**TRIGGER WARNING** This episode covers sensitive subject matter and is not suitable for all listeners. If this topic could be a trigger for you, listen to this episode with a friend, a sibling, a loved one or a parent so you can talk about any emotions that come up for you. The contents of this episode are not intended to replace therapy and should not be taken as such. If you need immediate help, please call the crisis hotline listed below in our resources.
Zelah’s grandmother was the most important person in her life and she shares how her grandmother’s reaction was the one she feared the most. Though her grandmother was a deeply loving woman, she was also homophobic.
Zelah knew she was running out of time to come out to her grandmother before she died, so Zelah mustered courage and told her grandmother that she was a lesbian.
Zelah shares this moving story between her and her grandmother, and so much more, like how she always tried to be more “girly” but realized she had to live an authentic life.
Listen in as we talk about:
How her sexuality and gender are intertwined
Her grandmother’s reaction to her coming out, and the impact it had on Zelah
Why it’s important to come out even when it feels scary
Zelah’s attempt at taking her own life and what triggered it
The racism and bullying Zelah encountered at a young age for being bi-racial
Susan E. Casey, MSW, MFA, is an author, a licensed mental health clinician, a certified bereavement group facilitator, a certified life coach and a podcaster. Throughout the past 29 years, Susan has worked in hospice, in-patient, and home-based settings with teens and adults, and taught numerous courses to executive leaders and clinicians.
Currently, Susan works for a measurement-based care organization, providing clinical coaching to therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists countrywide to improve mental health outcomes for youth and adults.
Susan’s blog on her website, susanecasey.com, chronicles her grieving process following the death of her younger brother. Her fiction has won numerous awards, including first place in the PEN/Nob Hill Literary Contest and Green Writer’s National Literary Contest. Rock On: Mining for Joy in the Deep River of Grief is her first work of nonfiction published on February 14, 2020 by Library Tales Publishing. Both Susan’s professional and creative work have been guided by her deep belief that every individual has purpose and inherent strengths and deserves the opportunity to reach their own unique potential. Please be sure to check Susan's podcast, L.E.A.P https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/trailer-welcome-to-the-l-e-a-p-podcast-with-susan-e-casey/id1573809035?i=1000526765528
Susan lives in Maine with her husband Steve and miniature aussidoodle Rocky
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L.E.A.P 