June 4, 2026 • 34 mins
Anxiety, low mood, sleep problems, confidence that never quite arrives: what if the real issue is not the symptom you can name, but the experience you never processed? I’m joined by Lynne Douglas, founder of Healthy Minds for You, to unpack how trauma can sit underneath everyday struggles and why EMDR therapy can help people move past “coping” towards genuine change.
We start with Lynne’s path through mental health nursing, CBT, and the moment she realised she was spending too much time firefighting. From there, she explains EMDR in refreshingly simple terms, using an analogy of a wound that cannot heal until what’s blocking it is removed. We also dig into the idea that trauma is not limited to PTSD or headline events. Repeated “smaller” experiences, especially early in life, can quietly drive patterns of fear, hypervigilance, low mood, and a world that keeps getting smaller.
A powerful part of our conversation focuses on carers and traumatic grief, including families supporting loved ones with Alzheimer’s. Lynne describes the repeated losses, the guilt beliefs that can trap people in a grief loop, and why carers so often neglect their own wellbeing. We then switch to the realities of building a sustainable online EMDR practice: what makes online therapy work, how admin can erode work-life balance, why hiring a virtual assistant can protect mental health, and Lynn’s push towards outcome-focused therapy rather than selling by the hour.
If you care about effective trauma therapy, EMDR, online counselling, and sustainable mental health practice in the UK, this one will give you both insight and practical takeaways. Subscribe for more conversations, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review: what part of the discussion hit closest to home for you?
📧 Guest Biography
Lynne Douglas is the founder of Healthy Minds 4U and an accredited EMDR therapist specialising in trauma, anxiety, grief, and emotional wellbeing.
Beginning her career in mental health nursing before training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Lynne later discovered EMDR and became passionate about helping clients address the root causes of emotional distress rather than simply managing symptoms.
Today she leads a fully online practice supporting individuals affected by trauma and traumatic grief, while also supervising and mentoring EMDR therapists. Her work includes supporting family members caring for loved ones with Alzheimer's disease and helping clients navigate experiences that continue to impact their lives long after the original events have passed.
Links
- Website: 🌐 https://healthyminds4u.co.uk
- Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lynne-douglas-4222329b/
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About the podcast
Voices in Health and Wellness features conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential, with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.
About Dr Andrew Greenland
UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. Trained in both conventional and root-cause approaches, Andrew helps people optimise health, performance, and longevity, with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr Andrew Greenland (00:00):
Welcome to Voices in Health and Wellness.
This is the podcast where wespeak with healthcare founders,
clinic owners, and practitionersabout the realities of
delivering great care whilebuilding sustainable, impactful
practices.
This show is designed forpractitioners by practitioners.
We explore clinical approaches,patient outcomes, practice
growth, leadership, and theoften overlooked challenges of
(00:21):
running a healthcare business.
Today's guest is Lynne Douglas,founder of Healthy Minds for
You.
Lynne is an experienced mentalhealth professional who's
transitioned from a backgroundin mental health, nursing and
CBT into specialising in EMDRtherapy.
To Healthy Minds for You, shehelps individuals work through
trauma and its long-termeffects, with a particular
interest in supporting thoseexperiencing traumatic grief,
(00:44):
including family members caringfor loved ones without Sheimus
disease.
Her work is rooted in helpingpeople move beyond symptom
management and addressing theunderlying causes of emotional
distress, a philosophy thatresonates strongly across many
areas of modern healthcare.
So with that, Lynne, I'd loveto welcome you to the show and
thank you very much indeed forjoining me today.
Lynne Douglas (01:03):
It's lovely to be here.
Thank you for asking.
Dr Andrew Greenland (01:06):
So can we talk a little bit about your
background and your story?
Tell us a little bit about yourbackground and how you first
entered the mental health field.
Lynne Douglas (01:14):
Yeah, also that was back in 1996.
Um and I applied for mentalhealth nursing.
So that was well, it wasn'tmental health nursing, it was a
whole, it was general nursingthen, right?
And then halfway through, I hadum an experience in um the
(01:37):
mental health services, and Ithought that's really
interesting, just something, andnot quite sure what it was.
Something took my interest, andfrom then I transitioned over
to mental health nursing and andcompleted that and was a mental
health nurse on uh apsychiatric ward for for a
number of years and also didmental health group work and
(01:59):
working on day services.
Um, but I knew there wassomething that that was missing,
you know, that I wanted to Iwanted to help people more.
I felt a bit like I wasfirefighting, I was managing
situations more than helping,really.
So um then I did CBT.
(02:20):
So I came across CBT andthought, brilliant, sounds
amazing.
So I did CBT training andworked with that for a while and
worked in the NHS for a numberof years in the IAP services,
and I think it was when you knowwhen family came along that I
then reduced NHS and started todo a little bit of private
(02:43):
practice, um, purely because itworks a little bit better around
my family life, and that wenton for quite a number of years,
and then in 2016, actually, theservice I was working for closed
down, and I was made redundantfrom the NHS at that point, and
that um I guess that gave me thenudge really, and a kick up the
(03:07):
backside to okay, let's makethis private practice work, and
so moved into private practice.
I had completed my EMDRtraining by then.
Um I was trained while I was inthe IELTS service, um, so that
continued throughout, and soit's built up from me working
(03:27):
from home to me then having anoffice to then COVID hit, and I
let my office go and we movedonline, and and now we work
totally online at Healthy Mindsfor You, and I have a wonderful
virtual assistant that helps me,Gemma, she's amazing, and she
(03:50):
she is on top of all my emailsand things like that.
Absolutely fantastic, and Ihave a couple of associate
therapists that that help and dosome work for me now.
Dr Andrew Greenland (04:00):
Fantastic.
So, um healthy minds for youthen, 2026.
What does the model look likefrom a patient perspective?
You know, working purelyonline, how does it kind of work
out?
Lynne Douglas (04:11):
Um well, we we use um a platform called
Bilateral Base, and that'spurely for the provision of
EMDR.
And it's it's really not muchdifferent besides you're in the
comfort of your own home.
In a lot of ways, it is so muchbetter because you can have
(04:32):
your home at the temperature youwant it, you can have your cup
of tea as you like it, or yourdrinks and whatever comforting
things around you as you want.
All we need is good internetconnection and a quiet private
space to do this work in.
So for many people, it's greatbecause also afterwards, after
(04:56):
therapy, often it's quitetiring, and people need to look
after themselves.
There's no drive home, they'realready home, right?
So it takes away a lot ofproblems of people accessing
therapy, getting to the therapyum rooms and then getting home
after therapy.
Um, so EMDR online, it's it'sjust been a massive, massive
(05:23):
learning for me, and I don'tthink we ever knew just how well
it could work until COVID came,and then everybody had to start
using it really, and it's justbeen amazing.
