Marijuana, Anxiety, and How to Talk to Youth About Addiction (with Amber Hollingsworth)

Host Carmen continues her conversation with addictions counselor Amber Hollingsworth on Youth Empowerment Radio, focusing on teen marijuana use and practical ways to support young people. Amber explains that marijuana can be physically and psychologically addictive and is hard to identify because its negative impacts develop slowly, often increasing anxiety and depression while users believe it helps. She argues vaping may worsen use behavior by removing barriers and enabling frequent, hidden consumption. On support, Amber advises avoiding direct confrontation that triggers defensiveness and power struggles; instead, “pull information out” by asking questions, helping youth define their own “lines in the sand,” and connecting choices to their values. She recommends teaching early symptoms of addiction rather than scare tactics, urges adults to build credibility by acknowledging perceived benefits, and shares books she likes: 10X Is Easier Than 2X, Scaling/Scaling Up, and 10X. Amber directs listeners to her YouTube channel, Put the Shovel Down.

00:00 Welcome Back

00:45 Marijuana Normalization

02:48 Slow Burn Effects

03:38 Ocean Current Analogy

05:48 Physical Dependence Signs

06:14 Vapes Versus Joints

08:15 Supporting Youth Recovery

10:16 Pull Truth Out

12:32 Let Them Define Lines

16:19 Early Addiction Symptoms

18:04 Build Trust Credit

20:57 Book Recommendations

23:29 Where To Find Amber

24:06 Final Thanks

Youth Empowerment Radio | Season 3 • Episode 11 (Part 1)

Do you really have to hit rock bottom before things can change?

In Part 1 of this powerful conversation, host Carmen sits down with addiction counselor and Put the Shovel Down creator Amber Hollingsworth to challenge some of the biggest myths surrounding addiction—especially among youth and young adults.

Amber brings over 20 years of experience working with individuals and families affected by addiction. Together, they explore what addiction actually looks like before it becomes obvious, why "waiting for rock bottom" can do more harm than good, and how families can become part of the solution instead of feeling powerless. The discussion is grounded in real-world experience and offers practical insight for parents, caregivers, educators, professionals, and young people alike.

In this episode:

• Why you don't have to hit rock bottom to begin recovery
• The difference between experimentation, substance use, dependency, and addiction
• Early warning signs families often miss
• Why addiction is often about coping—not just substances
• The developmental impact addiction can have on youth
• Common misconceptions parents have about alcohol and marijuana
• Why Amber believes the "addictive personality" can actually become a superpower when directed in healthy ways

If this conversation helps you, please consider:
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Suggested Chapters

00:00 – Introduction
01:08 – Meet Amber Hollingsworth
03:30 – Why families shouldn't wait for "rock bottom"
06:00 – What "Put the Shovel Down" really means
08:20 – Amber's unexpected journey into addiction counseling
15:10 – Growing up around addiction without recognizing it
19:40 – What actually defines addiction?
24:10 – Experimentation vs. addiction
29:00 – When substances become a coping mechanism
34:20 – Youth addiction vs. adult addiction
39:15 – Emotional development and addiction
44:20 – Does income or social status matter?
48:30 – "Don't ask why the addiction—ask why the pain?"
55:40 – Is the addictive brain broken?
59:20 – Turning addiction into a superpower
1:05:40 – Common myths parents believe
1:13:00 – Should parents let teens drink at home?
1:20:00 – The most common substances affecting today's youth

🎙 Youth Empowerment Radio amplifies the voices of youth, professionals, advocates, and leaders working to improve the lives of young people through honest conversations about mental health, resilience, recovery, leadership, and lived experience.

#YouthEmpowermentRadio #MentalHealth #YouthMentalHealth #AddictionRecovery #Recovery #FamilySupport #SubstanceUse #YouthVoice #Hope #Prevention #Podcast #Spotify #YouTubePodcast #BehavioralHealth #RecoveryJourney

Nature, Community & Accessibility in Adaptive Outdoor Recreation | Youth Empowerment Radio S3E10 (Part 2)

Host Carmen continues her conversation with Katie Ostadewick of Colorado Discover Ability about how outdoor recreation supports mental, physical, and social wellbeing, including work with local VA recreational therapy and veterans. Katie describes participants arriving discouraged by weather or doubt and leaving with smiles, new friendships, and meaningful conversations outside clinical settings, emphasizing sun exposure and nature as a “happy place.” She shares the impact of returning people to activities they love, including an avid mountain biker who became a wheelchair user, and explains CDA’s focus on independence—measured less by numbers served than by renewed confidence, family involvement, and participants pursuing equipment, grants, and recreation on their own. They discuss designing accessibility from the start (ramps, door width/placement, restrooms), transportation barriers, clear signage informed by lived experience, and breaking stigma, illustrated by an adaptive golfer outperforming others. Katie recommends The Hard Parts by Oksana Masters and Spoke by Spoke by Spoke by Dr. Terry Chase.

