The Just A Mom Podcast

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 her son's psychosis and the impact it has had on their family dynamics. Throughout the conversation, she emphasizes the need for quality care and the importance of not giving up on children in need, as well as the need for community among parents.Website: www.ppal.net PPAL Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ParentProfessional-Advocacy-League/220653121088/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOhlO0J8sBSYBBS5mOgxKUAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ppal.mass/

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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 organization, The Sterling Rose Sanctuary (https://www.thesterlingrosesanctuary.us/), which helps people navigate trauma and grief. Marcia is also the author of Gripping Grace in the Garden of Grief (https://www.amazon.com/Gripping-Grace-Garden-Grief-Place/dp/B0F9XJ3BSX).

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 addresses the very real mental and spiritual battles kids face today. Through trust-building, peer-led conversations (with no adults in the room during sharing), these groups go deep—creating space for honesty, vulnerability, and growth.Fight Club is shifting the paradigm for young men, helping them learn how to name and express their emotions—often for the first time. Now with 29 groups and growing, the impact is undeniable. Some members have even taken the initiative to start Fight Club groups on their college campuses, carrying the mission forward.Ryan and JP also open up about their own journeys in learning how to talk about their feelings and share powerful stories that highlight just how life-changing Fight Club has been. Additionally, Fight Club for girls has launched, led by Ryan’s wife. Fight Club also has a new partnership with Kids TLC (https://www.kidstlc.org/), an inpatient mental health facility. This partnership brings Fight Club into a preventive care space, supported by two licensed therapists who attend Fight Club meetings.This conversation is hopeful, honest, and deeply needed—for parents, mentors, and anyone who cares about the next generation. IG: @fightclub_us FB: Fight Club

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 research and serves as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice. She has published over 75 articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 80 book chapters and articles in other sources, and four books.In this episode of The Just A Mom Podcast, Dr. Sherman shares her extensive experience in clinical psychology, focusing on the impact of mental illness on families, particularly children. Dr. She emphasizes the importance of listening and support for family members dealing with mental health issues. Dr. Sherman discusses the challenges faced by children of parents with mental illness, the responsibilities they often take on, and the need for resources and awareness in educational settings. She also highlights the significance of prevention and early intervention, as well as the role of co-parents in navigating these complex dynamics. I’m Not Alone, A Teen’s Guide to Living with a Parent Who Has a Mental Illness or History of Trauma was co-authored by Dr. Sherman, along with her mother, DeAnne. In this book, Dr. Sherman and DeAnne hope to help teens feel seen and supported, and can be found at https://www.seedsofhopebooks.com/

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 certified Addiction Recovery Coach and a Certified Recovery Peer Advocate as well as the founder of Invisible Challenge (https://invisiblechallenge.org), a movement driven by the need to end stigma around mental illness and addiction. Make sure to check out the Invisible Challenge website as well as Matteo’s other resources referenced in the podcast episode: Letter to My Younger Self: https://invisiblechallenge.org/pages/just-promise-me-you-ll-read-this-letterTEDx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vetfAJ1DvQQ

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 maternal grandmother’s decades of untreated mental illness and how the family structured everything in their lives to cater to her grandmother’s compulsions and manifestations of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Lauren talks about the generational nature of mental illness, addiction, and trauma, and how she has high hopes for the next generation of her family based on the fact that the third generation is doing what is necessary to reclaim their mental health. Lauren also delves into her complicated relationship with her mother and how she worked to raise her own daughter the way she wishes she had been raised. Lauren shares her history of her own mental illness, including depression and suicidal ideation, and a later-in-life diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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 transported to the hospital, where he died later that day of fentanyl poisoning. The other four boys lived. Libby emphasizes that it was fentanyl poisoning, not an overdose, as the boys received counterfeit pills and Cooper took fentanyl unknowingly.Libby shares that she knew immediately that she wanted to use Cooper’s story to educate and spread awareness. Even though both Libby and her husband are healthcare providers, Libby says they had no idea about the counterfeit pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl that are being sold on social media to kids all across the country. She wants to use her grief to keep other families from experiencing this tragedy. Three main points Libby emphasizes are: 1. This can happen to any family. 2. We have to talk about it in schools and at home, at any chance we have. 3. The only safe pill is one that is prescribed to you by a physician and filled at a pharmacy. If it comes from social media, you have to assume it’s fake, full of fentanyl, and will kill you. Having spoken at over 70 schools to date, Libby emphasizes that this is not a one-time conversation and that one bad decision can result in death. Libby brings to light the role of drug cartels in the fentanyl crisis and shares some staggering statistics from the Drug Enforcement Administration (https://www.dea.gov/ (https://www.dea.gov/)). In February of 2023, more than 99% of drugs seized by the DEA were counterfeit, and fifty percent of those seized had a lethal dose of fentanyl in them. Libby also emphasizes that drugs are no longer being sold on street corners but on social media and apps that kids and teens use on a daily basis.Some of the helpful resources Libby references are:https://addictionisreal.org/our-story/https://www.dea.gov/operation-engagehttps://www.songforcharlie.org/https://www.cooperdavismemorialfoundation.org

