Best Mental Health Podcasts: 15 Shows Worth Adding to Your Queue

A lot of people finally hear words like "panic attack" or "intrusive thought" explained clearly not in a doctor’s office, but through a pair of headphones on a commute.

Mental health podcasts have become one of the more common ways people learn about anxiety, depression, trauma, and grief, often straight from licensed therapists, researchers, or people who’ve lived through what they’re describing.

The shows below range from clinical Q&A to unscripted personal stories, and each one covers a different piece of the mental health picture.

Benefits of Listening to Mental Health Podcasts

Podcasts fill a specific gap. They’re free, they fit into a commute or a Sunday reset, and they can simplify even the most complex mental health topics so you can understand yourself better, or someone you love.

Many hosts are psychologists, psychiatrists, or trauma therapists who spend an hour walking through anxiety, OCD, or self-care in ways people can relate to and understand. Some mental health podcast hosts have no clinical background at all, just a personal history with depression, addiction, or grief that can help others both identify what they’re going through and learn how to get the help they need.¹

Being and feeling seen is powerful.

The 15 Best Mental Health Podcasts

Each show below takes a different angle on mental health, and a few are hosted by licensed clinicians, so start with whichever topic matches what you’re dealing with right now.

1. On Purpose With Jay Shetty

Jay Shetty, former monk and host of On Purpose, interviews psychologists, researchers, and celebrities about stress, purpose, and personal development. He started the show five years ago, and its reach now makes it one of the most-listened-to mental health podcasts worldwide.

2. The Happiness Lab

The Happiness Lab, hosted by Yale psychology professor Dr. Laurie Santos, translates peer-reviewed research on happiness and well-being into practical, weekly episodes, each grounded in a specific study rather than general advice.

If you want the scientific research behind a piece of advice instead of just the advice itself, this is one of the most evidence-driven options on the list.

3. RECOVERable

On RECOVERable, host Terry McGuire interviews experts to answer some of the internet’s most-searched questions about mental health and addiction—simply.

Episodes explain things like brainspotting, adverse childhood experiences, and eating disorder myths in ways anyone can understand. It’s a great fit for those who want to dive deep into a particular topic and learn from experts on neuroscience, behavior, and recovery.

4. Therapy for Black Girls

Licensed psychologist Dr. Joy Harden Bradford hosts Therapy for Black Girls. Conversations center on anxiety, self-care, and personal development built specifically around Black women’s experiences with mental wellness and therapy.

It’s one of the most consistently recommended shows for culturally responsive mental health content.

5. Latinx Therapy

Trauma therapist Adriana Alejandre hosts Latinx Therapy, a bilingual podcast that airs Spanish-language segments alongside English ones and pairs with a directory of Latine therapists.

Episodes cover postpartum depression, ADHD, and family stigma around therapy, aimed at listeners who rarely see their cultural context reflected in mental health media.

6. Giving Voice to Depression

Journalist Terry McGuire started Giving Voice to Depression after her own experience with depression and has since built an archive of more than 400 episodes, ranking in the top 1% of podcasts globally.

Recent episodes cover coping strategies for depression, supporting a partner through it, and recognizing high-functioning depression that’s easy to miss.

7. Ask Kati Anything

On Ask Katie Anything, licensed therapist Kati Morton uses 12 years of clinical experience to answer questions listeners have about depression, anxiety, trauma, self-esteem, and more.

There’s less structure than some of the other podcasts on this list, just a clinician responding to what people are actually asking her, which has earned the show a loyal following and a 4.9-star Apple rating.

8. Recoverycast

Brittani Baynard hosts Recoverycast, where she talks with actors, athletes, and celebrities, about their own recovery from addiction and co-occurring mental health struggles.

Each episode highlights how addiction and mental health struggles can happen to anyone, and what really makes a difference in recovery. Stories are personal, funny, and tearjerkers at times.

