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

Written By Susie Gurley

Doug and Stacee continue sharing more about Stacee’s suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization.  They also talk about their family and how Stacee’s struggle impacted their daughters. Stacee says she couldn’t be the mom she wanted to be and had journals full of self-hatred writing in them. Stacee’s eating disorder returned, which resulted in the church where Doug was a pastor asking them to leave.  Stacee emphasized how important it is that when people need help they are not dismissed and that churches need to figure out how to help those struggling instead. Stacee’s eating disorder was so severe that her mental health team told her they could no longer treat her because she was becoming a liability and that she needed in-patient treatment. This episode concludes with Stacee recalling her in-patient treatment experience at Laureate Hospital in Tulsa, Oklahoma (https://www.saintfrancis.com/laureate) lasted for several months, beginning with a seven-week stint in the ICU. Doug gives Stacee tremendous credit for staying in the program and working hard on her recovery.

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.

Next

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