So it's not really muchdifferent.
We use I use headphones uhpurely because I find the audio
(05:45):
better, and sometimes there'snoises outside of my therapy my
room here that it really cancelsout.
So I find that much moreactually much better than in
person in a way, because you'renot distracted by outside
noises, you really are inconnection with the person
you're working with.
Dr Andrew Greenland (06:06):
Thank you.
So I guess COVID precipitatedthat shift.
I mean, you had to do it, youhad to do this because of COVID,
and obviously the whole worldhas changed.
But how well do the patients umembrace working online?
Obviously, they're probablyused to it now because it's been
going for a number of years,but what was it like initially?
And do you still get patientsthat want to work in person?
And what happens to them?
Lynne Douglas (06:29):
Yeah, so um, yes and yes.
Um, so it it was quite, Ithink, a major move for all of
us.
I think we're all all a bitanxious about working online to
start with.
I know I was, and thinking, umas it happened, how my
supervision, uh, my EMDRsupervision was already online,
(06:50):
so I was used to using Zoom atthe time.
So I think that helped me alittle bit move online to work
with people.
Um, and people, yeah, I thinkthey took to it okay.
I think they did.
I think it all took us a littlebit of settling in, um more
(07:12):
instruction of where they needto be, what they may need.
Um yes, I do get askedsometimes for in-person, and I
have colleagues that doin-person work, and I would
refer people on to them.
Yeah, yeah.
Dr Andrew Greenland (07:33):
Thank you.
You so you mentioned um inpassing before that you began
using CBT approaches early on inyour career and then moved over
to EMDR.
Was there anything thatprompted that shift, or was it
just something you discovered,you know, in your kind of
journey to learn more and bringon practices to help patients?
Lynne Douglas (07:53):
Yeah, and and I still do use a lot of the CBT
within the practice, you know, alot of the understanding of the
disorders of maybe anxiety andthings like that will bring
those conversations in of whatmaybe keeps keeps it going,
what's what's managing, what'sdriving all this.
Um, but EMDR, it just to say,it it's it's a bit like that
(08:19):
advert, isn't it?
For for the alcohol, it get itreaches places or the beers
struggle to reach.
Right.
Do you remember?
I I don't know what what's justcome to mind there, where that
came from, but um it seems toget really to the root of
problems much quicker than Ifound CBT2.
(08:41):
Um I just took took a love toit.
I just thought in someinstances it's a little bit like
magic.
In some instances, now it cantake a lot longer, it's not a
quick fix by all means foreverybody, but in some instances
it can be really quickly, um itcan make massive changes
(09:04):
quickly, and people get back toliving their life much sooner, I
think, than um when I was usingCBT.
Dr Andrew Greenland (09:14):
Thank you.
I suppose to be fair tolisteners, we ought to explain
what EMDR is.
And how would you how are youjust how would you describe it
and how do you tell patientswhat it is before you embark on
it with it?
Lynne Douglas (09:24):
So EMDR, eye movement desensitization and
reprocessing.
It's a very long word, isn'tit?
And so I I don't I like simplethings, right?
I don't like going into lots oftechnical words, you know,
talking about um lots of thingsto do with the brain and how
(09:47):
that might work.
So I'm going to use an analogyto try and explain, and this is
how I explain it to my clients.
So if if you can imagine, ifyou've got a graze or a scratch
on your arm, right, our bodieswill naturally work towards
healing.
Even if we do nothing, we'vegot a natural healing process.
(10:09):
It might bleed a bit, might itwill scab over, it will start to
heal underneath, it might beitchy and really irritable while
it's healing, but eventuallythe scab comes off and it's
healed, right?
So our body naturally workstowards healing, but sometimes
something gets in the way of thenatural healing process.
So, for example, it may havegrit in it, something's in it,
(10:32):
it's it's stopping that healingprocess, it's starting to get an
infection.
So maybe it needs a washout.
Now, the washout is anintervention, it's not going to
make it better, but it takesaway what is stopping the
natural healing process.
So it might need it might needantibiotics, right?
(10:53):
If there's an infection, butagain, the antibiotics aren't
healing the wound, they takeaway the infection, which allows
the wound to then continue toheal, right?
So, in that sense, I want tothink about the mind in the
sense that something has got inthe way of the natural healing
(11:13):
process.
And what EMDR is, EMDR is likethat intervention that comes in
and it takes away what'sblocking, what's what's
sticking, and it removes that,helping the brain to then
continue to heal itself.
Right?
So EMDR isn't the fix, EMDR isthe intervention that you use to
(11:40):
take away what's stopping thenatural healing process from
trauma.
Did that make sense or didn'tit?
Dr Andrew Greenland (11:48):
Oh, did I love the analogy?
I can tell you use that wellwith your patients.
Um, it's probably resonatesvery well.
So thank you for that.
Um, one thing I foundinteresting was your view that
trauma isn't limited to PTSDdiagnosis.
Can you expand a bit on thatfor our listeners?
Lynne Douglas (12:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Um originally it was it it didcome about purely for PTSD, and
it's in our skylines as atreatment for PTSD, but it's
used for so much more, and Ithink when we look at other
disorders, most of those thingshave a trauma base, maybe
(12:29):
wouldn't fit the criteria ofPTSD, but there's a trauma base,
right?
So, um, for example, um, oftenwhen we're working with people
with anxiety or lack ofself-confidence, often that goes
right back to school years, youknow, under the age of eight or
(12:50):
ten, right?
There's a real root, and um inthe NDR, what we want to do, we
want to get to the root cause ofwhat's driving the problem now.
And that could without thatroot, it's a little bit like
mowing your lawn, right?
You can keep mowing it andmowing it and mowing it, but it
(13:10):
will eventually grow back, and Ithink that's why a lot of
people they go and have sometherapy and they think, yeah, it
was great at the time, but I'vestill got the same problem, you
know.
Maybe months down the line,I've still got the same problem.
It's grown back, that grass hasgrown because you've just been
mowing the grass, right?
So in EMDR, we go right back tothe root and we pull it out.
(13:36):
We pull it out from the root soit can no longer grow back.
I love my analogies.
You might like to do that.
No, I do, I do.
Dr Andrew Greenland (13:46):
You obviously have to work out what
works when you're speaking topatients.
So you've obviously gotanalogies that really, really
work.
So, how often do you seeanxiety, low mood, or other
challenges that are rooted andunresolved trauma?
Because you said it happens alot.
Just give us some sense ofreally how common it really is.
Lynne Douglas (14:00):
Oh my goodness.
Um well, I think even ifsomebody comes with a um a
diagnosis of PTSD, um, it'saffecting their sleep, they're
having intrusive thoughts,they're they're they're much
more on higher the system's onhigh alert, so that there's
already anxiety, right?
