Hello and welcome to my podcast, The Wellness Project with Des. On today’s podcast episode, I speak with Ann Kaplan parenting a teenager with mental health and addiction struggles.
I’m Desiree, a Mental Health Therapist that is passionate about helping people improve their mental health and live a healthy and fulfilled life. One way I do this is by interviewing experts in the field of mental health and wellness as well as those that have struggled with their mental health but have gained control over it and now live fulfilling lives. In this episode, we will hear from Ann Kaplan about how she and her family came together to support her son that was struggling with addiction and is mental health.
Ann Kaplan is a mother of four and a parent coach. She has a unique holistic approach to parent work that includes emotional support, home management skills, and effective discipline that empowers children while improving behavior. Ann is currently parenting her own teen through mental health struggles as well as an addiction to marijuana. She has his permission to share their story and is passionate about sharing with others to help shed light on these issues anywhere she can.
Elijah, Ann’s eldest son began struggling with his mental health during his freshman year of high school. The behaviors they noticed right were that Elijah ditched all friends he had since kindergarten and joined a new group of friends. He started using substances, stopped doing home work, began failing all his classes, sneaking out of the house and stealing. Ann explains that all of these behaviors came as a complete shock because Elijah always made friends easily, he was responsible and always did well in school.
Because of her family’s very open relationship, Elijah came to Ann and her husband when he began struggling. He explained that he was depressed, having dark, suicidal thoughts and needed help. Though Ann and her husband sought out treatment for Elijah right away, he continued to struggle and needed an escalation in care.
Ann speaks to the the importance of connection and relationships, to the trust, communication, self-care, and boundaries within the family system. She is adamant that when one person is struggling, it is a whole family affair. The whole family has to be involved to help their loved one succeed in treatment and healing.
Ann and Elijah’s story is an important one. So many are struggling right now with their mental health, and/or substance use. If it isn’t you, then it is likely someone close to you.
Listen to Ann and Elijah’s story to learn how you can support yourself and a loved one through their mental health struggles.
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