Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories

Claudia has taken many paths to find solutions for her daughter’s bipolar disorder. She tried letting her live at home, admitted her to hospitals, sent her to a program in Utah, and let her attend college. Nothing seemed to work, and she was getting more and more frustrated.   She started understanding her reactions were not helping her daughter, so she sought help for herself. She went to therapy, established boundaries, and encouraged her daughter to make her own decisions. Claudia accepted her daughter’s condition, and this allowed her to find joy in their relationship again.  

Things started out fine for Julia and her son. After remarrying and finding stability with good friends, Julia youngest son was in a stable home. However, once he got to high school, drugs came into the picture and worsen the more times he was treated. Over time, Julia set strong boundaries to protect herself and the rest of her family, including her grandson. If you are a parent that struggles with a bipolar child and the shame of trying to help and being abused by him/her, this episode is for you! Julia has done it all on her own, learning coping skills and healthy ways to take care of herself.

Marie is a gentle soul that has had a tough time with her daughter. As a single mom, she has had to develop the skills to help her daughter and stay healthy herself. This episode is a great way to learn about how the mental health and court system can team with you as a parent. Also, parents can learn how to interact with your child in a way that acknowledges her feelings and supports a more trusting relationship. 

For parents, understanding your child with a mental illness is complex and often painful. For Danielle Aubin, parenting is learning how to let go. She has let go of old notions of "good parenting" and created an environment free of shame and natural consequences.  In this episode, Danielle shares practical parenting tips that can change your relationship with your child as well as your relationship with yourself.  Contact Danielle: presenceperinatal.com

Irene Barton grew up in a small town in South Carolina mill town where she learned about community and faith. Irene brings that community building and faith to Cobb Collaborative helps families in Cobb County, Georgia to connect with resources they need including mental health training events as well as a podcast (link below). https://www.cobbcollaborative.org/category/news/podcast https://www.cobbcollaborative.org/

Kirsten Book is back and she brings her passion for helping young people with eating disorders and their families. Her background makes her uniquely qualified to speak on this topic. Kirsten has had her own challenges with body image and eating disorders.  By listening to this episode you will learn what to consider as a parent, how to take care of yourself, the importance of spirituality and more.

Kirsten Book, the psychiatric nurse practitioner, is back with some rules on how to share information with your child's caregivers and how caregivers decide what they can share. Turns out the rules are different in each state for different situations. Kirsten also talks about the process of skill development in your child's life and how sometiomes parents undermine that process! Not easy, but important!  

911 dispatcher Samantha Hawkins from Cobb County shares practical tips on handling mental health crisis calls, training new recruits, and emphasizing empathy. The podcast explores the comprehensive training process for emergency call takers and the specialized CARES unit's approach to mental health distress calls.

Parenting a child with a mental illness can be tough, but Catherine has found peace in the good times and learned how to survive the springtime pychosis that is a part of her son's life. After 4 years of her son's mental illness, she has learned who to share her struggles with, how to maintain a relationship with her son and husband and what joy feels like again.  We hope you will be inspired by Catherine's story, we certainly were.

Linda and her husband adopted 2 siblings who had mental health illness almost from the start. After 20 years of navigating the mental health and legal systems in Pennsylvania, she has learned a whole bunch. From therapy to meds to trusts, Linda has many tips that will help you and your family.