Danielle Terrell shares her journey as the US Healthcare Development Director at the International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards (IBCCES) and her passion for improving healthcare accessibility for autistic individuals around the world. • IBCCES provides specialized training and certification for healthcare providers, helping hospitals, dental offices, and other facilities better support individuals with autism • The organization has created global partnerships across ...
Jun 25, 2025•28 min
Maria shares her journey advocating for mental healthcare, from working in a medical facility helping patients navigate services to struggling with the complex systems while trying to help her brother with severe mental illness. Her powerful story reveals critical gaps in our mental health and legal systems that prevent timely intervention for those most in need. • Experience as a healthcare advocate navigating insurance barriers and provider shortages • Personal history with anxiety and OCD pro...
Jun 18, 2025•30 min
Melody Guy shares her extraordinary journey as an autistic singer-songwriter who has traveled over two million miles despite the challenges of sensory issues and PTSD. She reveals how music became both her shelter and her bridge to connecting with others when words failed. • Diagnosed with autism as an adult around the same time as her son • Survived childhood sexual abuse starting at age nine and a kidnapping at age 19 • Found her voice through music after escaping a controlling marriage that p...
Jun 11, 2025•27 min
Leanna May Franklin shares her journey as a mental health advocate after her son experienced a psychotic break at age 19, revealing the challenges of navigating care even with resources and professional expertise. • Experienced a life-changing moment when her son had a psychotic breakdown during a family gathering • Recognized signs that she initially thought were typical teenage behaviors but were early symptoms of mental illness • Her son is now diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder depressi...
Jun 05, 2025•29 min
Send us a text "Why Not Me?" podcast expands its mission to embrace both autism and mental health worldwide, creating a platform for raw, authentic storytelling that inspires and connects. Host Tony Mantor welcomes listeners to join a global movement fostering awareness, acceptance, and understanding through powerful personal narratives. • Broadcasting from Nashville, Tennessee with a mission to share powerful stories • Expanding focus to include both autism and mental health following 61 impact...
Jun 01, 2025•3 min•Ep. 147
Send us a text Cindy Murphy shares the heartbreaking story of her son Tristan, who struggled with schizophrenia and died by suicide while incarcerated after being handed a chainsaw during a prison work detail. Through her grief, Cindy has become a powerful advocate for mental health reform in the criminal justice system, working to pass the Tristan Murphy Act in Florida. • Tristan developed schizophrenia in his 30s, unusually late compared to typical onset in teens or early 20s • After his first...
May 31, 2025•41 min•Ep. 146
Send us a text Ann Corcoran, Executive Director of the National Shattering Silence Coalition, discusses the broken systems that fail those with serious mental illness and their families through discriminatory practices and neglect. She shares powerful stories of families desperately seeking help for loved ones in psychosis, highlighting how outdated laws and policies create barriers to treatment until tragedy strikes. • Explaining the difference between stigma and the true barriers to treatment ...
May 30, 2025•29 min•Ep. 145
Send us a text Laura Craciun shares her son's harrowing journey with serious mental illness and the systemic failures that criminalize mental health conditions instead of treating them. Her story highlights the urgent need for better policies to support individuals with psychosis and their families. • Laura's son was misdiagnosed with ADHD before eventually being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age 20 • Cannabis use potentially triggered or worsened his psychotic symptoms • Despite 16...
May 29, 2025•27 min•Ep. 144
Send us a text Lynn Nanos, a mobile psychiatric emergency social worker with 15+ years experience, shares insights on evaluating and helping people with serious mental illness in crisis situations. Her work bridges the gap between law enforcement and mental healthcare, providing crucial interventions for individuals experiencing psychosis and other mental health emergencies. • Conducts psychiatric evaluations in various settings including homes, police stations, nursing homes, and even public sp...
May 28, 2025•28 min•Ep. 143
Send us a text Geri Clark, Resource and Advocacy Manager at Treatment Advocacy Center, shares her devastating journey of losing her son to severe mental illness while navigating a broken treatment system that wouldn't help until it was too late. She reveals critical gaps in our mental health system and explains how legal barriers, misunderstood medical conditions, and insufficient family support create deadly consequences for those with severe psychiatric disorders. • Son experienced his first p...
