Edinburgh doctor opens her own business after 'feeling like something was wrong'
An Edinburgh doctor has taken on a new venture inspired by her struggles growing up.
Doctor Amy Homes, 45, has started a new Social Enterprise - Shore Psychology - with the hopes of creating "something new and different".
She hopes to help people in a similar situation to what she experienced before becoming a doctor.
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Speaking to Edinburgh Live, the 45-year-old admitted she "felt like there was something wrong with her" and doesn't want others to feel this way.
She added: "I had some really difficult experiences growing up and some of those I have used to shape this. I grew up in an environment that was challenging and I wasn’t well for a couple years. It wasn’t until later on I realised the connection between my physical and mental health.
"That experience made me feel like there was something wrong with me and I didn’t want anyone else to feel like that. There is never anything wrong with someone, it’s usually they're experiencing difficult things. It planted a seed that I wanted to be able to help people that were in a similar situation which is why lived experience is at the heart of this enterprise."
Through her career as a clinician, Amy has seen many people go through difficult experiences due to impacts on their mental health.
She added: "I think it’s really important for people to talk about their lived experiences. In my early career I spent a lot of time working in prisons and the government and saw the difficult things people go through.
"As a clinician and as a doctor its hard for me to be open about my lived experience and that's why I think it's so important to be aware of rhetoric changes from what's wrong with you to what's happened to you. This year has been so crazy getting it altogether and I feel like it’s not happening.
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Shore Psychology is a "forward-thinking" Social Enterprise that provides phycological services for individuals, groups and organisations.
The service is committed to offering accessible, inclusive services that are trauma-informed and neuro-inclusive. The money made through the service will then be used to provide psychological services to charity partners.
Amy continued: "It’s something really new and very different. We are setting up a centre, right on the shore overlooking the water. It will operate like a private clinic and all of the service that’s generated will go back into the community.
"There are lots of funding cuts and it's really difficult for the charity sector right now so we are wanting to support them.
"Everything we do is high quality and evidence based with experienced clinicians. It’s meant to be something between the NHS and private practise that people can engage with to benefit the community."
You can find out more about the new venture here.