00:00 Welcome Back Intro

00:49 Nature As Healing

03:57 Community Through Outdoors

04:41 Mountain Biker Comeback

08:23 Measuring Real Impact

13:02 Outdoor Culture Of Help

14:22 Designing Accessible Spaces

19:00 Breaking Disability Bias

21:53 Book Picks And Wrap Up

Host Carmen welcomes Kady Ostowick, executive director of Colorado Discover Ability (CDA) in Grand Junction, Colorado, a nonprofit providing adaptive outdoor recreation for people with disabilities. Katie shares how she pivoted from a for-profit tech career to leading CDA, and outlines CDA’s programs including winter skiing and snowboarding, a large Special Olympics skiing/snowboarding team, seasonal cycling on local paved trails, and summer adventures like paddleboarding, kayaking, horseback riding, and rafting partnerships. She explains adaptive equipment across sports, from sit skis, mono skis, and outriggers to recumbent and tandem trikes and supportive rafting seating, noting high costs and frequent need for creative solutions. The conversation also covers practical outdoor accessibility—signage, bathrooms, transportation, and equipment access—and emphasizes designing solutions with people who have lived experience, reinforcing that disability does not mean inability.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

00:59 Katie’s Career Pivot

03:43 What CDA Does

07:11 Special Olympics Ski Team

09:21 Adaptive Ski Gear

14:46 Adaptive Cycling Basics

18:47 Cost and Logistics

19:35 Adaptive Rafting Safety

24:08 Outdoor Accessibility Beyond Ramps

30:30 Disability Is Not Inability

33:42 Access and Maintenance Wrap Up

Youth Empowerment Radio S3E8 (Part 2): Luke Mickelson on Child Bedlessness & Taking Tiny Moments to Action

Host Carmen continues her conversation with Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, about child bedlessness, its ripple effects on health and life outcomes, and why the issue is often invisible. Luke explains how local SHP chapters operate like a franchise model: sponsors donate about $300 per bed (including mattress, bedding, and delivery), volunteers build beds in an assembly-line process, and teams deliver and assemble beds in homes for children ages 3–17 who don’t already have a bed. They discuss demand outpacing supply, common circumstances behind requests (house fires, foster care, single parents, and grandparents taking in grandchildren), and Luke’s “Tiny Moments” framework—see it, feel it, act on it, repeat it, share it—to build a stronger desire to act and create community change.

00:00 Welcome Back and Setup

00:56 Why Beds Matter for Kids

01:17 Juvenile Detention Wake Up Call

02:44 Ripple Effects of Poor Sleep

03:25 How a Chapter Works

04:12 Sponsors and Build Days

05:54 Volunteer Experience Gold Nuggets

07:42 Applying and Prioritizing Need

09:33 Delivering Beds and Reactions

11:45 Ownership and Community Love

12:37 Small Moments Create Change

13:14 Why Bedlessness Is Invisible

15:04 How Big Is Bedlessness

16:19 Why No Bed Charities

17:49 Hardship Has No Labels

19:09 Top Reasons Families Apply

20:19 Grandparents Step In

22:31 Tiny Moments To Action

25:07 Practice Serving Daily

27:07 Get Involved And Connect

29:21 Closing Thanks And Impact

From a Farm Kid to 400,000 Beds: Luke Mickelson’s Sleep in Heavenly Peace Origin Story | Youth Empowerment Radio S3E7 (Part 1)

Host Carmen interviews Luke Mickelson, founder of Sleep in Heavenly Peace, a nonprofit that builds and delivers beds to children. Luke shares his background growing up in a small Idaho town, lessons about community service, and a personal period of doubt that shifted his view of success. As a church youth leader in 2012, he learned of children in his town sleeping on the floor, built a bunk bed with local boys, and later built another with his own kids, discovering widespread need through a Facebook post. Delivering a bed to six-year-old Haley—who had been sleeping on a pile of clothes—became a turning point, inspiring a commitment to end child bedlessness locally and beyond. He explains SHP’s chapter model, volunteer-driven growth, and expansion to 470+ chapters in four countries with over 400,000 beds built.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:32 Luke’s Humble Roots

