"My teenage son is struggling with anxiety": How to navigate mental health challenges in teens
Dial Emma
Emma Reed Turrell
4.8 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 October 2025
⏱️ 37 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Welcome back to Dial Emma! Each week, I'll be answering your dilemmas with honesty, empathy, and a few therapeutic truth bombs to help you make sense of life's stickiest moments. If you've ever wished you had a therapist in your back pocket, Dial Emma is here to help.
It's World Mental Health Day this Friday 10th October, so I'm delighted to be joined by a special guest who knows the power of martial arts for mental health better than most: four-time black belt, double gold medal champion and founder of Graham's Academy of Martial Arts, Steve Graham.
Our dilemma this week comes from a concerned mother, whose teenage son is struggling with anxiety, depression and a loss of confidence and spends much of his time in his room. She asks: how can I support my son and encourage him to try something new, without making him feel pressured?
To help this lovely listener, Steve and I go back to grassroots mental health as it has shown up in our own lives. We discuss the challenges teenagers are facing, especially on social media, the importance of role models to help them navigate those challenges, and how martial arts can serve as a powerful tool for building confidence and providing support.
Steve also tells us the benefits of martial arts for our mental wellbeing and the practical steps we can take to get involved in physical activities, encouraging both parents and teens to take action for better mental health.
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Useful links:
Dopamine Nation by Anna Lembke
Chimp Paradox by Steve Peters
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If you have a dilemma for Emma, please fill out this form.
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Dial Emma is hosted by Emma Reed Turrell, produced by Lauren Brook.
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Social media:
Emma Reed Turrell @emmareedturrell
Dial Emma @dialemmapodcast
Email: [email protected]
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast is sponsored by ProteinWorks, on a mission to help you feel good and smash your goals through the power of nutrition. |
| 0:09.1 | Hello and welcome to Dial Emma, the podcast where your dilemmas meet my therapeutic insights. |
| 0:15.7 | I'm Emma Reid-Torrell, psychotherapist, author and well-recovering people-pleaser. |
| 0:20.3 | Each week, I'll be unpacking |
| 0:21.8 | real-life questions from listeners just like you. The big ones, the small ones, the ones that keep you |
| 0:27.3 | up at night, offering practical tools and gentle truths to help you find your way through. So if |
| 0:33.6 | you've got a question, you don't know how to ask out loud. You've come to the right place. |
| 0:45.9 | Welcome to this week's episode of Dial Emma. |
| 0:48.7 | This week is a very special one because we are in the middle of Mental Health Awareness Month. |
| 0:55.8 | And, well, as something that really wasn't around when I was growing up, I was particularly drawn to a dilemma that came in |
| 1:00.1 | from a listener who was talking about, well, me as I was really, back when I first found martial |
| 1:05.2 | arts. So let's see what this listener has to say about her son. And then I'll introduce my very special |
| 1:12.7 | guest today who's going to help me unpack it. So, dear Emma, I'm writing about my 15-year-old son, |
| 1:19.0 | who's been struggling with anxiety and depression over the past year. He's withdrawn from things he |
| 1:23.4 | used to enjoy. He spends hours in his room gaming, and often refuses to go out with friends. |
| 1:29.3 | We've started counselling, and he's on a waiting list for further support, but as his parent, |
| 1:34.5 | I feel helpless watching him lose confidence day by day. I want to encourage him to try |
| 1:40.4 | something that could lift his mood and help him reconnect with the outside world. |
| 1:45.0 | But every time I suggest ideas, whether that's sports clubs, youth groups, or even just |
| 1:49.5 | to walk together, he says no. I don't want to push too hard and risk him shutting down even more, |
| 1:55.3 | but I also don't want to sit back and watch him sink further. What worries me most is that he doesn't have a very strong |
| 2:02.7 | male role model in his life. His dad isn't very present, and I can see my son searching for |
... |
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