Just A Mom podcast

In this episode, Tracey chronicles the myriad treatments they tried—counseling, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient treatment, and eventually in-patient treatment. Tracey shares vulnerably how a big part of her journey was learning all of the things inside her that needed healing, and that she couldn’t control her daughter’s healing. Tracey also talks about how she felt so many of the things that many of us have felt—she didn’t want to share with people what was going on with her daughter, and she isolated herself a lot because of this. 

While so many of us talk about self-care as a vital part of maintaining our mental health, Tracey takes it a step further and challenges listeners to learn about themselves to become our best true selves.  She also emphasizes the importance of educating yourself about mental illness.

Susie shares her family’s story because there is not a week that goes by that she is not contacted by someone who has heard her son’s story and has a child struggling as well. This is your invitation to join us on this journey to get better at caring for each other.

Susie Stapp Gurley was born and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She married her college sweetheart, Dan Gurley, shortly after graduating from TCU with a degree in advertising and public relations. In her first career, Susie worked in college admissions and academic advising. Simultaneously she pursued a master’s degree from The University of Central Missouri in sociology and then worked for the Sedgwick County, KS Department of Aging as a case worker. Susie stepped away from the professional world in 1997 to become a stay at home mom.  She spent the majority of the last 25 years as a wife, mother and volunteer, primarily in her church and her three children’s schools and activities.

Susie became a mental health advocate after her youngest son emerged as a teen spokesperson about his battle with depression, anxiety and suicidal ideation. In 2018 at the age of 15, Will founded the You Matter Festival, a music festival promoting mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Will shared his personal mental health struggles with the 1,000 person crowd, which started his role as a local KC teen advocate for mental health. Because of Will’s involvement, Susie recorded a video #Zeroreasonswhy (https://zeroreasonswhy.org), a Kansas City area organization working to end teen suicide in the Johnson County, Kansas area. This video was viewed over 10,000 times, which was the impetus of the Just A Mom podcast. Susie decided that she needed to follow the brave trail blazed by her son and become an outspoken advocate for parents of children who struggle with mental illness. 

Additional resources to support you if you need them.