BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast

BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast

By BeMeKids & Family
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BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast episodes

  • Episode 18: Equity in Mental Health: Supporting the Emotional Well-being of Male, Non-binary, and Gender Non-conforming Teens with Dr. Taiwo Alonge

    About This Episode

    In this podcast episode, Dr. Neha Chaudhary and her co-host Hazuri Dhillon interview Dr. Taiwo Alonge, a second-year psychiatry resident at Yale, on issues related to equity in mental health care for male, non-binary, and gender non-conforming teenagers, with a particular focus on BIPOC and rural communities.

    Dr. Alonge discusses his medical career journey and research interests, the challenges and unique barriers that boys face when seeking support for their mental health, the impact of health disparities and systemic biases on BIPOC teens' diagnoses and outcomes, and the role of technology and innovation in promoting greater health equity.


    Four key insights from the episode:

    • Boys face societal messaging that prevents them from expressing their emotions in a healthy way, and there is a need to change these expectations to better support boys in addressing their mental health struggles;
      • Health disparities and systemic biases can negatively impact the diagnoses and outcomes for BIPOC teens compared to their white peers, and it is crucial to address these disparities;
        • Innovative solutions can be leveraged to bridge the gap between rural and urban healthcare access and outcomes;
          • Platforms like BeMe can be used to support and empower male-identifying youth from BIPOC and rural communities in addressing their mental health and health equity issues.
          • About Our Guest

            Dr. Taiwo Alonge is a second-year psychiatry resident at Yale. Prior to starting work as a resident at Yale, he received his MD from Columbia University and a master's in public health with a specific focus on health policy and management.  His interests are in mental health care, innovation, and policy for people across the lifespan, with a special focus on children, adolescents, and young adults.

            He is also passionate about health equity and ensuring health disparities affecting some of the most vulnerable populations are addressed, namely for BIPOC youth and people minoritized by their gender or sexuality. Although he is early in his professional career, he has already begun to engage in this health equity work in clinical practice, in working with community organizations in New York City and New Haven, in engaging in mental health care policy advocacy with the APA, and most recently in working with us here at BeMe.


            In January 2023, Dr. Alonge began working with BeMe as a clinical innovation fellow. In his role, he is helping us make sure that BeMe continues to be as inclusive and equitable an experience as possible for all teens, no matter their background or identities. 


            About BeMe
            BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, streaming engagement, human coaching, and clinical care.


            Our Host

            • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
            • Producer

              • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
              • Date of Recording

                • March 17, 2023

                • Closed Captions are auto-generated | The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved. © BeMe, Inc 2023

                  33 min
                • Episode 17: ‘You Are How You Play’ ft. Emma Worrollo

                  About This Episode

                  Episode 17 of the BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast centers around the significance of incorporating play into one's life and the positive influence it can have on one's well-being.

                  Our guest in this episode, Emma Worrollo, founder of 'The Playful Den,' proposes including play in one's to-do list, provides strategies for maintaining a childlike sense of wonder, and delves into the science behind the effectiveness of listening to music while doing mundane tasks. She emphasizes the reduction of stress through playfulness and its relevance for people of all ages.

                  About Our Guest

                  Emma Worrollo is an entrepreneur, mother of 3, writer, podcaster, and a big dreamer. Emma's biggest skill is her imagination, which she used to grow an international agency specializing in child and family insights, The Pineapple Lounge, for some of the biggest brands on the planet! Think Google, Nike, Adobe, and more!

                  For 12 years Emma taught the world's biggest brands on how to innovate for Generation Alpha and empathized with today's parents. Mid-pandemic, on maternity leave with baby number 3, Emma took the leap to step aside from her big girl job to...play more.
                  Her new venture, The Playful Den, emerged off the back of a thriving social media community and Emma now focuses her work on helping individuals, businesses, and families to play more. Emma is on a mission to inspire people to make play a part in their well-being tool kit and make small lifestyle tweaks to #LivePlayfully.

