Meet Sophia Dawson
My Year 13 leavers’ year book asked the question ‘where do you want to be in 10 years?’. My answer? “I want to be a child and adolescent psychologist”.
Becoming a psychologist was something I knew I wanted to do since I was around 15 years old. I remember being fascinated by the mind, and what it really was that influenced people to be the way they were. I knew I wanted to understand the mind and how I could help people to live a full life without compromise.
And, here I am! It’s pretty hard to believe I’ve been able to achieve a childhood dream of mine and mould it along the way into what it is today. I promise, there’ll be a whole lot more on my evolution as a psychologist into how I got to where I am today (and why) in this blog, but for today, I thought I’d tell you a bit about me - the human being behind WHOLEistic Psychology.
If you’d told me I was going to specialize in nutrition and mental health when I was a teenager, I would’ve told you about my love for Noodle Canteen and energy drinks, how I thought organic was ‘yuck’ (honestly, can you believe the attitude!), and I know for certain that I would’ve told you I thought that exercise was more important than the food I was putting into my body. So - there’s been quite the evolution!
I believe that it’s hard for us to really value the health of our mind and body until something radical (often negative) happens. For me, this started with some chronic gut issues when I was living overseas. We’re talking severe pain and bloating every single day for over 6 months - naturally, this started to get to me psychologically - how uncomfortable I felt in my clothes, how hopeless I felt that nothing was helping, and waking up each day to the same pain and discomfort. Now, I’ve got to tell you (on a slightly tangential note), that I’m exceptionally grateful to have the family and friends in my life that I have, they mean the absolute world to me. These people are critical thinkers, deeply compassionate and curious, and also committed to their own wellness - so much so, that I was recommended the book ‘Clean Gut’ by Alejandro Junger by a few of them to try and address my gut issues. I know this is a big claim, but seriously, this book changed my life. It illuminated to me that the food we consume can impact illnesses that are typically viewed as intractable and untreatable - and this really blew my mind. After a few weeks on this whole food diet that eliminated many allergens/ foods that often irritated the gut, I felt on top of the world. I could see for myself how connected the mind and body were.
If I were to toot my own horn for a second, I would describe myself as naturally curious, someone who, from a very young age, always asked ‘WHY?’. This natural curiousity guided me down endless rabbit holes, listening to endless podcasts, audiobooks, following and subscribing to incredible holistic practitioners, and always speaking to my fabulous network of humans about the mind and body and ways we can do better for ourselves. I am constantly learning in this space and I LOVE IT.
Now, I realize I’ve spoken about myself in the context of work here, but this part of me - the curious learner who perpetually saturates herself in the sea of holistic wellness - is a huge part of who I am, and to me, a really important part of who I am, because when I’m connected to this part of me, I feel like the best version of myself. Getting to educate others on the inextricable link between mind and body is so deeply fulfilling to me, and I know it’s something I’ll be doing forever!
Okay then, enough about me in the context of work.
Some fun facts about me:
I’ve lived in 4 countries (NZ, France, Australia and England) and I absolutely love exploring the world through different cultures, their food and their practices
I live with my husband and 2 year old Cavoodle, Marlo (who is quite literally the most loved dog in this universe), in beautiful Central Otago
I started playing tennis when I was old enough to hold a tennis racket (around the age of 3!) and have been a huge fan of moving my body ever since - these days, through walking, pilates and yoga (and tennis when I can!)
My favorite quote is ‘those who have a why to live can bear with almost any how’ by Viktor Frankl, with a close second being ‘don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food’ by Michael Pollen
If I could have dinner with any one human in the health space, it would be a tie between Gabor Maté, Dr Rangan Chatterjee and Dr Libby (all of these I’ve been lucky enough to see this year LIVE, pretty incredible stuff)
A couple of weekly rituals I can’t go without are phone calls / voice messages to family and friends, legs up the wall each day, reading my kindle each night, and last (but not least), Friday night nacho night (because balance!)
I’m exceptionally competitive, especially at a quiz night
I’ve always loved to read and write (which I think is why I didn’t feel too reticent to start this blog…!)
I do my best to guide all my behavior by the values of authenticity, compassion, humor and kindness
I am so grateful for all the tools and learnings I’ve had along the way as a psychologist and also as a human being who wants to chase all the rabbit holes to understand our mind and body. Not only do they help me better understand myself, but they help me better understand and support my clients from a mind/body perspective.
I hope this first foray into blogging has been an interesting insight into the name behind WHOLEistic Psychology. Stay tuned for all the other blog posts I’ve got planned for you…
