Episode 121: Lauren Henry Brehm, Author of The French Court; Essays from One Family’s Legacy of Mental Illness

Written By Susie Gurley

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.

Susie Gurley

Susie Stapp Gurley was born and raised in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. She married her college sweetheart, Dan Gurley, shortly after graduating from TCU with a degree in advertising and public relations. In her first career, Susie worked in college admissions and academic advising. Simultaneously she pursued a master’s degree from The University of Central Missouri in sociology and then worked for the Sedgwick County, KS Department of Aging as a case worker. Susie stepped away from the professional world in 1997 to become a stay-at-home mom. She spent the majority of the last 25 years as a wife, mother, and volunteer, primarily in her church and her three children’s schools and activities.

Susie became a mental health advocate after her youngest son became a teen spokesperson about his battle with depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. In 2018, at the age of 15, Will founded the You Matter Festival, a music festival promoting mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Will shared his personal mental health struggles with the 1,000-person crowd, which started his role as a local KC teen advocate for mental health. Because of Will’s involvement, Susie recorded a video #Zeroreasonswhy (https://zeroreasonswhy.org), a Kansas City area organization working to end teen suicide in the Johnson County, Kansas area. This video was viewed over 10,000 times, which was the impetus of the Just A Mom podcast. Susie decided that she needed to follow the brave trail blazed by her son and became an outspoken advocate for parents of children who struggle with mental illness. The Just a Mom podcast launched in September of 2022 and encourages parents to know that they are not alone and there is hope.

Susie served as the Executive Director of the You Matter Festival and is currently on the Friends of Johnson County Mental Health Board. Susie has grown three children, two daughters-in-law, and a son-in-law.

Next

Episode 120: Dr. Elisa Shipon-Blum, Mom, Physician, and President and Director of the Selective Mutism Anxiety and Related Disorders Treatment Center