                  About BeMe

                  BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                  Our Host

                  Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health

                  Producer

                  Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health

                  Date of Recording

                  March 9, 2023

                  Closed Captions are auto-generated

                  The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved. © BeMe, Inc 2023

                  34 min
                • Episode 16: "Boys Body Image, Growing Up Latino and Dealing With Bullies" ft. Juan Bendaña, part two

                  About This Episode

                  In part two of our interview with Juan Bendaña, we discuss his decision to partner with BeMe as our Youth Ambassador, sharing his advice with teens in the BeMe app and answering questions submitted by our BeMe Teen Advisory Board.
                  Juan also talks about the role his Latino heritage played in his teen years, his experience growing up as a first-generation child of immigrant parents, and the mind shift he experienced when he learned to embrace his Nicaraguan identity.

                  Our Guest

                  Juan Bendaña is a sought-after speaker, author, and DJ who speaks to 50,000+ students, educators, and parents across Canada & the United States every year. He is the author of 12 Keys: How To Live Fully, Achieve Greatly And Lead An Epic Life, which helps students build better habits, boost productivity, & optimize their life.

                  This summer, Juan partnered with BeMe to be our Youth Ambassador. His advice for teens is featured in the BeMe app and our social media channels.

                  About BeMe

                  BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                  Our Hosts

                  • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                  • Hazuri Dhillion, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                  • Producer

                    • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                    • Date of Recording

                      October 20, 2022

                      Closed Captions are auto-generated | The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved. © BeMe, Inc 2022

                      29 min
                    • Episode 15: "Don't Strive for Perfection. Strive for Progress." ft. Juan Bendaña, Part 1

                      About This Episode


                      Juan Bendaña wants to help teens gain the confidence they need to crush it in life. Drawing from his own experiences as an awkward teenager, Juan combines storytelling, humor, and LIVE DJ-ing in his talks to highlight a message that has a lasting impact.

                      Our Guest

                      Juan Bendaña is a sought-after youth speaker, author, and DJ who speaks to 50,000+ students, educators, and parents across Canada & the United States every year. He is the author of 12 Keys: How To Live Fully, Achieve Greatly And Lead An Epic Life, which helps students build better habits, boost productivity, & optimize their life.


                      This summer, Juan partnered with BeMe to be our Youth Ambassador. His advice for teens is featured in the BeMe app and on our social media channels.

                      About BeMe

                      BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                      Our Hosts

                      • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                      • Hazuri Dhillion, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                      • Producer

                        • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                        • Date of Recording

                          October 20, 2022

                          Closed Captions are auto-generated

                          The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved. © BeMe, Inc 2022

                          28 min
                        • Episode 14: 'You Have So Much Power Inside You' ft. Charlotte Wasserman, founder, It's A Girl's Life

                          About This Episode

                          Charlotte Wasserman is a changemaker. After facing the typical middle school challenges, she started a blog to help other girls learn how to build confidence, tap into their own power, and stop feeling the need to be perfect.

                          In this episode of BeingMe, Charlotte shares how her blog grew into a movement focused on empowering girls through her nonprofit, "It's A Girl's Life," her Girls With Grit conference, and her "Girl's Life" podcast.


                          About Our Guest

                          Charlotte Wasserman is a public speaker, mentor for young women, and the founder of It's A Girl's Life, an organization for girls who want to learn how to let their most authentic selves shine, build resiliency, and take action for themselves.

                          She created It's A Girl's Life to share the tools and skills she was learning with other teens. She partnered with a California-based organization to create the first of three GET GRITTY Cleveland events for teen girls. She hosted events in 2019, Spring 2020, and the first virtual event in the Fall of 2020.

                          Through this nonprofit, Charlotte and her team continue to create programs, events, and content to connect, support, and motivate teen girls to be unstoppable. She is also the host of 'Welcome to It's A Girl's Life,' a podcast where girls unite to empower young women to Keep it Real. Charlotte recently graduated from high school in Ohio and will attend SMU in the fall.


                          About BeMe

                          BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                          Our Hosts

                          • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                          • Hazuri Dhillion, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                          • Producer

                            • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                            • Date of Recording July 15, 2022

                              ©BeMe, Inc 2022 | The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved.

                              35 min
                            • Episode 13: Creating A World That Supports Teen Mental Health ft. Kelly Davis, Mental Health America

                              About This Episode

                              Kelly Davis works to empower youth at Mental Health America to advocate for equality in mental health services and to reduce the stigma that still exists in many communities.

