With the March 2024 return of the Success is Subjective podcast came a format and guest list change. Unlike the first 200 episodes, the revamped podcast will vary the questions asked of guests and include more “special series” releases. The “Special Parent Series” will release twenty-three anonymous parent interviews to kick off Mental Health Awareness Month. These interviews include parents of adolescents and young adults who enrolled in treatment programs, including local hospitals and intensive outpatient programs (IOPs), residential treatment, wilderness therapy programs, therapeutic boarding schools, and young adult transition programs. The parents who came forward wanting to be recorded for these episodes were honest, vulnerable, and felt compelled to share their perspective of this experience. These interviews are raw, and no uncomfortable topic is avoided. Listener discretion is advised as topics such as self-harm, suicide, addiction, and traumatic events are discussed. For the protection of the parents and their children, their names are changed unless permission is given by the child.
When asked about interviewing parents, host Joanna Lilley said, “I did a short anonymous parent series in early 2023 but had only nine parents willing to be recorded. This time, I have more parents wanting to be interviewed than I have time to do the interviews themselves. I attribute the interest to the change in format as it’s more inviting, but also just the collective of parents being ready, eager, and willing to share their experience. It’s all about parents wanting to help other parents.”
For those curious about where to find the “Special Parent Series,” it can be found on all podcast-playing platforms (Amazon, Apple, Audible, Google, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, and TuneIn Radio). All interviews will be in one location on the Special Parent Series Spotify Playlist. Although Mental Health Awareness Month ends May 31, the Special Parent Series will be ongoing. For a parent interested in being a guest, please visit Parent Guest Form.
Another “special series” will soon include former participants discussing their treatment experiences during adolescence or as young adults.
About Lilley Consulting Since 2016, Lilley Consulting has been helping families and young adults find treatment options during the most important time in adulthood. Joanna dedicates herself to working solely with emerging adults who unravel before going to college when they land on campus or right after college graduation. Young adulthood can be messy, but it doesn’t have to be if you find the right resources at the time that you need them.