(14:21):
So so it very often goestogether, anxiety, very often
low mood because they've notbeen sleeping for such a long
time.
Um also I do have people comingin that anxiety is their main
problem, and their world in thepresent has got smaller and
smaller and smaller becausetheir fears grown bigger and
(14:43):
bigger and bigger, and sometimespeople just don't know why.
And you know, they used to justbe scared of one thing and now
they're scared of virtuallyeverything.
How does that happen?
You know, it's like it spreads,right?
And that's often because weneed to get back to the root.
Where did this start?
Because there's a root drivingall these anxieties in the
(15:08):
present.
Once we can get back to thatroot, as we've said before, you
know, we're not mowing it, we'renot giving them lots of
resources, and I think um in inCBT was working with a lot of
people in the present only andgiving them lots of management
tools and resources, and I seethat as that is that's mowing
(15:29):
the lawn.
Whilst other people are usingthem, it's keeping the grass
nicely, right?
But when they want to just goback to the usual everyday life,
grass grows back and hence theyhave the same problems again.
But I it's I don't think I I'mtrying to think of someone I've
(15:50):
that's come through for therapythat actually hasn't had anxiety
or some element of depression,maybe wouldn't fit diagnosis of,
but it's there.
I think it's there all the timeto some degree.
Dr Andrew Greenland (16:08):
Right.
So are there any um commonmisconceptions that people have
about trauma therapy in yourexperience?
Lynne Douglas (16:16):
Um that's a good question.
I think one of the biggestthings is it has to be a big
trauma.
They think of trauma as intsunamis, you know, people going
to war, um, veterans maybecoming back from war zones.
Um and it that isn'tnecessarily so.
(16:38):
We can have smaller traumas,lots of smaller traumas
throughout our life that canreally impact us today, you
know, and that be might be, youknow, those different elements
of bullying through schoolyears.
You know, we might not thinkabout it as a big trauma now,
but actually when we were a kid,it was massive.
(16:59):
Yeah.
Um, and so I think that's oneof the main misconceptions about
trauma is that people assumeit's a big trauma, but actually
there's lots of smaller traumasthroughout our lives that we uh
can dismiss as beingsignificant.
Dr Andrew Greenland (17:24):
During our um previous conversation, you
spoke about the experience offamily members caring for loved
ones with Alzheimer's.
Um could you tell us a bit moreabout that work that you do?
Lynne Douglas (17:34):
Um well it's not I suppose that's some some of
that's from a personal thing aswell, because we've had people
in the family with Alzheimer's,and um I've worked with a few
people that have come in um forsome grief work with that, and
(17:56):
it's it's interesting becausewhen you have a loved one with
Alzheimer's, you kind of grieve,you've lost them already, and
they're still here, and that canbe one of the hardest things
because it's like you you don'tjust grieve once, you lose a
part of them and you grieve, youlose another part of them and
(18:19):
you grieve, you lose anotherpart, and you you grieve over
and over and over again, andeach though each of those times
is quite is traumatic in itself,and I think from having family
members that have suffered fromthat, having that personal kind
(18:40):
of experience, it just brings myinterest in helping people that
are going through and sufferingbecause it is it is a trauma,
it's really tough, it really is.
Not just on the it's not juston the person that is going
through it, you know, and that'stough on the carers that see it
(19:05):
and grieve and grieve andgrieve.
It's really difficult.
Dr Andrew Greenland (19:11):
I mean, do you feel enough attention is
given to the emotionalwell-being of carers from what
you see?
Lynne Douglas (19:22):
Good question.
I don't think there's everenough support for carers.
No, I really don't.
Um will there ever be enoughsupport for carers in the
future?
Wow, probably not.
I and I think as well, whatwhat we often find for carers is
(19:46):
that they tend to be lookingafter other people and neglect
their own health and well-being.
Um so they often don't ask forthe help that they need either
because their focus isn't onthemselves, it's for looking
after others.
(20:06):
So you kind of got a bit of acatch-22 there.
You've got the people that doneed it, but actually don't
recognise it.
People that do recognise it anddon't ask for help because
they're too busy caring forsomeone else.
Um, and then of course, it'swhere do you find all that help?
It's it's tough.
(20:27):
I don't think I've got ananswer for you there, Andrew, as
to enough help for carers.
Dr Andrew Greenland (20:34):
Well, you kind of alluded to it.
I mean, it's it's probably muchoverlooked, and um will we ever
get enough?
I don't know.
I mean, probably not if I'mbeing honest, but yeah.
So um on the subject of grief,I mean, how does traumatic grief
differ from what many peoplethink of as conventional grief?
Lynne Douglas (20:54):
So we all grieve, right?
We all go through grief.
If you love someone, you willhurt when they're gone, right?
And and that's a given.
And the more you love someone,the more hurt you'll feel when
they've gone.
But just like you know, I'vetalked before about that analogy
(21:17):
of healing, most of the timewe'll tend to we'll talk to
people, we'll get support frompeople, um, and we will go
through that grieving processnaturally, and our brain will
come to some resolve.
You will never, I think, youwill never get totally over it,
(21:43):
right?
Because something down the lineor oh remind you of a loved one
that you lost, and suddenlyyou'll be in tears again, like a
bit of a wave hitting you.
But generally, you are able toget on with life, right?
Traumatic grief, if we go backto that analogy.
Is that it's got stuck.
And sometimes it can be on thatloop.
(22:04):
And often there's there'sbeliefs in there, like I should
have done more, I should havebeen better at, um, should have
been there, you know, and andsometimes a lot of these beliefs
keep people trapped in a cycleof grief and guilt and you know,
(22:26):
all those emotions that goalong with grief.
So traumatic grief is literallysomething that's getting in the
way again of our naturalgrieving process and just
keeping it in that loop, justkeeping us grieving, and and
(22:46):
people can be stuck for foryears not really overcoming
grief.
And again, EMDR I found is isamazing for getting to where it
needs to go and unstickingwhat's got stuck, right?
(23:09):
And of course, that that can beuncomfortable, right?
Because then the naturalhealing process continues to
take place, and that might meanreleasing lots of emotion and
lots of crying, lots of tears,yeah.
But then people feel so muchlighter by the end of it.
(23:29):
It's like a whole weight thatpeople are able to release and
let go of.
Can be amazing, and I thinksome of the um to see people
from when they start therapy,often to when they finish, they
can often they look likedifferent people, and it's hard
(23:51):
to really explain that.
That they they really look likea different person coming to
see me, and yeah, it's hard tobelieve when you've not seen
that yourself.
But I guess I have to sometimesI have to lend a bit of my
belief to clients that come, youknow.
I'll lend it out there untilthey've got the belief
(24:12):
themselves that it works.
Dr Andrew Greenland (24:15):
Thank you.