                              Drawing from her own personal experiences navigating the mental healthcare system, Kelly guides us through how to be an ally during a crisis, how we can maintain hope when there’s so much chaos in the world, and how improving mental health outcomes isn’t just about access to services or improving services, but it’s also about “creating a world that doesn’t harm people’s mental health.”

                              Our Guest

                              Kelly Davis is the Associate Vice President of Peer and Youth Advocacy at Mental Health America (MHA) where she works to expand peer support and other programs, policies, and research around youth and young adults. In 2019, Kelly was awarded the Disruptive Innovator Award by the International Association of Peer Supporters, an award given to a young person making positive change in mental health through positive disruption.

                              She is a certified yoga teacher and holds a certificate in Applied Positive Psychology from The Flourishing Center. She is currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership at the University of Pennsylvania.

                              • Mental Health America
                              • Mental Health America > Twitter
                              • Kelly Davis
                              • About BeMe

                                BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.


                                Our Hosts

                                • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                                • Hazuri Dhillion, BeMe Teen Advisory Board

                                • Producer

                                  • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health

                                  • Date of Recording

                                    • June 24, 2022
                                    • ©BeMe, Inc 2022 | The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved.

                                      30 min
                                    • Episode 12: Supporting BIPOC & LGBTQ Youth, Celebrating Pride & Exploring Your Identity ft. Dr. Amy Green, Hopelab

                                      About This Episode


                                      Dr. Amy Green, Head of Research at Hopelab, joins Dr. Neha Chaudhary and co-host Hazuri Dhillon on the BeingMe podcast for a conversation centered on LGBTQ+ mental health, the challenges facing BIPOC youth, and how to celebrate Pride Month when being visible isn't safe. Dr. Green, formerly head of research at The Trevor Project, also shares imi, a free, research-backed, mental health web app developed by Hopelab in partnership with CenterLink, It Gets Better Project and LGBTQ+ youth.

                                      Our Guest

                                      Dr. Amy Green is a clinical psychologist with nearly 20 years of experience leading research on youth mental health and mental health services. As Hopelab's Head of Research, Dr. Green leads a team focused on innovative research to promote thriving and health equity for young people.

                                      Before joining Hopelab, Dr. Green held academic appointments at UC San Diego in the Department of Psychiatry and the Child and Adolescent Services Research Center. At UC San Diego, her research focused on programs, policies, and practices to support youth in their well-being.

                                      Most recently, she served as the Vice President of Research at The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ+ young people.

                                      • Hopelab
                                      • Dr. Amy Green Bio
                                      • imi
                                      • About BeMe


                                        BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                                        Our Hosts

                                        • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                                        • Hazuri Dhillion, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                                        • Producer

                                          • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                                          • Date of Recording

                                            • June 17, 2022

                                            • © BeMe, Inc 2022 

                                              The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved.

                                              39 min
                                            • Episode 11: Boy's Emotional Health, Body Image & Mental Health in the NBA ft. Dr. Mena Mirhom, MD

                                              About This Episode

                                              On this episode of the BeingMe podcast, Dr. Neha Chaudhary and her co-host, Hazuri Dhillon, are joined by Dr. Mena Mirhom, MD, FAPA, a Columbia-trained, board-certified psychiatrist. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University, where he currently teaches public psychiatry fellows.

                                              Dr. Mirhom is a national speaker on mental health and wellness and a consultant for the Mental Health & Wellness Initiative of the NBPA  (National Basketball Player Association), where he works with NBA players and staff with any mental health needs.

                                              Learn More

                                              • Dr. Mena Mirhom
                                              • Dr. Mena Mirhom on TikTok
                                              • Dr. Mena Mirhom on Instagram
                                              • About BeMe

                                                BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                                                Our Hosts

                                                • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                                                • Hazuri Dhillon, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                                                • Producer

                                                  • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                                                  • Date of Recording

                                                    • June 10, 2022
                                                    • © BeMe, Inc 2022

                                                      The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved.

