Are you a teenager looking for a podcast that talks about all things mental health? Hosted by someone who provides therapy to teens just like you every day? Not Now, Maybe Later is a teen mental health podcast hosted by Emily Ostrow, a Sweetser therapist who works with high school students in Maine. Lots of young people do not know where to go when it comes to mental health resources. On this podcast, Emily and her guests will explore the universe of mental health care from one end to the other, covering topics like what to expect from therapy, improving self-esteem, understanding diagnoses like anxiety, PTSD, and depression, and discussing some trends (ahem, like what’s on your cell phone) that affect how you think, feel, and act. This podcast is a project supported by Sweetser. Follow Not Now, Maybe Later and tune in every month for a new episode!
Episode 1: On this podcast, Emily and her guests will explore the universe of mental health care from one end to the other, covering topics like what to expect from therapy, improving self-esteem, understanding diagnoses like anxiety, PTSD, and depression, and discussing some trends (ahem, like what’s on your cell phone) that affect how you think, feel, and act.
Episode 2: Middle school. Where you are supposed to “just be a kid” then “you are a teenager now” all in just a few years. On the second episode of “Not Now, Maybe Later”, Emily and Elizabeth, a school-based clinician who works with middle school students, get into mental health entering the teen years.
Episode 3: So maybe you have been to therapy. Or maybe you haven’t. Many teens have met with a therapist before – according to research two out of three teens in Maine diagnosed with depression have accessed some mental health care in the past year. Whether you have never been to therapy, you are in it now, or have been before, there are some important things to know.
Bonus to Episode 3: Listen here to learn about five of the more common, more fun (?) therapies for teens: CBT, DBT, EMDR, Creative Therapies, Equine Therapy. Great resources for more information on types of therapy are: goodtherapy.org and verywellmind.com.
Episode 4: This time you get to hear what we talk about when you are not in the room. On the fourth episode of “Not Now, Maybe Later”, hear an interview with a real mom talking about her family’s life raising kids, now teenagers, with different but significant mental health issues.
Episode 5: There are many questions, practical and ethical ones, about the risks and benefits of taking medication to treat your mental health. Fortunately, for this episode of NNML, we have a very smart guest who explains so many important things to know and think about when it comes to taking or not taking psychiatric medication.
Episode 6: Anxiety is explored from genetics and chemistry, to types like perfectionism and phobias. Listen in and you will hear some ways to reduce anxiety so you can find a new idea or two to keep your worrying under control.
Episode 7: Listen to the story of a real teen who has been through it – anxiety since she was very young, starting therapy in high school, and finishing therapy too. Hear about this teen’s real experience of COVID and school in the era of school shootings.
Episode 8: On our final episode of our podcast’s 1st season, we are focused on queer teen mental health. LGBTQ+ teens are six times more likely to experience symptoms of depression and twice as likely to be suicidal than their peers AND, according to The Trevor Project, 60% of LGBTQ+ youth who wanted mental health care in 2022 were not able to get it.
Emily Ostrow, is a licensed clinical social worker in Maine. She is currently working as school-based clinician for Sweetser supporting high school students to transform their mental health. She earned a Master’s degree in Social Work, clinical program, from Simmons University in Boston and is certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. She specializes in working with teens who have experienced trauma. Emily loves podcasts, sleeping, theme parties, and she spends a ton of time with her family.
Our podcast is available monthly on the following platforms:
