Episode 92: Doug and Stacee Goetzinger (https://www.speakoutloud.me) Part 1

Written By Susie Gurley

This is the first in a series of three episodes with Doug and Stacee Goetzinger.  Don’t miss this incredibly raw, honest conversation with my high school classmate, Doug, and his wife, Stacee, about Stacee’s lifelong battle with mental illness. In this episode, Stacee shares about her childhood that was full of family dysfunction. Stacee talks about her disordered eating in college at Dallas Baptist University and how she worked so hard to have a “new life”.  Stacee and Doug met in college, and Doug takes about his lack of knowledge and the shame messages he received about mental illness from his family of origin.  As a young married couple, Stacee experienced a miscarriage after a serious car accident, followed by complications after surgery. This episode concludes with Stacee divulging a pivotal moment when she attempted suicide in 2004 that resulted in an in-patient hospital stay. 

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

Previous

Episode 93: Doug and Stacee Goetzinger (https://www.speakoutloud.me/) Part 2
Next

Episode 91: Lora DeMello