So, what have all theseexperiences taught you about
resilience from all the workthat you do with with the
clients that you see?
Lynne Douglas (24:22):
Oh, blame me.
So, yeah, crikey as therapists,don't we need some resilience?
And I think there's been timesin my life where I've not
listened to to what's going onfor me, and now I think probably
most therapists you can youtalk to will say at some point
(24:44):
in their life they've been burntout, they've been um
emotionally exhausted from thework that they're doing, and
they've not spent enough time onthemselves.
Because if we think aboutcarers, we're that's kind of
what we're doing, aren't we?
We're we're caring for otherpeople, we're helping people
overcome their problems.
And um thing that I'm really,really more aware of now is is
(25:08):
the importance of looking aftermyself.
Now I've got two teenagers,both neurodiverse.
Um, so working for myselfonline as well, has been working
really well around my family.
Um, having hobbies, havingthings, doing things for fun,
taking your mind away from yourwork is really, really important
(25:30):
to be doing and giving you thatresilience.
And and I think knowing thatyou can overcome, and also ask
for help yourself as atherapist, right?
I think that's a tough call,you know.
I actually bringing that in.
Therapists asking for therapybecause we're human at the end
(25:50):
of the day, and we all struggleat some points in our life, and
that can be a really hard thingbecause as therapists, we kind
of know a lot of information.
We know that, and we kind ofknow what we should do, and and
how the things that would help.
You know, when you're goingthrough your own stuff and your
(26:11):
own difficulties in life andyour own traumas, you can't
think straight.
You need someone else to helpyou through that process, and I
think that's a really good shoutout for therapists as well out
there that know actually theycould do with some therapy
themselves to take that leap andjump and actually and go do it
(26:33):
because you're really important.
Yeah.
Dr Andrew Greenland (26:38):
Thank you.
So switching gears a little bitto the kind of the business
side of things, and obviously,you've built your um healthy
minds for you practice, it's anonline model.
You've mentioned you've gotassociates you brought on board,
and lots of things going well.
But what are the maybe some ofthe challenges or bottlenecks
that are most impactful for youright now in the business?
Lynne Douglas (26:58):
Um well, I'm working my way through the
challenges.
I think one of the challengeswas keeping on top of the admin
um side of things.
Um, hence I I now have a uh aVA, a virtual assistant, and
she's absolutely brilliant.
I must have thought about thatfor two years before I took the
(27:19):
leap.
Um, because of course it's it'sit's a financial outcome, but
actually for my own mentalhealth and well-being, it's
amazing, right?
And then it gets frees up timefor me to see clients and not
get hung up on checking myemails all the time and just
knowing that somebody is isgoing to be um on top of things,
(27:45):
right?
And the amount of time I've Iadmit to checking my emails at
silly o'clock at night, right?
It helps me not do that, and Ithink trying to have that
work-life balance is probablyone of the hardest things.
Um working for yourself inprivate practice is is amazing,
(28:11):
it's been brilliant for me, andit will be amazing for lots of
other people that take thatstep.
Um, but there's other thingsyou have to think about.
There's no sick pay, there's noholiday pay, um, there's no
pension unless you pay it intoone yourself, right?
A private pension.
And and you have to think, youhave to factor all of this in
(28:33):
into your business, and you'vegot to make it work somehow.
It's a lot to think about.
So I always said before, I'mnot business minded, I'm a
therapist, right?
I'm not I'm not businessminded.
How do I do this?
And and it's been a lot oftrial and error, it's been a lot
of learning, it's been a lot ofmoney wasting in some areas.
(28:58):
Um, and I'm still learning.
I'm still learning now at themoment.
I've got a business coach, soum, I'm part of um a fearless
crew um with Robin Wade.
So um again, it's kind ofmoving business on and learning
new things all the time.
Um, and yeah, I think that'sthe only way, isn't it?
(29:20):
To just one step in front of theother and keep moving forward
and growing and learning, alwayslearning.
Dr Andrew Greenland (29:30):
Amazing.
I was gonna ask you what's yourbiggest time drain right now,
but it sounds like your VA mayhave solved that problem, or is
there things that are still atime drain for you in your
world?
Lynne Douglas (29:40):
Um I think such still a time drain.
Hmm.
You see, I'm thinking of things,but they're not a time, they're
not a time drain, I think.
Actually, they're quiteimportant, you know, it's
freeing up time, time to read,time to listen to audiobooks,
time to time to meditate.
(30:02):
And that's something that forhealth and well-being I do more
of now, is is meditation andjust sitting with my own
thoughts and calming my ownsystem.
Um, what's a drain?
I can't think of anything now,actually.
What's still a drain?
I think maybe social media,maybe maybe that's maybe that's
(30:27):
the drain.
Um, and maybe that's becauseit's something I don't know a
great lot about, social media,and it's something I'm just
learning.
So I would say that's quite adrain on me.
That'll be mine.
Dr Andrew Greenland (30:42):
Okay.
Um, I guess every clinic wantsto grow um and have more
patients.
But what happened, what wouldhappen to you if demand doubled
overnight?
Would anything break?
And hopefully not you, but whatwould happen if you had a
massive surge in demandtomorrow?
Lynne Douglas (30:57):
Um that's a good question.
I haven't really thought aboutthat.
Give me a moment.
Well, I like to think I would Iwould call on other associates
that I know because part of mywork is I supervise other EMDR
(31:18):
therapists to who are workingtowards their accreditation.
So probably 60 to 80 percent ofmy work is actually
supervision, and so from that Iknow lots of other therapists
that are really good at whatthey do, that have a variety of
(31:38):
backgrounds and knowledge.
Um, and I I could well call onsome of those if needed.
Yeah, that would be my answer.
Dr Andrew Greenland (31:50):
Very good.
And um finally, where would youlike the practice to be in the
next six to twelve months?
Where do you want to seehealthy minds for you headed?
Lynne Douglas (31:59):
Well, I think maybe you've just just mentioned
it actually.
Doubling overnight would begreat, wouldn't it?
Maybe overnight, maybe not soovernight, but yeah, just just
growing and having moretherapies, and and because we're
providing um EMDR therapy, andI I'm able to supervise the
(32:23):
practice as well.
So I I know that they're goodat what they do, and I think
that gives me comfort that thetherapists that are doing
associate work for me, I knowthem, I know them personally
through years of supervision,and I know what they can do,
their background.
(32:44):
So, for example, if I get areferral in and I think actually
one of my associates will suitthem down to a T, you know, I've
got somebody that theirbackground is in eating
disorders, that's not myspeciality.
I would absolutely say this isthe one to work with you, you
know, because they've got thisspeciality to work with.
(33:05):
Um so yeah, I'm hoping it willgrow in two ways, really,
because I'm looking at changingthe way often in private
practice you sell by the hourtherapy.
