Ep. 35 Karissa Gretebeck | Shining Light on Shadows: The Loneliness of Parenting Two Very Different Children

Ep. 35 of "Shining Light on Shadows: A Candid Conversation About Mental Health" will focus on the challenges parents face (and the impact on their mental health) when one child is very different from the other. We’re not talking about personality differences. We’re talking about situations when one child has significant physical and/or mental health issues and the other is more typical and/or exceeding expectations.

Karissa Gretebeck, a close friend of my co-host Dawn Helmrich, is our guest Thursday, August 28, 2025. We will be live at 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT / 4 p.m. PT. If you can’t watch the live show feel free to watch the recording on this page or on the links below.

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Watch the live show or recording on this page or watch and comment on social media: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

*We won't know the exact urls for Twitter and Instagram until we go live. For now, these links go to Neil's Twitter and Dawn's Instagram.

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Programming Notes

Ep. 34 featured Michael Wood, Chief Operating Officer of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. We focused on the challenges of parenting after experiencing childhood trauma and learned about the work that NAMI is doing to reduce the stigma of mental health and provide resources to families and individuals facing mental health challenges. Click here to watch the replay and for links to the blog posts.

Episode Details

Karissa’s eldest daughter, Evie (9) is typically developing, good at everything she tries, a natural athlete and a creative wonder. Her youngest, Elsie (6) was born with a variety of medical complexities and has been diagnosed over the last few years with several rare diseases.

Karissa often finds herself struggling to balance the needs of both of her daughters, while also taking care of herself, her marriage, and working full time. She is often riddled with self-doubt, asking herself, “How can I possibly do this? How can I be all these things to all these people? How do I honor and celebrate both of my daughters, for their differences and their strengths? How do I continue to show up to be the person my family deserves when I feel like I’m splitting in two?”

Dawn has spoken about the challenges her son has faced in previous episodes. She has also written blog posts about him. She, like Karissa has had to balance the needs of one child working through significant social anxiety (he once told her, “This world isn’t meant for people like me.”) AND an older child who is similar to Karissa’s eldest.

Dawn wrote about the impact on her own mental health in a blog post for this episode.

Background

Dawn and I launched this twice a month show (the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of the month) in order to help reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Thank you for being part of our community.

We are proud to be in Year 2 of the show. If you are interested in being a guest on the show or know someone who might be interested, please let us know. We’re looking for people who would be willing to share their story, advocates and people who work in the field of mental health.

We hope you can watch the show and share your own thoughts in the comments.

“Shining Light on Shadows: A Candid Conversation About Mental Health” is produced by Digimentors on a pro bono basis. Click here for previous episodes and blog posts.

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Resources / Relevant Links

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Helpline 800-950-6264 Or text "HelpLine" to 6264; nami.org

Mental Health America Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org; mhanational.org Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN) National Sexual Assault Hotline 800-656-HOPE (4673); rainn.org