In our recent interview for The #WorkLifeShow, Kathryn Wilson spoke to mental health expert Lisa Jones, who offered us some insights into mental health in the workplace and in particular the impact that stress has on our bodies and how companies can be supporting the mental health of their employees and supporting their mental health boundaries.

A recap of The #WorkLifeShow is also available on YouTube and as a Podcast, click the links if you prefer to digest this episode in another format.

Lisa started by explaining how psychotherapy wasn’t in fact her first choice of career path, but she actually had big dreams of becoming a performing artist and working on the West End. It was when she was in her mid teens that she was forced to scupper that plan, facing various injuries, as well a number of devastating chronic health issues, including ME, fibromyalgia and endometriosis.

It was through navigating these various health crises that she started thinking about the relationship between her physical health and mental health, realising that she needed to pay more attention to her own needs and behaviours and set boundaries for herself, and what she calls her ‘non-negotiables’ in order to ensure her health didn’t suffer.

She didn’t rush into the next thing, but instead spent the next few years trying to figure out her next step, when her mother brought home a prospectus for a South Wales university for a degree in counselling and psychotherapy. Having come from a family of health care workers, it seemed an obvious choice: “I knew that I wanted to do something that meant I could help people. I knew I was a natural listener and I was fascinated by people’s behaviours and our physical health.”

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