I would have moved to whatoutcome do you want?
What's the outcome?
And let's let's start to worktowards the outcome and stop
(33:29):
selling therapy by the hour,because you know what, it can go
on for years and and never end,and I think it's not really
helpful.
So, what do you want to work onnow?
What ending do you want?
Let's look at that outcome andlet's work towards it so you've
got a clear idea of where youare now and where you're going.
(33:50):
I think that would be that'sthat's going to be really useful
for people.
Um, and I think there wassomething else I was going to
say there, but my menopausalbrain has just disappeared, it's
just gone.
I'm hoping there's people outthere that will really connect
with that because it happensoften.
Dr Andrew Greenland (34:10):
No worries, no.
Then this has been a greatconversation.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
I think what really stands outis your commitment to addressing
the root causes rather thansimply managing the symptoms.
Whether we're talking abouttrauma or anxiety, grief,
supporting caregivers seems tobe a consistent theme of helping
people to understand andprocess what's really underneath
their struggles.
So thank you very much forsharing and giving us that
(34:31):
valuable insight.
And yeah, I wish you all thebest with your practice and
future growth.
Lynne Douglas (34:36):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's been a pleasure to behere.
Welcome to Voices in Health and Wellness.
This is the podcast where wespeak with healthcare founders,
clinic owners, and practitionersabout the realities of
delivering great care whilebuilding sustainable, impactful
practices.
This show is designed forpractitioners by practitioners.
We explore clinical approaches,patient outcomes, practice
growth, leadership, and theoften overlooked challenges of
(00:21):
running a healthcare business.
Today's guest is Lynne Douglas,founder of Healthy Minds for
You.
Lynne is an experienced mentalhealth professional who's
transitioned from a backgroundin mental health, nursing and
CBT into specialising in EMDRtherapy.
To Healthy Minds for You, shehelps individuals work through
trauma and its long-termeffects, with a particular
interest in supporting thoseexperiencing traumatic grief,
(00:44):
including family members caringfor loved ones without Sheimus
disease.
Her work is rooted in helpingpeople move beyond symptom
management and addressing theunderlying causes of emotional
distress, a philosophy thatresonates strongly across many
areas of modern healthcare.
So with that, Lynne, I'd loveto welcome you to the show and
thank you very much indeed forjoining me today.
Lynne Douglas (01:03):
It's lovely to be here.
Thank you for asking.
Dr Andrew Greenland (01:06):
So can we talk a little bit about your
background and your story?
Tell us a little bit about yourbackground and how you first
entered the mental health field.
Lynne Douglas (01:14):
Yeah, also that was back in 1996.
Um and I applied for mentalhealth nursing.
So that was well, it wasn'tmental health nursing, it was a
whole, it was general nursingthen, right?
And then halfway through, I hadum an experience in um the
(01:37):
mental health services, and Ithought that's really
interesting, just something, andnot quite sure what it was.
Something took my interest, andfrom then I transitioned over
to mental health nursing and andcompleted that and was a mental
health nurse on uh apsychiatric ward for for a
number of years and also didmental health group work and
(01:59):
working on day services.
Um, but I knew there wassomething that that was missing,
you know, that I wanted to Iwanted to help people more.
I felt a bit like I wasfirefighting, I was managing
situations more than helping,really.
So um then I did CBT.
(02:20):
So I came across CBT andthought, brilliant, sounds
amazing.
So I did CBT training andworked with that for a while and
worked in the NHS for a numberof years in the IAP services,
and I think it was when you knowwhen family came along that I
then reduced NHS and started todo a little bit of private
(02:43):
practice, um, purely because itworks a little bit better around
my family life, and that wenton for quite a number of years,
and then in 2016, actually, theservice I was working for closed
down, and I was made redundantfrom the NHS at that point, and
that um I guess that gave me thenudge really, and a kick up the
(03:07):
backside to okay, let's makethis private practice work, and
so moved into private practice.
I had completed my EMDRtraining by then.
Um I was trained while I was inthe IELTS service, um, so that
continued throughout, and soit's built up from me working
(03:27):
from home to me then having anoffice to then COVID hit, and I
let my office go and we movedonline, and and now we work
totally online at Healthy Mindsfor You, and I have a wonderful
virtual assistant that helps me,Gemma, she's amazing, and she
(03:50):
she is on top of all my emailsand things like that.
Absolutely fantastic, and Ihave a couple of associate
therapists that that help and dosome work for me now.
Dr Andrew Greenland (04:00):
Fantastic.
So, um healthy minds for youthen, 2026.
What does the model look likefrom a patient perspective?
You know, working purelyonline, how does it kind of work
out?
Lynne Douglas (04:11):
Um well, we we use um a platform called
Bilateral Base, and that'spurely for the provision of
EMDR.
And it's it's really not muchdifferent besides you're in the
comfort of your own home.
In a lot of ways, it is so muchbetter because you can have
(04:32):
your home at the temperature youwant it, you can have your cup
of tea as you like it, or yourdrinks and whatever comforting
things around you as you want.
All we need is good internetconnection and a quiet private
space to do this work in.
So for many people, it's greatbecause also afterwards, after
(04:56):
therapy, often it's quitetiring, and people need to look
after themselves.
There's no drive home, they'realready home, right?
So it takes away a lot ofproblems of people accessing
therapy, getting to the therapyum rooms and then getting home
after therapy.
Um, so EMDR online, it's it'sjust been a massive, massive
(05:23):
learning for me, and I don'tthink we ever knew just how well
it could work until COVID came,and then everybody had to start
using it really, and it's justbeen amazing.
So it's not really muchdifferent.
We use I use headphones uhpurely because I find the audio
(05:45):
better, and sometimes there'snoises outside of my therapy my
room here that it really cancelsout.
So I find that much moreactually much better than in
person in a way, because you'renot distracted by outside
noises, you really are inconnection with the person
you're working with.
Dr Andrew Greenland (06:06):
Thank you.
So I guess COVID precipitatedthat shift.
I mean, you had to do it, youhad to do this because of COVID,
and obviously the whole worldhas changed.
But how well do the patients umembrace working online?
Obviously, they're probablyused to it now because it's been
going for a number of years,but what was it like initially?
And do you still get patientsthat want to work in person?
And what happens to them?
Lynne Douglas (06:29):
Yeah, so um, yes and yes.
Um, so it it was quite, Ithink, a major move for all of
us.
I think we're all all a bitanxious about working online to
start with.
I know I was, and thinking, umas it happened, how my
supervision, uh, my EMDRsupervision was already online,
(06:50):
so I was used to using Zoom atthe time.
So I think that helped me alittle bit move online to work
with people.
Um, and people, yeah, I thinkthey took to it okay.
I think they did.
I think it all took us a littlebit of settling in, um more
(07:12):
instruction of where they needto be, what they may need.
