Headstraight is a teen mental health podcast hosted by Mark Taylor, a mental health nurse with over 35 years of experience working with young people.
Each episode tackles real questions about mental health, relationships, confidence and growing up. No therapy-speak. No lectures. Just honest conversations, practical ideas and straightforward guidance to help you make sense of what's going on in your life.
Visit: http://www.headstraight.co.uk
Why Does Everyone Else Get to Decide What Happens to Me?
Everyone says they want you to make your own decisions. Until you make one they don’t agree with.
This episode looks at what it actually means to have a say in your own life when parents, carers or professionals still have some responsibility for what happens to you.
We explore the difference between being listened to and getting your own way, when protection can start to feel like control, why making your own choices also means dealing with what follows, and why wanting more freedom doesn’t mean wanting everyone to disappear.
If you’ve ever thought, “When does this actually become my life?”, this one’s for you.
Want to get involved?
I’d love to hear from you:
Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contact (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/contact)
Leave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemail (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/voicemail)
Share your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new)
Explore more from Headstraight:
Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blog (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/blog)
Find out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/about (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/about/)
Need support right now?
If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/) - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/ (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/)
for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.
30 Sept 2026
I Feel Like The Parent In My Family
Do you ever feel more like the parent in your family than the child? You’re the one calming people down, looking after younger siblings or trying to keep things together when the adults around you are struggling. Everyone sees how capable you are, but they may not see what carrying that responsibility is doing to you.
In this episode, we explore how a young person can gradually become the emotional grown-up at home, why being needed can feel important as well as exhausting, and why stepping back may feel almost impossible. How do you care about your family without feeling responsible for holding the whole family together?
Want to get involved?
I’d love to hear from you:
Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contact (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/contact)
Leave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemail (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/voicemail)
Share your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new)
Explore more from Headstraight:
Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blog (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/blog)
Find out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/about (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/about/)
Need support right now?
If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/) - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/ (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/)
for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.
23 Sept 2026
Why Do I Always Need People To Like Me?
Do you ever feel like you’re slightly different depending on who you’re with?
Maybe you’re louder with one group, quieter with another, funnier with some people, more careful with others. That’s normal. We all adapt. But what happens when you start changing yourself because you’re scared people won’t like you if you don’t?
In this episode, we look at the exhausting habit of constantly checking how you’re coming across, trying to read everyone else’s reactions, and quietly wondering whether you’ve said or done the wrong thing.
Because there’s a strange trap in needing people to like you: the harder you work to make sure they do, the harder it can become to believe that they actually know you.
This isn’t about learning not to care what anyone thinks. It’s about noticing the difference between fitting in naturally and feeling like you have to keep editing yourself just to belong.
Want to get involved?
I’d love to hear from you:
Send me a message → headstraight.co.uk/contact (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/contact)
Leave me a voice note → headstraight.co.uk/voicemail (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/voicemail)
Share your feedback by leaving a review (it helps more young people find the podcast) → headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/reviews/new)
Explore more from Headstraight:
Read the blog version of every episode, packed with extra insights on self-sabotage, motivation, resilience, and mental health → headstraight.co.uk/blog (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/blog)
Find out more about me, the host, and why I started this podcast → headstraight.co.uk/about (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/about/)
Need support right now?
If you’re struggling with anxiety, depression, or in crisis, visit our Resources page (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/) - https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/ (https://www.headstraight.co.uk/p/resources/)
for helplines, mental health services, and support options available in the UK and across the world.
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
95
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.0 / 5
1 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 67 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
95
Social presence
0
YouTube
63
Engagement
32
Contact Headstraight
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Questions about Headstraight
Who hosts Headstraight?
Mark Taylor host the show. Published by Mark Taylor | Mental Health Nurse.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes daily, based on its RSS feed.
Does Headstraight take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Host of Headstraight?
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