when i think about a major turning point in my mental health journey, this one conversation is truly what kickstarted my recovery. 

in this solo episode, i break down the moment in intensive mental health treatment that changed my outlook on mental health recovery, what led me to being hospitalized for my mental health in the first place, & how i began to recover from severe depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. 

if you are on the fence about whether to ask for help with your mental health (or have a loved one in that exact spot), this episode details when i was in the exact same spot: i explain how i went from not believing i could get better to feeling hopeful that i could recover & build a life worth living. 

in this solo episode, i’m sharing my mental health journey with you, taking you through my recovery from severe depression and anxiety right from the start. i cover the highs and lows of my story, including how i went from being hospitalized for my mental health four times in one year to graduating as a psychology major and creating a new york times-recommended mental health podcast to help others who are struggling. 

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Today's guest is Greg Walton— the Michael Forman University Fellow and Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. His research investigates psychological processes that contribute to major social problems and how “wise” psychological interventions can address such problems and help people flourish.

Today’s guest is Dr. Emily Weinstein— a psychologist, author, educator, parent, and longtime tech researcher who co-founded the Center for Digital Thriving at Harvard Graduate School of Education. She has spent over a decade researching the ways today’s technologies are shaping and reshaping adolescents’ lives.

Today's guests are Alison Malmon and Lauren Cikara of Active Minds, the nation’s leading nonprofit organization promoting mental health awareness and education for young adults. Active Minds has a vibrant network of chapters and award-winning programs at more than 1,000 colleges and universities, K12 schools, workplaces, and communities nationwide. Alison heads the organization as its Founder and Executive Director, while Lauren acts as the VP of School Mental Health.

Today's guest is David Yeager— a professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin who is considered “one of the world’s leading experts” on the psychology of young people, according to the New York Times Magazine. He has consulted for Google, Microsoft, Disney, the World Bank, and the White House and has recently published his book, 10 to 25: The Science of Motivating Young People.

Today's guest is Ellen Galinsky— president of the Families and Work Institute and author of several popular books researching adolescents and teenagers, including the bestselling parenting guide, Mind in the Making, and her recently published work,The Breakthrough Years. Over her career, her research has focused on work-life, children’s development, youth voice, child-care, parent-professional relationships, and parental development.

Today's guest is Eden Garcia-Balis— a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who has over nineteen years of experience in the mental health field. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Airport Marina Counseling Service (AMCS)— a nonprofit, community-based mental health clinic in California.

Today's guest is Dr. Jessica Gomez— a bilingual licensed psychologist and executive director of Momentous Institute. Dr. Gomez has over 17 years of experience working to create healthy communities that provide children with access to quality education and mental health services.

Today's guest is Ana Tueme, a senior psychology and Spanish double major at Simmons University and volunteer Crisis Counselor at Crisis Text Line with over 200 hours of experience helping those in crisis. In this episode, we discuss how she got started volunteering with Crisis Text Line, what to expect when first reaching out to Crisis Text Line, skills she’s learned as a volunteer that have helped her be a better support system to people struggling, what most teens who reach out to Crisis Text Line are struggling with, advice for teens struggling with depression and anxiety, and how you can become a volunteer for Crisis Text Line.

In this episode, we discuss Dr. Shairi Turner’s—the Chief Health Officer of Crisis Text Line—earlier career experiences working with minority public health policy and juvenile justice, adverse childhood experiences and how those can impact teen mental health, the current teen mental health epidemic and its causes, trends in teen mental health based on Crisis Text Line’s research on millions of teens, how Crisis Text Line works and how it has been able to help so many teens and college students, and what she’d like to see change in the next few years with mental health resources.

Today's guest is Dr. Justin Puder— a licensed psychologist who mainly works with teens and young adults around many mental health difficulties including anxiety, depression, trauma, and loneliness. He also creates social media content under the handle @amoderntherapist to reduce stigma surrounding mental health through vulnerability, knowledge, and humor. We discuss advice for people whose siblings are struggling, differences between how millennials and Gen Z view therapy and mental health, the impact of stigma and misinformation, ways that stigma affects men’s mental health, the role of social media when it comes to being vulnerable, tips for teens on starting therapy, how to sert achievable goals in therapy, advice for parents and teens on navigating a parent requiring their teen to go to therapy, and a daily practice teens can do to help their mental health.

Today's guest is Gael Aitor— the creator and co-host of Teenager Therapy—the biggest teen mental health podcast in the world. Teenager Therapy has been featured in the New York Times, Teen Vogue, and has had guests like Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. He is also the co-founder of Astro Studios, a podcast studio aiming to help Gen Z feel less alone. We discuss what made him want to start Teenager Therapy and why this podcast was so unique, the pressures and responsibilities of being so vulnerable on a podcast with a such large audience, the process of choosing guests, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, to be on Teenager Therapy, common themes that teenagers are struggling with today and advice he most frequently gives on those topics, how his mental health has evolved from his teenage years until now, what’s next for him after wrapping Teenager Therapy, and his advice for teens who want to start their own podcasts.

Today's guest is Ann Coleman— a mom, attorney, educator, podcaster, and an advocate for parenting teens. After her son struggled with ADHD and multiple mental health disorders and behavior issues during his teen years, Ann quit practicing law to study adolescence and help other parents learn what she hadn’t known. We discuss her experiences parenting a son struggling with his mental health and how her emotions affected her parenting, advice to parents who want to understand their role in their teen’s mental health and improve their relationship with their child, what parents can do if their teen asks for help with their mental health, insights for parents who are out of ideas on how to help their teen get better, tips on how parents can maintain their mental health while their teen struggles, daily ways parents can support their teen’s mental health and prevent them from struggling in the future, and research and resources on raising teens that all parents should know about.

Today's guest is Leandro Olszanski— a board-certified psychotherapist with 10+ years of experience helping teenagers, adults, and couples navigate their unique life challenges. He also shares mental health content on TikTok as @your.tiktok.therap1st, amassing over 3 million followers. We discuss the mental health care system in the United States, differences between going to therapy as a teen versus as an adult, the most common problems that teens are facing today, advice for teens and parents on how to improve their parent-child relationships, views on the mental health community on TikTok and how it can affect teens, and insights for teens who are in crisis or struggling with their mental health.

Today's guest is Dr. Caroline Fenkel— a leader in adolescent mental healthcare with over fifteen years of direct clinical experience working with youth and families. Dr. Fenkel oversees all aspects of clinical programming at Charlie Health— the largest provider of virtual IOP treatment programs for teens, young adults, and families navigating mental health challenges. We discuss why it’s so important to seek evidence-based treatments for mental health challenges and first steps to take to find treatment, how Covid has affected teen mental health and its treatment, why family systems can often cause loneliness and isolation, negative effects and warning signs of loneliness and isolation, why many teens don’t take the steps to decrease their loneliness and how to break this cycle, ways a teen’s support system can help them to feel less lonely, advice for parents of teens experiencing loneliness, and how teens can increase connectedness and independence.