May 27, 2025•30 min•Ep. 142
Send us a text Sheriff Donna Buckley shares her journey from attorney to becoming the first female sheriff in Barnstable County's 333-year history, along with her innovative approach to transforming incarceration through mental health support, comprehensive case management, and post-release services. • Buckley's background as legal counsel representing public employees, including police officers and educators • How the prevalence of mental health issues and addiction in jails inspired her to run...
May 26, 2025•29 min•Ep. 141
Send us a text Jason McKenzie shares his heart-wrenching journey through grief after losing his wife to suicide and his daughter to trauma-induced mental health struggles. His story reveals how childhood trauma ripples through generations and how he found healing through sobriety, purposeful grief work, and helping others. • Lost his police officer wife to suicide after years battling mental health issues stemming from childhood trauma • Daughters were just six and five when their mother died, c...
May 25, 2025•27 min•Ep. 140
Send us a text Eric Diaz shares his journey of living with schizoaffective disorder and becoming an advocate for those with serious mental illness. Through finding the right medication, supportive communities, and creative outlets, Eric transformed from someone who couldn't leave his house to a published author helping others navigate similar challenges. • Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder as a teenager but initially lacked insight into his condition • Participated in a clinical trial at E...
May 24, 2025•28 min•Ep. 139
Send us a text Crystal Fox shares her heartbreaking journey as the mother of a son with schizophrenia and co-founder of Arizona Mad Moms, an organization supporting families of loved ones with degenerative brain illnesses causing psychosis. Through her dual perspective as both a parent and a psychiatric nurse with 30 years of experience, Crystal illuminates the critical gaps in our mental healthcare system. • Anosognosia is a symptom of serious mental illness where individuals cannot recognize t...
May 23, 2025•31 min•Ep. 138
Send us a text Cohen Miles-Rath shares his powerful journey from psychosis and incarceration to becoming a mental health advocate and author. His story reveals how proper support systems and personal determination transformed a life-altering crisis into a mission of education and advocacy that's changing how we approach mental health treatment. • Surviving untreated schizoaffective disorder that led to a psychotic episode and incarceration • Using the four dimensions of recovery—purpose, home, h...
May 22, 2025•30 min•Ep. 137
Send us a text Sherry Witwer, board president for CIT Utah, shares her insights on improving crisis response systems for people experiencing mental health emergencies and creating alternatives to incarceration through specialized training and community partnerships. • CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) training provides law enforcement with tools to effectively respond to mental health crises and connect individuals with appropriate treatment • Mobile crisis outreach teams staffed by behavioral heal...
May 21, 2025•28 min•Ep. 136
Send us a text Darrell Herrmann, a retired US Army captain and former computer programmer, shares his remarkable journey of living with schizophrenia since 1984 and his mission to help others with severe mental illness live better lives. • Former US Army captain specializing in field artillery and nuclear weapons before developing schizophrenia • Earned a computer science degree and worked as a programmer for 18 years after his military discharge • Spoke to over 30,000 people in hospital groups ...
May 20, 2025•27 min•Ep. 135
Send us a text Pete Early shares his journey from Washington Post journalist to mental health advocate after his son developed bipolar disorder, revealing how a broken system forces families into crisis before providing help. • Diagnosis came during his son Kevin's college years with warning signs like "food doesn't taste good" and confusion about reality • Psychiatrist delivered a devastating prognosis: "incurable disease" with lifetime medication, weight gain, likely unemployment • Kevin stopp...
May 19, 2025•31 min•Ep. 134
Send us a text A mother shares her 18-year journey supporting a son with schizophrenia through mental health system failures, incarceration, and experimental brain surgery. • Colleen Scott's son started showing signs of schizophrenia at age 17, withdrawing socially and exhibiting erratic behavior • A prosecutor advised having her son arrested "to get him in the system" for mental health help, resulting in traumatic incarceration • Laws preventing family commitment, alongside HIPAA restrictions a...
May 18, 2025•30 min•Ep. 133
Send us a text A mother and clinical social worker shares her heartbreaking journey navigating the legal system after her high-achieving son developed serious mental illness, revealing how our justice system criminalizes rather than treats mental health conditions. • Licensed independent clinical social worker with 40+ years experience working with vulnerable populations • Her academically successful son began experiencing internal racing thoughts and anxiety despite outward success • Despite pa...