                                                      35 min
                                                    • Episode 10: Gen Z, Positive Social Change and How School Impacts Mental Health with Jenk Oz & Sofia Phillips

                                                      About This Episode


                                                      On this episode of the BeingMe podcast, Dr. Neha Chaudhary and her co-host Hazuri Dhillon speak with the 17-year old founder and CEO of Thred Media, a social enterprise focused on Gen Z. They are also joined by Sofia Phillips, the Senior Writer and Style editor at Thred for a conversation about Gen Z and social change, and how to inspire young people to make change on the local level that collectively creates global change.

                                                      Jenk also talks about being a recipient of The Diana Award, named after Diana, Princess of Wales, which honors young people working to improve the lives of others and he talks about the role that school plays in the Gen Z mental health crisis.

                                                      Learn More:

                                                      • Jenk Oz > Website
                                                      • Thred Magazine
                                                      • Thred > Instagram
                                                      • Our Guests

                                                        JENK OZ

                                                        Entrepreneur, Public Speaker, Social Change Activist, DJ & CEO of Thred Media

                                                        Jenk Oz is a 17-year-old social entrepreneur, public speaker, social change activist, and DJ as well as the founder & CEO of Thred Media, a social enterprise focused on publishing, consulting, and production aimed at Generation Z.


                                                        Thred reaches teens and young adults in 190+ countries a month and has won several awards including Next GenMedia Company 2021, Vodafone Small Business Award, and an International Davey Award. Jenk has been seen in West End theatre, TV, commercials, music videos, films, voice0overs, and several print campaigns.

                                                        SOFIA PHILLIPS

                                                        Style Editor and Senior Writer, Thred Media

                                                        Sofia is the Style Editor and Senior Writer at Thred, specializing in fashion and beauty with a focus on sustainability, women’s rights, and Latin America. She works with Gen Zers from around the world on articles and live interviews to promote the inspiring work they’re doing to make the world a better place.

                                                        About BeMe

                                                        BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                                                        • BeMe → Website
                                                        • BeMe → Instagram
                                                        • Producer

                                                          • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                                                          • Date of Recording

                                                            • April 7, 2022
                                                            • © BeMe, Inc 2022 | The BeingMe podcast is a BeMe Studios Production. All rights reserved.

                                                              31 min
                                                            • Episode 9: ‘You Change Best by Feeling Good, Not by Feeling Bad’ with BJ Fogg PhD

                                                              About This Episode

                                                              On this episode of the BeMe podcast, Dr. Neha Chaudhary and her co-host Hazuri Dhillon speak with Stanford behavior scientist and New York Times bestselling author, BJ Fogg, Ph.D.


                                                              During his chat, Dr. Fogg explains how to get started with his Tiny Habits method and why tiny is mighty! He also shares why you should kickstart your day with The Maui Method, shares a Screentime Genie created at his Stanford Lab to help you reduce your social media screentime, and leaves some inspiring advice for teens.

                                                              Dr. Fogg is a renowned behavior scientist and adjunct professor at Stanford University in the Division of Health and Human Performance (HHP) within the Stanford Flourishing Project at the Stanford School of Medicine. When he’s not teaching or writing, you can find him catching a wave off the coast of Maui.

                                                              Learn More:

                                                              • BJ  Fogg > Website
                                                              • BJ Fogg > Instagram
                                                              • Screentime Genie
                                                              • Our Hosts

                                                                • Dr. Neha Chaudhary, Chief Medical Officer, BeMe Health
                                                                • Hazuri Dhillon, BeMe Teen Advisory Board
                                                                • About BeMe

                                                                  BeMe is a mobile mental health platform — made for and With Teens In Mind™ — to improve teen well-being by bringing together the best aspects of social, gaming, and streaming engagement along with human coaching and clinical care.

                                                                  • BeMe → Website
                                                                  • BeMe → Instagram
                                                                  • Download BeMe → App Store
                                                                  • Download BeMe → Google Play
                                                                  • Producer

                                                                    • Derek E. Baird, Chief Youth Officer, BeMe Health
                                                                    • Date of Recording

                                                                      • March 2022, BeMe Studios
                                                                      • 30 min

                                                                      About BeingMe: A Teen Mental Health Podcast

                                                                      From the publisher's feed

                                                                      Welcome to BeingMe, a top teen mental health and wellness podcast brought to you by BeMe Health, the creators of the BeMe app designed specifically for teens.