9. Not Another Anxiety Show

Host Kelli Walker, a registered nurse and former agoraphobe, has published over 265 episodes of Not Another Anxiety Show. Her podcast focused entirely on anxiety, panic, and the physical symptoms that come with them. It’s since stopped running, but there’s a wealth of past episodes to enjoy.

If you want treatment options for anxiety explained without the “five simple steps” framing that self-help content often leans on, this show can meet that need.

10. The Mental Illness Happy Hour

On The Mental Illness Happy Hour, Comedian Paul Gilmartin has been interviewing comedians, doctors, and artists about depression, trauma, and addiction since 2011, making it one of the longest-running shows in the mental health category.

Episodes lean unfiltered rather than polished, which is part of why it’s held a loyal audience for over a decade.

Hearing people speak openly and without shame about mental health reminds someone sitting alone on their couch that their condition is common, treatable, and absolutely not a personal flaw.

Terry McGuire

11. Where Should We Begin?

Therapist Esther Perel airs real, anonymized couples therapy sessions on Where Should We Begin?, giving listeners a rare look at how a session actually unfolds. It’s less about self-help advice and more about watching relational patterns play out in real time.

12. Unlocking Us

Researcher Brené Brown built her career studying shame and vulnerability, and Unlocking Us extends that work into long-form conversations with authors, scientists, and public figures.

It fits anyone trying to understand why vulnerability feels so uncomfortable in the first place. While it’s not being updated currently, you can still enjoy a plethora of past episodes.

13. Ten Percent Happier

Journalist Dan Harris started Ten Percent Happier after a panic attack on live television led him to meditation, and it now covers mindfulness and mental health broadly through interviews with teachers and researchers. It’s a practical entry point if you’re curious about meditation but skeptical of anything that sounds too spiritual.

14. Thanks for Asking

Nora McInerny built Thanks for Asking originally to focus on grief after losing her husband, her father, and a pregnancy within weeks of each other. It’s since expanded to other topics and won an iHeartPodcast Award for its quality and authenticity.

Guests describe loss in specific, sometimes uncomfortable detail instead of the version people usually offer when asked “how are you.”

15. The Hilarious World of Depression

On The Hilarious World of Depression, host John Moe interviewed comedians and entertainers about their experiences with depression, blending humor with candid conversation about a condition that doesn’t always leave room for either. This approach can make the whole topic of depression, and healing, feel more approachable—especially when described by people who’ve actually lived with it and gotten better.

How to Choose the Right Podcast for You

Beyond the topic of the podcast, it’s helpful to match the format to what you actually need. A Q&A like RECOVERable or Ask Kati Anything works well if you want direct answers to a specific question. A narrative show like Thanks for Asking or Recoverycast works better if you’re looking for someone else’s story to feel less alone in your own.

A research-based show like The Happiness Lab or Unlocking Us fits if you’re more motivated by understanding the “why” behind a feeling than by a quick coping tool. Time matters too: some of these run under 30 minutes and work for a daily commute, while others, like Where Should We Begin?, are closer to an hour.

None of these categories are fixed, and it’s fine to rotate between a few depending on what a given week looks like. You may even enjoy it more to keep a few shows on rotation rather than only listening to one.

Podcasts Aren’t a Replacement for Professional Support

A podcast can explain what anxiety, bipolar disorder, or another mental illness feels like, but it can’t assess your specific symptoms or treat a mental health condition, especially when it overlaps with substance use or another co-occurring condition.

If what you’re hearing on one of these shows sounds like your own experience, and it’s affecting your daily life, bring your concerns to a therapist or doctor. A licensed provider can also screen for things a podcast simply can’t, like whether a mood change is situational or something that needs medication alongside talk therapy.

The right podcast won’t fix anything on its own, but it can make the next conversation, whether that’s with a friend or a therapist, a little easier to start.

Find Support Beyond the Podcast

If what you’ve heard here has you thinking more seriously about your own mental health, you can explore mental health treatment options that fit your specific needs, location, and insurance.