May 17, 2025•27 min•Ep. 132
Send us a text Justin Volpe shares his journey from being diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and incarcerated to becoming a certified recovery peer specialist who has trained over 3,500 police officers in crisis intervention. His story demonstrates how individuals with lived experience can transform systems and save lives by bridging gaps between law enforcement, courts, and treatment providers. • Diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder in his early 20s after struggling with substance abuse...
May 16, 2025•28 min•Ep. 131
Send us a text Jessica Ferguson shares the deeply personal story of her brother's struggle with serious mental illness and how systemic failures led to his incarceration after being accused of a triple homicide when he should have been in psychiatric care. • Her brother had been stable with his mental illness for a decade before showing concerning behavior changes in early 2023 • Despite three psychiatric hospitalizations within months, he was repeatedly discharged after 72-hour holds with no su...
May 15, 2025•28 min•Ep. 130
Send us a text Dr. Jhilam Biswas, a board-certified adult and forensic psychiatrist, discusses how mental health issues intersect with the criminal justice system and the urgent need for reform. She shares insights from her research and clinical experience working with incarcerated individuals with mental illness, explaining why mental health care in America's prisons is a humanitarian crisis. • Director of Psychiatry Law and Society program at Brigham and Women's Hospital and co-director of Har...
May 14, 2025•31 min•Ep. 129
Send us a text Eric Smith shares his remarkable journey from child piano prodigy to mental health advocate after battling psychosis and addiction. His story reveals how finding the right medication after a decade of failed treatments transformed his life from hospitalization and FBI involvement to becoming a Texas Judicial Commissioner on Mental Health. • Displayed extraordinary musical talent from age three, studying under world-renowned pianists and performing with Grammy winners • Experienced...
May 13, 2025•31 min•Ep. 128
Send us a text Seth Kahan shares his journey from personal tragedy to leading a national movement against mental health stigma after his mother developed schizophrenia when he was 10 years old. His experience pioneering frameworks for grand challenges led him to launch Stop Stigma Together, a collaborative initiative uniting major mental health organizations to eliminate stigma around mental health and substance use disorders. • Seth's mother developed schizophrenia when he was 10, destroying hi...
May 12, 2025•30 min•Ep. 127
Send us a text Sylvia Mignon, licensed clinical social worker and professor of criminal justice, shares her heartbreaking journey navigating the mental health system while trying to secure proper care for her son with schizoaffective disorder. Despite her professional expertise, she's experienced nine years of struggling against bureaucracies that prioritize themselves over the needs of individuals with severe mental illness. • Mental health systems and criminal justice bureaucracies often work ...
May 11, 2025•30 min•Ep. 126
Send us a text Jack Wood shares his son Jonathan's journey through Florida's mental health system, revealing how management failure rather than lack of resources creates catastrophic outcomes for those with severe mental illnesses. • Jonathan's early life included kidney disorder requiring powerful medications including cancer drugs • At 18, Jonathan developed schizophrenia with fixed delusions about having $10 billion from his blood plasma • Community treatment teams refused hospitalization des...
May 10, 2025•28 min•Ep. 125
Send us a text Justyna Rzewinski shares her experience as a whistleblower after working at Rikers Island and her ongoing advocacy for criminal justice reform focusing on mental health treatment. • Working with different organizations to close Rikers Island and advocating for better treatment of mentally ill inmates • Fighting for smaller borough-based jails to replace Rikers, potentially saving $1 billion annually from DOC's $2.8 billion budget • Advocating for mental health courts and programs ...
May 09, 2025•28 min•Ep. 124
Send us a text Leslie Carpenter, co-founder of Iowa Mental Health Advocacy and Legislative Advocacy Manager at the Treatment Advocacy Center, shares her journey from concerned mother to dedicated mental health advocate after her son was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder 19 years ago. She discusses the barriers families face when seeking help for loved ones with severe mental illness and her multi-level approach to creating systemic change. • Leslie advocates at both state and national leve...
May 08, 2025•29 min•Ep. 123
Send us a text Clubhouse International is transforming lives through intentional communities where people with mental illness rebuild their lives after disruption and isolation. Joel Corcoran joins us to tell the Clubhouse story. • Clubhouse International operates 377 clubhouses across 32 countries using a specific 37-standard model • Members voluntarily participate in work-ordered days that provide structure, purpose, and skill development • Employment program achieves 40% employment rate compa...
May 07, 2025•29 min•Ep. 122