Um yes, I do get askedsometimes for in-person, and I
have colleagues that doin-person work, and I would
refer people on to them.
Yeah, yeah.
Dr Andrew Greenland (07:33):
Thank you.
You so you mentioned um inpassing before that you began
using CBT approaches early on inyour career and then moved over
to EMDR.
Was there anything thatprompted that shift, or was it
just something you discovered,you know, in your kind of
journey to learn more and bringon practices to help patients?
Lynne Douglas (07:53):
Yeah, and and I still do use a lot of the CBT
within the practice, you know, alot of the understanding of the
disorders of maybe anxiety andthings like that will bring
those conversations in of whatmaybe keeps keeps it going,
what's what's managing, what'sdriving all this.
Um, but EMDR, it just to say,it it's it's a bit like that
(08:19):
advert, isn't it?
For for the alcohol, it get itreaches places or the beers
struggle to reach.
Right.
Do you remember?
I I don't know what what's justcome to mind there, where that
came from, but um it seems toget really to the root of
problems much quicker than Ifound CBT2.
(08:41):
Um I just took took a love toit.
I just thought in someinstances it's a little bit like
magic.
In some instances, now it cantake a lot longer, it's not a
quick fix by all means foreverybody, but in some instances
it can be really quickly, um itcan make massive changes
(09:04):
quickly, and people get back toliving their life much sooner, I
think, than um when I was usingCBT.
Dr Andrew Greenland (09:14):
Thank you.
I suppose to be fair tolisteners, we ought to explain
what EMDR is.
And how would you how are youjust how would you describe it
and how do you tell patientswhat it is before you embark on
it with it?
Lynne Douglas (09:24):
So EMDR, eye movement desensitization and
reprocessing.
It's a very long word, isn'tit?
And so I I don't I like simplethings, right?
I don't like going into lots oftechnical words, you know,
talking about um lots of thingsto do with the brain and how
(09:47):
that might work.
So I'm going to use an analogyto try and explain, and this is
how I explain it to my clients.
So if if you can imagine, ifyou've got a graze or a scratch
on your arm, right, our bodieswill naturally work towards
healing.
Even if we do nothing, we'vegot a natural healing process.
(10:09):
It might bleed a bit, might itwill scab over, it will start to
heal underneath, it might beitchy and really irritable while
it's healing, but eventuallythe scab comes off and it's
healed, right?
So our body naturally workstowards healing, but sometimes
something gets in the way of thenatural healing process.
So, for example, it may havegrit in it, something's in it,
(10:32):
it's it's stopping that healingprocess, it's starting to get an
infection.
So maybe it needs a washout.
Now, the washout is anintervention, it's not going to
make it better, but it takesaway what is stopping the
natural healing process.
So it might need it might needantibiotics, right?
(10:53):
If there's an infection, butagain, the antibiotics aren't
healing the wound, they takeaway the infection, which allows
the wound to then continue toheal, right?
So, in that sense, I want tothink about the mind in the
sense that something has got inthe way of the natural healing
(11:13):
process.
And what EMDR is, EMDR is likethat intervention that comes in
and it takes away what'sblocking, what's what's
sticking, and it removes that,helping the brain to then
continue to heal itself.
Right?
So EMDR isn't the fix, EMDR isthe intervention that you use to
(11:40):
take away what's stopping thenatural healing process from
trauma.
Did that make sense or didn'tit?
Dr Andrew Greenland (11:48):
Oh, did I love the analogy?
I can tell you use that wellwith your patients.
Um, it's probably resonatesvery well.
So thank you for that.
Um, one thing I foundinteresting was your view that
trauma isn't limited to PTSDdiagnosis.
Can you expand a bit on thatfor our listeners?
Lynne Douglas (12:04):
Yeah, yeah.
Um originally it was it it didcome about purely for PTSD, and
it's in our skylines as atreatment for PTSD, but it's
used for so much more, and Ithink when we look at other
disorders, most of those thingshave a trauma base, maybe
(12:29):
wouldn't fit the criteria ofPTSD, but there's a trauma base,
right?
So, um, for example, um, oftenwhen we're working with people
with anxiety or lack ofself-confidence, often that goes
right back to school years, youknow, under the age of eight or
(12:50):
ten, right?
There's a real root, and um inthe NDR, what we want to do, we
want to get to the root cause ofwhat's driving the problem now.
And that could without thatroot, it's a little bit like
mowing your lawn, right?
You can keep mowing it andmowing it and mowing it, but it
(13:10):
will eventually grow back, and Ithink that's why a lot of
people they go and have sometherapy and they think, yeah, it
was great at the time, but I'vestill got the same problem, you
know.
Maybe months down the line,I've still got the same problem.
It's grown back, that grass hasgrown because you've just been
mowing the grass, right?
So in EMDR, we go right back tothe root and we pull it out.
(13:36):
We pull it out from the root soit can no longer grow back.
I love my analogies.
You might like to do that.
No, I do, I do.
Dr Andrew Greenland (13:46):
You obviously have to work out what
works when you're speaking topatients.
So you've obviously gotanalogies that really, really
work.
So, how often do you seeanxiety, low mood, or other
challenges that are rooted andunresolved trauma?
Because you said it happens alot.
Just give us some sense ofreally how common it really is.
Lynne Douglas (14:00):
Oh my goodness.
Um well, I think even ifsomebody comes with a um a
diagnosis of PTSD, um, it'saffecting their sleep, they're
having intrusive thoughts,they're they're they're much
more on higher the system's onhigh alert, so that there's
already anxiety, right?
(14:21):
So so it very often goestogether, anxiety, very often
low mood because they've notbeen sleeping for such a long
time.
Um also I do have people comingin that anxiety is their main
problem, and their world in thepresent has got smaller and
smaller and smaller becausetheir fears grown bigger and
(14:43):
bigger and bigger, and sometimespeople just don't know why.
And you know, they used to justbe scared of one thing and now
they're scared of virtuallyeverything.
How does that happen?
You know, it's like it spreads,right?
And that's often because weneed to get back to the root.
Where did this start?
Because there's a root drivingall these anxieties in the
(15:08):
present.
Once we can get back to thatroot, as we've said before, you
know, we're not mowing it, we'renot giving them lots of
resources, and I think um in inCBT was working with a lot of
people in the present only andgiving them lots of management
tools and resources, and I seethat as that is that's mowing
(15:29):
the lawn.
Whilst other people are usingthem, it's keeping the grass
nicely, right?
But when they want to just goback to the usual everyday life,
grass grows back and hence theyhave the same problems again.
But I it's I don't think I I'mtrying to think of someone I've
(15:50):
that's come through for therapythat actually hasn't had anxiety
or some element of depression,maybe wouldn't fit diagnosis of,
but it's there.
I think it's there all the timeto some degree.
