Episode 3 - Living Her Authentic Truth with Lindsay Kerr
By Jessica Garrison
Our guest this week is so unique in that she offers fascinating insight on an uncommon topic that puts you on the edge of your seat as you’re listening. Lindsay Kerr is a mental health therapist whose work involves ketamine psychotherapy. She helps her clients enter an unordinary state of consciousness to help them with issues such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety. They use it in low doses so as to not depress the respiratory system, and it elicits a psychedelic experience that houses a mindset for healing. It’s obvious that Lindsay is a well educated young woman who believes strongly in helping others. In the episode, she delves further into her work, how the opportunity found her, and how impactful her responsibilities are.
Since Lindsay is a single mother, she has to think about how prioritizing self care impacts her daughter. Her schedule has to coincide with her daughter’s, but she’s learned along the way that not every hole in the schedule needs to be filled. If there’s an hour or two in a day where she doesn’t have anything planned, she doesn’t feel the need to pencil something in. Lindsay has worked as a therapist, a yoga instructor, and a barista, so she has experience working with people. However, no matter how much experience you may have, working with the public can be a trial all on its own. With that kind of stressful environment, it’s easy to become overwhelmed and forget to take moments for yourself. But rather than trying to keep her schedule loaded with work, Lindsay prioritizes what’s important for herself, her daughter, and the clients who trust her with their mental health. Taking a step back from the chaos helps keep her head on straight and keep her mental health from declining.
When describing boundaries, Lindsay says that they change from time to time. In some instances she has the energy and capacity and in some instances she doesn’t. The time she has with her daughter is set and she has nonnegotiables that people have to respect if they want to continue being in her life. She’s learned not to compare herself to others, nor her schedule or boundaries. Everyone has their own ways for dealing with the varying seasons—there’s no right or wrong, just what is.
In this episode, Lindsay says one of my absolute favorite quotes from the entire podcast: “We offer women the opportunity to live unapologetically when we do it ourselves.” She understands the importance of role models and how the ability of being yourself can change people’s lives. Her advice is to model your authentic truth, encourage others to live their truth, unpack old narratives and creativity, overcome the obstacles you face, and continue to be curious. I really couldn’t have said it better myself.
Living out of your own expectations instead of others, to me, is one of the most difficult acts to accomplish. This was particularly difficult for Linsday because of her professional work. Not everyone understands what she does or why she does it, but she knows. What matters most is that Lindsay loves her work and is helping others on a daily basis. She’s stopped asking permission to live her best life and continues to strive for greatness.
Lindsay is currently in a PhD program and by living out F.E.E.L, she feels empowered and confident enough to make choices to get through her experiences. She doesn’t second guess herself as much; she knows that she is an intelligent woman who knows what she needs and has. She uses her voice now to not only fight for herself, but to also fight for her clients who are seeking a better life, just as any of us would. She says she “treats the whole person instead of just one symptom.” This brings a whole new meaning to embracing your layers and understanding each one of them.
I thank Lindsay for being so authentic with us and being brave enough to share her passions and truth. I loved hearing about the work she does, how much effort she puts forth towards what she cares about, and hearing how she takes on the world. Seeing Lindsay live out her life unapologetically certainly inspires me to do the same.