatient treatment after hitting what he calls his rock bottom. Now three years sober, Matteo is a

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39:47

Episode 122: Holly Swenson BSN, RN, Wellness Blogger,...

The Just A Mom Podcast ·

2025/11/18

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

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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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138 results

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