Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories S3EP5 Kate and Scott from struggling to advocacy
Kate and Scott’s son had many diagnoses starting in the 7th grade including ODD and ADHD, Cognitive Distortion, Borderline Personality Disorder, Depression and Anxiety. As engaged parents, they worked hard to find services and worked with the school to advocate for him, but the challenges left them drained. They searched for answers and information on how best to parent their child, a sweet kid, but he was also had his social and emotional challenges.
Throughout their long journey, Scott and Kate felt alone and Kate promised her son and herself she would help other parents navigate the mental health inpatient and outpatient programs. Her son was even severely bullied at his school and Kate and Scott worked to change the school’s response, with little success.
They kept building their skills through work with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and family focused therapy. Through those programs, Scott and Kate learned to speak and interact differently with not only their son with the mental illness, but their other son and one another.
Now Kate can honestly say things are “downright pleasant.” She has also followed up on her promise and started a 501 (c) 3 non-profit. to help parents like her and her husband to not only get by, but THRIVE. Kate and her co-founder, Jennifer, another Mom who has found better ways to deal with their families’ challenges, started THRIVE Parenting Project in 2023.
You can join them on a Zoom call every Tuesday at 7 pm Central Standard Time. Visit Kate and Jennifer’s website for more information www.thriveparentingproject.com
Not slowing down, Kate also was elected to her local school board during COVID, no less. Her goal was to change and improve some of the school district’s policies that made her son’s situation worse rather than helping him. Overall, she’s hoping to make the school district a safer place for all of the current and future students.
If you feel alone and would like to hear how you can change your family’s dynamic, this episode is for you!