*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 or who to call in the immediate aftermath of losing a loved one. When he couldn’t find any resources online, Jason decided to establish Carson’s Village (https://carsonsvillage.org/) to assist families after losing a loved one. Carson’s Village, an official 501(c)3 nonprofit, launched in January of 2018 and helped their first family in the Dallas area, where Jason lives. To date, Carson’s Village has helped almost 9,000 families across the United States in the aftermath of losing a loved one. Jason shares that initially he thought he could help everyone in person, but quickly realized that was not possible, so they pivoted to an online format. Carson’s Village helps with practical things like selecting a funeral home, explaining the funeral process, and creating fundraising pages. Carson’s Village now provides support to families for up to two years after losing a loved one through check-ins, support groups, peer-to-peer programs, counselors, and a partnership with Better Help (https://www.betterhelp.com/ (https://www.betterhelp.com/)). Additionally, Jason and his team have developed Bereavement Village (https://bereavementvillage.com/ (https://bereavementvillage.com/)) to “support the supporters”—those on the front lines. Carson’s Village partners with school districts, hospitals, companies, police departments, and the like to help families in practical ways after the death of a loved one. Feel free to reach out to Jason personally at jason@carsonsvillage.org if you, your organization, or your employer is interested in partnering with Carson’s Village.

In this honest and vulnerable conversation, Adriane shares her extremely difficult journey as a wife who lost her husband to suicide in her late 20s. Adriane talks about her son, Braden, who was only 7 when his dad died by suicide. She also discusses how Braden struggled tremendously with his own suicidal ideation and how he lost his best friend to suicide at the age of 16. Adriane laments the difficulty in finding a good therapy fit for her son, and how she struggled herself to deal with the grief and loss in unhealthy ways along. While she struggled with her own depression, Adriane talks about how she worked to find joy in her life again. In 2018, Braden graduated from high school, and Adriane learned about AFSP (https://afsp.org/). She had felt that she was alone in a boat in the ocean with no one to talk to, and AFSP gave her a place to talk about her experience. Since that time, Adriane has been very involved with AFSP. Adriane strives to be a healing balm for others, which is a critical part of her own healing journey. Adriane now finds joy in helping others in whatever capacity they need. Adriane concludes this episode by emphasizing the importance of talking about mental health, asking questions, and being supportive to someone who is struggling. Adriane encourages listeners to ask the direct question if there are concerns about suicide, and to utilize 988 as a resource for help.

TRIGGER WARNING— this episode contains explicit talk about suicide and methodology.Listen as Joanne shares her heart-wrenching story of losing her oldest son, Jacob, to suicide in September 2022. Joanne shares that Jacob was a happy, easy child, and that she started noticing changes in his junior year in high school during Covid. Jacob stopped playing baseball, which he had always loved, and became more isolated in his senior year. He had an online relationship but did not want to socialize with others. When he graduated from high school, Joanne shares that Jacob wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life. After sharing that he had thought seriously about suicide, Jacob agreed to go to counseling. However, when his online girlfriend broke up with him, he was devastated. Jacob died by suicide on September 25, 2022. Joanne was wracked with grief when Jacob’s father died by suicide less than a month after Jacob. Joanne vulnerably and honestly shares the depth of pain and grief she experienced, leading to her own suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization.

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