S3EP5 Kate and Scott from struggling to advocacy
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
Release Date: 05/31/2024
S3EP24 Navigating the Storm: A Mother's Journey Through Her Daughter's Bipolar Disorder
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this powerful episode of 'Navigating Mental Illness: Parent Stories,' hosts Bill Nowicki and Laura Nowicki welcome Kim, a resilient mother who shares her emotional and challenging journey navigating her daughter's bipolar disorder. Kim recounts her struggles from initial denial to becoming a fierce advocate for her daughter's health, detailing episodes of crisis, multiple hospitalizations, and exploring alternative treatments. As she discusses setting firm boundaries and the importance of self-care, listeners will gain invaluable insights into the complexities of mental health within a...
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S3EP23, Navigating Parenthood and Mental Health: Sarah Boes's Journey
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this episode of Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories, the hosts interview Sarah Boes, who shares her compelling journey from rural Kentucky to becoming a nurse practitioner and a mother. Sarah details her daughter's diagnosis with Tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect, and discusses the emotional highs and lows from selling her business to managing her daughter's multiple surgeries. She opens up about her personal mental health challenges, ultimately leading to her diagnosis of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Sarah stresses the importance of being a strong advocate...
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S3EP22, Finding Calm in the Eye of the Hurricane: Mary's Story of Resilience and Hope
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
Mary, a mother of four, shares her family's journey with her son's mental health challenges. Her son, who was adopted at birth, began exhibiting symptoms of bipolar disorder at a young age. Mary and her husband have navigated numerous challenges, including meltdowns, rages, and hospitalizations, while trying to provide a stable and loving environment for their son and other children. Highlights: Early Signs: Mary noticed her son's unusual behavior at 18 months old, which progressed to intense meltdowns and rages as he got older. Diagnosis and Treatment: After trying various therapies...
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S3EP21 From Fixing to Feeling: A Psychotherapist's Guide to Empowering Parents in Mental Health
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this episode, Bill interviews therapist Amber about the challenges parents face when their child is struggling with mental illness. Amber discusses the importance of parents focusing on processing their own emotions and reactions, rather than solely trying to fix the child's problems. She notes how children can resent parents for not giving them space to work through challenges, and how siblings often take on roles to minimize stress on the family. Amber also distinguishes between supporting versus enabling a child, and highlights how vulnerability and acknowledging one's own challenges in...
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S3EP20 When A Mother's Love Meets Bipolar, Teri's story
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In today's episode, Terry shares a deeply personal and emotional journey of navigating her son's mental illnesses, including anxiety and bipolar disorder. Join us as she recounts the challenges of seeking help, the impact on family relationships, her learnings, and the small victories that have facilitated a better understanding and approach towards mental illness. This heartfelt discussion provides invaluable insights for those walking a similar path or those who want to understand more about supporting loved ones with mental health issues. **Key Topics Covered:** - Early Signs and Struggles...
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S3EP19 A Mother's Unwavering Journey: Navigating the Challenges of Mental Illness with Resilience and Hope, Celeste's story
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this heart-wrenching yet inspiring episode of "Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories," Bill sits down with Celeste, a mother from Bill's home state of New Jersey, who shares her journey navigating the complexities of her daughter's multiple mental health conditions, including OCD, severe anxiety, PTSD, and ADHD. Celeste opens up about her daughter's early childhood, the struggles they faced following a severe family incident, and the subsequent years of seeking proper treatment and care. From the initial diagnosis to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and a significant mental...
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S3EP18 Staying out of the tornado, Courtney's story
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
This episode of "Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories" features Courtney, a mother who has been supporting her son through his mental health and substance abuse struggles. Courtney shares the journey of her son's development, the initial signs of trouble, his refusal to accept help, and the spiral into drug use and psychosis. Courtney candidly discusses the emotional toll this has taken on her, including PTSD, panic attacks, and the feeling of helplessness. She describes her approach to self-care, such as therapy, meditation, and limiting her involvement in the community to focus...
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S3EP17 From the Edge to Empowerment: A Mother’s Journey Navigating Asperger's and Bipolar Disorder
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this eye-opening episode of "Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories," we hear from Lila, a mother who shares her deeply personal journey with her son’s mental health challenges. Diagnosed early with Asperger's syndrome and later with bipolar disorder, Lila's son faced social and academic struggles despite his intellectual brilliance. Lila talks about the turning point when her son found solace and a sense of community in music and theater, but also the harrowing suicide attempt that changed their lives forever. By exploring a broken mental healthcare system, utilizing a therapeutic...
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S3EP16 Surviving the Roller Coaster of Mental Illness: A Parent's Harrowing Journey
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this deeply moving episode of the "Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories" podcast, we sit down one mom (she chooses anonymity) as she shares the tumultuous experience of dealing with their son's severe mental illness. From terrifying moments of psychosis and emergency room visits to the challenges of balancing professional life and personal anguish, her story is a raw and honest portrayal of a parent's resilience and the complexities of mental health care. She also emphasizes the importance of community, self-care, and the shortcomings of the current mental health support systems. This...
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S3EP15 From Chaos to Calm: A Mother and Son's Journey Through Mental Illness
Navigating Mental Illness: Parents Stories
In this poignant episode of "Navigating Mental Illness: Parent Stories," we dive into the compelling journey of a family as they navigate the complexities of living with bipolar disorder. Joined by Renee and her son Jacob, listeners are taken through the challenges from Jacob's hyperactive childhood to the dark days of his young adulthood, marked by extreme emotional highs and lows. Renee talks about the early struggles of ensuring Jacob’s safety due to his severe sleep issues and hyperactivity, sharing intimate insights into their life-saving routines and the relentless pursuit of a stable...
info_outlineKate 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!