EP 102: Mental Health Hacks for Teens (and the Parents Who Love Them) | Katie K. May Teen Mental Health Expert

In this Suicide Awareness Month episode, host Elex interviews Katie K. May, a Pennsylvania-based licensed therapist, practice owner, and author specializing in high-risk teens and their families. Drawing from her personal history navigating adolescent self-harm and young adult substance use, Katie explains how discovering Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) inspired her mission to help young people create a life worth living. A foundational step in breaking generational cycles of dysfunction is practicing radical acceptance—understanding that you can only control your own healing journey and must grieve the reality that loved ones may never change. For parents supporting struggling adolescents, Katie emphasizes ditching therapist jargon and relentless questioning in favor of quiet presence, observation, and meeting kids in their unique language of support.

Katie differentiates between emotion regulation, which maintains daily baseline emotional balance, and distress tolerance, which helps individuals navigate peak emotional triggers without making the situation worse. To maintain internal baseline stability, teens can practice the PLEASE skill by tending to physical health, moving their bodies, avoiding unhelpful substances, getting enough sleep, and eating regular meals. Habit stacking can make these routines manageable, while prioritizing sleep remains critical for amygdala regulation and mood stability in teens. Externally, teens benefit from accumulating positive experiences to build a bank of joyful moments and building mastery through moderately challenging tasks that encourage a productive flow state. To guard against toxic positivity, Katie advocates for a floor-versus-ceiling mindset, where individuals focus on reaching their bare minimum self-care needs on difficult days rather than expecting every day to be ideal.

Regarding neurodivergence, Katie highlights profiles like ADHD, autism, and AuDHD, describing these teens as bottom-up processors who experience environmental input and sensory details through their entire bodies. Parents are encouraged to seek diagnostic clarity and accommodate these unique processing needs rather than forcing teens to fit standard molds. For communication, teens can utilize DBT's DEAR framework to set boundaries by Describing the situation, Expressing their feelings, Asserting their needs, and Reinforcing positive outcomes. Crucially, parents must prioritize regulating their own emotions first, leading with open curiosity rather than rigid control.

Listeners can access resources and connect with Katie K. May at https://katiekmay.com/ , or explore the Mental Health Resource Library at mentalmixology.org. If you or someone you know is in crisis, support is available by calling or texting 988.