Dr Andrew Greenland (16:08):
Right.
So are there any um commonmisconceptions that people have
about trauma therapy in yourexperience?
Lynne Douglas (16:16):
Um that's a good question.
I think one of the biggestthings is it has to be a big
trauma.
They think of trauma as intsunamis, you know, people going
to war, um, veterans maybecoming back from war zones.
Um and it that isn'tnecessarily so.
(16:38):
We can have smaller traumas,lots of smaller traumas
throughout our life that canreally impact us today, you
know, and that be might be, youknow, those different elements
of bullying through schoolyears.
You know, we might not thinkabout it as a big trauma now,
but actually when we were a kid,it was massive.
(16:59):
Yeah.
Um, and so I think that's oneof the main misconceptions about
trauma is that people assumeit's a big trauma, but actually
there's lots of smaller traumasthroughout our lives that we uh
can dismiss as beingsignificant.
Dr Andrew Greenland (17:24):
During our um previous conversation, you
spoke about the experience offamily members caring for loved
ones with Alzheimer's.
Um could you tell us a bit moreabout that work that you do?
Lynne Douglas (17:34):
Um well it's not I suppose that's some some of
that's from a personal thing aswell, because we've had people
in the family with Alzheimer's,and um I've worked with a few
people that have come in um forsome grief work with that, and
(17:56):
it's it's interesting becausewhen you have a loved one with
Alzheimer's, you kind of grieve,you've lost them already, and
they're still here, and that canbe one of the hardest things
because it's like you you don'tjust grieve once, you lose a
part of them and you grieve, youlose another part of them and
(18:19):
you grieve, you lose anotherpart, and you you grieve over
and over and over again, andeach though each of those times
is quite is traumatic in itself,and I think from having family
members that have suffered fromthat, having that personal kind
(18:40):
of experience, it just brings myinterest in helping people that
are going through and sufferingbecause it is it is a trauma,
it's really tough, it really is.
Not just on the it's not juston the person that is going
through it, you know, and that'stough on the carers that see it
(19:05):
and grieve and grieve andgrieve.
It's really difficult.
Dr Andrew Greenland (19:11):
I mean, do you feel enough attention is
given to the emotionalwell-being of carers from what
you see?
Lynne Douglas (19:22):
Good question.
I don't think there's everenough support for carers.
No, I really don't.
Um will there ever be enoughsupport for carers in the
future?
Wow, probably not.
I and I think as well, whatwhat we often find for carers is
(19:46):
that they tend to be lookingafter other people and neglect
their own health and well-being.
Um so they often don't ask forthe help that they need either
because their focus isn't onthemselves, it's for looking
after others.
(20:06):
So you kind of got a bit of acatch-22 there.
You've got the people that doneed it, but actually don't
recognise it.
People that do recognise it anddon't ask for help because
they're too busy caring forsomeone else.
Um, and then of course, it'swhere do you find all that help?
It's it's tough.
(20:27):
I don't think I've got ananswer for you there, Andrew, as
to enough help for carers.
Dr Andrew Greenland (20:34):
Well, you kind of alluded to it.
I mean, it's it's probably muchoverlooked, and um will we ever
get enough?
I don't know.
I mean, probably not if I'mbeing honest, but yeah.
So um on the subject of grief,I mean, how does traumatic grief
differ from what many peoplethink of as conventional grief?
Lynne Douglas (20:54):
So we all grieve, right?
We all go through grief.
If you love someone, you willhurt when they're gone, right?
And and that's a given.
And the more you love someone,the more hurt you'll feel when
they've gone.
But just like you know, I'vetalked before about that analogy
(21:17):
of healing, most of the timewe'll tend to we'll talk to
people, we'll get support frompeople, um, and we will go
through that grieving processnaturally, and our brain will
come to some resolve.
You will never, I think, youwill never get totally over it,
(21:43):
right?
Because something down the lineor oh remind you of a loved one
that you lost, and suddenlyyou'll be in tears again, like a
bit of a wave hitting you.
But generally, you are able toget on with life, right?
Traumatic grief, if we go backto that analogy.
Is that it's got stuck.
And sometimes it can be on thatloop.
(22:04):
And often there's there'sbeliefs in there, like I should
have done more, I should havebeen better at, um, should have
been there, you know, and andsometimes a lot of these beliefs
keep people trapped in a cycleof grief and guilt and you know,
(22:26):
all those emotions that goalong with grief.
So traumatic grief is literallysomething that's getting in the
way again of our naturalgrieving process and just
keeping it in that loop, justkeeping us grieving, and and
(22:46):
people can be stuck for foryears not really overcoming
grief.
And again, EMDR I found is isamazing for getting to where it
needs to go and unstickingwhat's got stuck, right?
(23:09):
And of course, that that can beuncomfortable, right?
Because then the naturalhealing process continues to
take place, and that might meanreleasing lots of emotion and
lots of crying, lots of tears,yeah.
But then people feel so muchlighter by the end of it.
(23:29):
It's like a whole weight thatpeople are able to release and
let go of.
Can be amazing, and I thinksome of the um to see people
from when they start therapy,often to when they finish, they
can often they look likedifferent people, and it's hard
(23:51):
to really explain that.
That they they really look likea different person coming to
see me, and yeah, it's hard tobelieve when you've not seen
that yourself.
But I guess I have to sometimesI have to lend a bit of my
belief to clients that come, youknow.
I'll lend it out there untilthey've got the belief
(24:12):
themselves that it works.
Dr Andrew Greenland (24:15):
Thank you.
So, what have all theseexperiences taught you about
resilience from all the workthat you do with with the
clients that you see?
Lynne Douglas (24:22):
Oh, blame me.
So, yeah, crikey as therapists,don't we need some resilience?
And I think there's been timesin my life where I've not
listened to to what's going onfor me, and now I think probably
most therapists you can youtalk to will say at some point
(24:44):
in their life they've been burntout, they've been um
emotionally exhausted from thework that they're doing, and
they've not spent enough time onthemselves.
Because if we think aboutcarers, we're that's kind of
what we're doing, aren't we?
We're we're caring for otherpeople, we're helping people
overcome their problems.
And um thing that I'm really,really more aware of now is is
(25:08):
the importance of looking aftermyself.
Now I've got two teenagers,both neurodiverse.
Um, so working for myselfonline as well, has been working
really well around my family.
Um, having hobbies, havingthings, doing things for fun,
taking your mind away from yourwork is really, really important
(25:30):
to be doing and giving you thatresilience.
And and I think knowing thatyou can overcome, and also ask
for help yourself as atherapist, right?
I think that's a tough call,you know.
I actually bringing that in.
Therapists asking for therapybecause we're human at the end
(25:50):
of the day, and we all struggleat some points in our life, and
that can be a really hard thingbecause as therapists, we kind
of know a lot of information.
