“I’m Not Alone”

When JoAnna reflects on her family’s journey over the last few years, she remembers 2023 as one of the hardest periods. Two of her children were navigating significant mental health challenges, and the stress of constantly trying to support them began to take a toll on her own well-being. “It was just very hard,” she said. 

2023 was also a turning point. 

“I had started my own therapy to try and rebuild my wellness. I'm still on my wellness journey. I had lost all this weight, and I couldn't eat and I wasn't sleeping, and I was having upset stomachs every single day.” 

As a single parent working to support her children through complex behaviors and emotions, JoAnna often felt depleted and detached. “I just felt so isolated and alone and felt bad, you know, like, sometimes it was just hard to continue to stay in it,” she said. “The nights were hard. The mornings were hard.” 

She knew about the Bert Nash Center and many of the programs available for children and families. When she reached out for help, she was able to access services for her children – such as medication support and case management – through the SED (Serious Emotional Disturbance) waiver. 

But she also found an unexpected network that has been life changing: the Parent Support Group. 

Elated to hear that there was no waitlist and that she could join the group immediately, JoAnna found instant relief, comfort, and camaraderie.  

“Right away, I just felt like, oh my gosh, after all these months of feeling like I'm this horrible parent and then, starting the support group and here are the other parents. Hearing what they were going through, it was like, I’m not alone and I’m not a horrible parent.” 

For the first time in a long time, she felt like she could finally begin again. “I'd been holding my breath, basically, and was just so tense and so drained physically and emotionally, and I could breathe again, you know . . . help was here.” 

The Parent Support Group has played a significant role in supporting the progress JoAnna and her children have made at the Bert Nash Center. Group facilitator Rebecca Pickering shares a range of parenting and behavioral resources with participants so they can better understand their children’s behaviors through trauma-informed lens, help them build coping skills, and develop strategies that align with each child’s needs. 

The connecting thread, according to JoAnna, is that the parents are “all in it together.” 

Even though their situations vary, parents spend time sharing what is happening in their homes, what they’ve tried, what has helped, and what hasn’t.   

JoAnna said it feels “so helpful to just hear the other parents.” Even though they are each going through struggles of varying severity, she treasures the opportunity to connect with peers who understand and can personally relate all too well to what she is going through.  

Before joining the group, JoAnna had struggled with feelings of failure as a parent because she didn’t know how to respond to some of her children’s behaviors. Now, even when she finds herself in extremely challenging moments, she doesn’t let herself go into what she calls “that inner dialogue of failure.” Instead, she’s able to pause, remind herself how much she loves her kids, use the skills she has learned, and remember that tomorrow is another day.  

She’s fiercely committed to supporting her children as they heal. 

“I'm just that parent. I'm going to do whatever I can for my kids. I will search for whatever resources are out there; I will not stop,” she said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to help my kids continue to grow and thrive through the challenges, because they are my heart.” 

When asked what message she has for another parent who might be feeling overwhelmed and exhausted by their child’s mental health struggles, JoAnna offered a message she wishes she could have heard sooner:  

“You're not alone. And you will be okay. And your kids will be okay. Even in the darkest times.”