MY LIFE IN HEALTH
She’s the best-selling author with a combined social media following of more than six million. Meet clinical psychologist and TikTok sensation Dr Julie Smith, 38, who opens up about insecurities, managing negative thinking and how motherhood sparked a natural change in her attitude to health.
Negative thinking is nothing to feel guilty about. It’s part of being an. We all have positive and gative thoughts, however some ople get stuck in negative thinking.
The online trend of “only positive es” and “only think positive” sets e ple up to feel as if they’re failing. The truth is, we can’t expect to never e negative thoughts, because soon as you have one, you start erating yourself for being so e ative. The important thing is what u do with negative thoughts once y arrive. Instead of blocking out ay-to-day negative thoughts, listen them. You’re more vulnerable to ative thinking when you’re in a w mood or have had a bad night’s .
sleep, so ask yourself, “Is this negative thought warranted? Is the thought something I need to spend time with? If I do, can I problemsolve it and make it better, or will I go over and over it and make myself feel worse?”
I never had any ambitions to be famous. I worked as a clinical psychologist in the NHS for about 10 years and once I was in a private practice, I realised lots of people didn’t have access to the education they needed. I wanted to make mental health education accessible so people didn’t have to pay to see someone like me to find out how their brain works. As well as seeing private clients in Hampshire, I now have an online community of more than six million since starting out in 2019 on YouTube then TikTok and Instagram.
I realised that the more effort I put into the videos I make, the more engaging they are. When you’re talking about what’s going on in someone’s head, it’s quite abstract and can be quite difficult to engage people, so we’re always on the lookout for props and visuals to make the information more interesting.
I’m naturally shy and introverted so being in front of the camera has been a massive challenge. I didn’t start doing recordings
because I enjoyed them, I did them to help people, then I recorded more as people messaged saying, “Wow, that was so helpful. I can’t wait for the next one”. It was never driven by a wish to be seen or heard, but since appearing regularly on live TV shows such as This Morning, I’m trying to practise what I preach because being public-facing is nerve racking and out of my comfort zone, therefore I should do it. Facing what scares us is good for the soul!
My attitude to health changed once I had my three children. As a teenage girl, you’re taught that whatever your body looks like it’s probably wrong and to change it. When I