We know that, and we kind ofknow what we should do, and and
how the things that would help.
You know, when you're goingthrough your own stuff and your
(26:11):
own difficulties in life andyour own traumas, you can't
think straight.
You need someone else to helpyou through that process, and I
think that's a really good shoutout for therapists as well out
there that know actually theycould do with some therapy
themselves to take that leap andjump and actually and go do it
(26:33):
because you're really important.
Yeah.
Dr Andrew Greenland (26:38):
Thank you.
So switching gears a little bitto the kind of the business
side of things, and obviously,you've built your um healthy
minds for you practice, it's anonline model.
You've mentioned you've gotassociates you brought on board,
and lots of things going well.
But what are the maybe some ofthe challenges or bottlenecks
that are most impactful for youright now in the business?
Lynne Douglas (26:58):
Um well, I'm working my way through the
challenges.
I think one of the challengeswas keeping on top of the admin
um side of things.
Um, hence I I now have a uh aVA, a virtual assistant, and
she's absolutely brilliant.
I must have thought about thatfor two years before I took the
(27:19):
leap.
Um, because of course it's it'sit's a financial outcome, but
actually for my own mentalhealth and well-being, it's
amazing, right?
And then it gets frees up timefor me to see clients and not
get hung up on checking myemails all the time and just
knowing that somebody is isgoing to be um on top of things,
(27:45):
right?
And the amount of time I've Iadmit to checking my emails at
silly o'clock at night, right?
It helps me not do that, and Ithink trying to have that
work-life balance is probablyone of the hardest things.
Um working for yourself inprivate practice is is amazing,
(28:11):
it's been brilliant for me, andit will be amazing for lots of
other people that take thatstep.
Um, but there's other thingsyou have to think about.
There's no sick pay, there's noholiday pay, um, there's no
pension unless you pay it intoone yourself, right?
A private pension.
And and you have to think, youhave to factor all of this in
(28:33):
into your business, and you'vegot to make it work somehow.
It's a lot to think about.
So I always said before, I'mnot business minded, I'm a
therapist, right?
I'm not I'm not businessminded.
How do I do this?
And and it's been a lot oftrial and error, it's been a lot
of learning, it's been a lot ofmoney wasting in some areas.
(28:58):
Um, and I'm still learning.
I'm still learning now at themoment.
I've got a business coach, soum, I'm part of um a fearless
crew um with Robin Wade.
So um again, it's kind ofmoving business on and learning
new things all the time.
Um, and yeah, I think that'sthe only way, isn't it?
(29:20):
To just one step in front of theother and keep moving forward
and growing and learning, alwayslearning.
Dr Andrew Greenland (29:30):
Amazing.
I was gonna ask you what's yourbiggest time drain right now,
but it sounds like your VA mayhave solved that problem, or is
there things that are still atime drain for you in your
world?
Lynne Douglas (29:40):
Um I think such still a time drain.
Hmm.
You see, I'm thinking of things,but they're not a time, they're
not a time drain, I think.
Actually, they're quiteimportant, you know, it's
freeing up time, time to read,time to listen to audiobooks,
time to time to meditate.
(30:02):
And that's something that forhealth and well-being I do more
of now, is is meditation andjust sitting with my own
thoughts and calming my ownsystem.
Um, what's a drain?
I can't think of anything now,actually.
What's still a drain?
I think maybe social media,maybe maybe that's maybe that's
(30:27):
the drain.
Um, and maybe that's becauseit's something I don't know a
great lot about, social media,and it's something I'm just
learning.
So I would say that's quite adrain on me.
That'll be mine.
Dr Andrew Greenland (30:42):
Okay.
Um, I guess every clinic wantsto grow um and have more
patients.
But what happened, what wouldhappen to you if demand doubled
overnight?
Would anything break?
And hopefully not you, but whatwould happen if you had a
massive surge in demandtomorrow?
Lynne Douglas (30:57):
Um that's a good question.
I haven't really thought aboutthat.
Give me a moment.
Well, I like to think I would Iwould call on other associates
that I know because part of mywork is I supervise other EMDR
(31:18):
therapists to who are workingtowards their accreditation.
So probably 60 to 80 percent ofmy work is actually
supervision, and so from that Iknow lots of other therapists
that are really good at whatthey do, that have a variety of
(31:38):
backgrounds and knowledge.
Um, and I I could well call onsome of those if needed.
Yeah, that would be my answer.
Dr Andrew Greenland (31:50):
Very good.
And um finally, where would youlike the practice to be in the
next six to twelve months?
Where do you want to seehealthy minds for you headed?
Lynne Douglas (31:59):
Well, I think maybe you've just just mentioned
it actually.
Doubling overnight would begreat, wouldn't it?
Maybe overnight, maybe not soovernight, but yeah, just just
growing and having moretherapies, and and because we're
providing um EMDR therapy, andI I'm able to supervise the
(32:23):
practice as well.
So I I know that they're goodat what they do, and I think
that gives me comfort that thetherapists that are doing
associate work for me, I knowthem, I know them personally
through years of supervision,and I know what they can do,
their background.
(32:44):
So, for example, if I get areferral in and I think actually
one of my associates will suitthem down to a T, you know, I've
got somebody that theirbackground is in eating
disorders, that's not myspeciality.
I would absolutely say this isthe one to work with you, you
know, because they've got thisspeciality to work with.
(33:05):
Um so yeah, I'm hoping it willgrow in two ways, really,
because I'm looking at changingthe way often in private
practice you sell by the hourtherapy.
I would have moved to whatoutcome do you want?
What's the outcome?
And let's let's start to worktowards the outcome and stop
(33:29):
selling therapy by the hour,because you know what, it can go
on for years and and never end,and I think it's not really
helpful.
So, what do you want to work onnow?
What ending do you want?
Let's look at that outcome andlet's work towards it so you've
got a clear idea of where youare now and where you're going.
(33:50):
I think that would be that'sthat's going to be really useful
for people.
Um, and I think there wassomething else I was going to
say there, but my menopausalbrain has just disappeared, it's
just gone.
I'm hoping there's people outthere that will really connect
with that because it happensoften.
Dr Andrew Greenland (34:10):
No worries, no.
Then this has been a greatconversation.
Thank you so much for joiningus today.
I think what really stands outis your commitment to addressing
the root causes rather thansimply managing the symptoms.
Whether we're talking abouttrauma or anxiety, grief,
supporting caregivers seems tobe a consistent theme of helping
people to understand andprocess what's really underneath
their struggles.
So thank you very much forsharing and giving us that
(34:31):
valuable insight.
And yeah, I wish you all thebest with your practice and
future growth.
Lynne Douglas (34:36):
Oh, thank you.
Thank you very much.
It's been a pleasure to behere.
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