02:39 Small Town Community Values

03:51 Service Mindset and Life Lessons

06:09 Midlife Questions and Funk

08:02 Hearing About Kids Without Beds

09:37 Building the First Bunk Bed

11:11 Delivery Day and Community Impact

13:08 A Couch Moment Sparks More

14:41 Building Beds With His Kids

15:36 Now What to Do With It

15:59 Post Goes Viral

16:51 Haley’s Story

17:42 Inside an Empty Home

19:11 A Bed Changes Everything

20:35 Why Beds Mean Safety

24:21 From One Bed to Nonprofit

26:00 Mike Rowe Spotlight

27:09 How Chapters Scale Impact

29:14 Anyone Can Start One

Youth Leadership in Action: Building Connection and Systems Change with Youth MOVE Nevada

Host Carmen continues her conversation with Brenna, youth leader of Youth MOVE Nevada, focusing on Nevada’s rural isolation, lack of community connection, and the importance of social connection for health and healing. Brenna describes chapter challenges such as reaching rural youth and increasing awareness that youth voices are welcome, and explains how virtual meetings support statewide inclusion. She outlines multiple engagement pathways for youth—decision-making in meetings, polls and chat participation, podcast and social media contributions, toolkits, contests, and youth panels—within a peer-led model that builds leadership. Brenna shares experiences bringing youth voice into systems-level meetings, noting receptivity but sometimes limited dialogue, and highlights the Youth Voice at Agency Level assessment/training, work with UNR on system-of-care data collection and youth focus groups, and her role with a Nevada Medicaid behavioral health transformation workgroup shaping care coordination improvements. She is excited about continued chapter growth and directs listeners to YouthMoveNV and YouthMoveNV@nevadapep.org.

00:00 Welcome Back Part Two

00:34 Nevada Rural Isolation

01:22 Why Connection Matters

04:51 Reaching Rural Youth

06:46 Everyday Youth Engagement

12:05 Youth Led Meetings

13:27 Youth Voice In Systems

16:22 YVAL And UNR Partnership

21:26 Medicaid Summit Impact

26:08 Future Growth And Contact

28:13 Final Thanks And Wrap

Youth Move Nevada’s Brenna on Youth Advocacy, Mental Health Challenges, and System-Level Youth Voice

Host Carmen interviews Brenna, team facilitator and youth leader with Youth Move Nevada, about her path from working at Nevada PEP to youth advocacy, including how learning about disabilities led her to seek an ADHD evaluation and feel empowered by diagnosis and self-advocacy. Brenna explains Youth Move Nevada’s origins as a youth-voice program under Nevada PEP, its autonomy, and its goals: building youth self-advocacy skills, empowering youth-led change, and reducing stigma around mental health and disabilities for ages 14–24 statewide. They discuss Nevada’s mental health challenges, including ranking 51st, provider shortages, limited community-based services that can force out-of-state treatment, rural/frontier access barriers, siloed systems, and gaps in awareness, alongside a reported 2% state suicide-rate reduction. Brenna describes youth engagement methods (virtual meetings, polls, podcasts, social media, contests, panels) and system advocacy using the Youth Voice at Agency Level tool, work with UNR on needs assessments, and Medicaid workgroups shaping care coordination.

00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro

01:04 Brenna Story and Lived Experience

04:23 ADHD Diagnosis and Empowerment

09:04 Youth Move Nevada Origins

12:05 Host Org and Autonomy

19:45 Who Can Join Youth Move

21:52 Mission and Core Goals

24:13 Nevada Mental Health Crisis

27:19 Rural Access and Out of State Care

33:31 Siloed Systems and Awareness Gaps

35:28 National Youth Mental Health Context

37:31 Why Nevada Ranks Last

38:23 Rural Frontier Reality

41:17 Isolation and Loneliness

45:15 Reaching Rural Youth

47:41 Everyday Youth Engagement

54:46 Youth Voice in Systems

57:33 YVAL and UNR Partnership

01:03:22 Medicaid Summit Impact

01:08:39 Chapter Growth and Contact