Raising my three children, who all live with severe anxiety and depression, has been the most rewarding and challenging journey in my life.

My outgoing teenage son had just begun his freshman year in high school. I expected some adjustments, of course. But just a few weeks into the new school year, he began to change. I didn’t realize it at the time, but my sweet, social, high-achieving child… was disappearing.
 
He stopped participating in activities outside of school and spending time with his friends. He stayed mostly in his bedroom, playing video games. He withdrew more and more—until he barely spoke to anyone.
 
I watched helplessly. I had no idea how to help him. I began cancelling my plans and working from home so I could be with him.
 
When your child isn’t well, you bring him to doctors and specialists, and you hope they have answers. But doctor after doctor and we had no answers. A psychiatrist prescribed antidepressants and told him to “man up.” I was frustrated, angry and afraid. I knew something was terribly wrong and none of the experts I trusted was able to help.
 
I learned there is an assumption that teens who have these behaviors are being lazy or combative. And somehow our parenting skills are part of the problem.
 
The truth is, my son was suffering from overwhelming anxiety and depression. No amount of discipline was going to change that. What I would come to learn is that he _couldn’t_ act any differently—not without the _right_ help and the _right _support at home.
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Feeling like I was out of options, and desperate to get my son back, I made the excruciating decision to send him to a treatment program that specializes in helping kids with debilitating anxiety and depression.
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His treatment journey was far from easy, and I realized at that time how much support I needed as a parent. I needed support to help me navigate my emotions, to help me understand my son’s depression and anxiety, how to engage in his treatment, and how to support him. 
  
So many mothers were going through the same thing I was. Each feeling as lost, alone, frustrated and like we were failing as parents as the other. We were all struggling to understand how to best participate in our children’s treatment, what we should be expecting, and how to do our own work while our kids were doing theirs.
 
My pull to help my children and to help other parents was so strong that I left my career of 20 years as the director of conflict management for the University System of Georgia to become a parenting coach.
 
The conscious parenting model spoke to me because it was exactly what I was missing. It offered the support and tools that I needed to make a true and deep connection with my children. And that made all the difference.
 
The years I’ve spent working with mothers and helping them see that they are not alone in their struggle with their teen’s anxiety and depression have been some of the most rewarding of my life.
 
Depression and anxiety don’t just “go away.” But I’ve come to learn the most important thing we can do as moms is offer understanding and build connection. I know it’s not always easy, but we can practice this every day, and **practice makes connection.**