Sage Advice: Episode 3 │Dr. Kara Lemke
Presented by: Crum Consulting
Host: Maria Johnson, Junior Consultant in Marketing
Guest: Dr. Kara Lemke, Owner of Healthy Minds
Full Interview: https://youtu.be/dROoA1FFKAE?si=HVW0vEkISD7C0wN8
Maria: Hello and welcome to the Sage Advice series, presented by Crum Consulting. Today we'll be talking with Dr. Lemke from Healthy Minds. So I'd like to know how you started out in the beginning. What sparked your passion? Give us a little intro to you before we actually dive into the questions.
Dr. Lemke: Sure. So Healthy Minds is a client-centered practice. We focus a lot on guiding our clients, individuals, families, children, adults, through their journey in exploring and becoming the best version of themselves. So really supporting them in identifying where they want to go and goals they want to achieve, and kind of supporting them through that progress.
Back in high school, I had my first taste of peer counseling, where you would meet with other high schoolers and talk with them about challenges they were facing, if they needed some support, and things like that, and help them out.
Maria: That's cool.
Dr. Lemke: Yeah, it was really cool. It was something I was interested in and I enjoyed it, and then I kind of didn't do anything else with it for a while. I really liked my psych classes in college, but again it wasn't like a focus. Then as I progressed through my college career, I really identified how much I enjoyed psychology and understanding the mind, how people think and understand things. So as I started taking more of those classes, it was just something I steered myself toward. And then in graduate school, I really felt like I made the right decision, because I really enjoyed that time, albeit very challenging in those classes.
Maria: Yeah, I can imagine.
Dr. Lemke: Yeah, as I sort of uncovered what I really wanted to do, it really allowed me to spend time doing things I enjoy. And then I really like working with kids, because I really felt like kids can't always speak for themselves, or they don't know how to express things themselves. So the opportunity to really dive in with a child, figure out what's going on, and how we can help them, was very rewarding, because I felt like I could help a child discover their strengths and what they were capable of.
Maria: You found that passion for working with children during your time in grad school, or was that something that came a little later?
Dr. Lemke: It was definitely a direction I thought I was going to go before grad school, and then it just continued, it was like, okay, this is really what I like, and I continued down that path. There is one kid that stands out. I don't know if I'd say it was an aha moment, but a big question that I always get from parents, and I was unsure of early on in my career, is that as I worked with kids with ADHD, the big question is medication, do you try medication, do you not want to try medication, and are you putting these kids in a box? I was always, and still am, very cautious about encouraging parents to consider medication, because I want them to think about alternatives first.
But I vividly remember a kid who was probably between the ages of 8 to 10 at the time, this was a long time ago, early in my career, who had significant ADHD. His parents tried medication, and I was doing therapy with him, and we spent a couple of sessions talking about what he thought about taking medicine and how he liked it. He was able to articulate well enough how much he liked taking the medication, because it felt like he was more able to think and process new things, and focus in class and take in new information. Very exciting things.
So for me it was very much a turning point in my thinking about how to support families with that, because it was like, wow, this really made a big difference for that kiddo. How can I help parents see that, that it's absolutely a hard decision to make and everybody needs to make their own choice that's right for their family, but for some kids it's really a game changer for them.
Maria: I can imagine, yeah, if I had tried medication at a younger age, if I knew I had ADHD at a younger age, I can only imagine how limitless everything would suddenly feel, especially with schoolwork and peers, because it definitely affects your life a lot in those areas.
Dr. Lemke: Yes. So to have a kid say that really made a big difference for me, that's awesome, to hear his perspective.
Maria: Maybe a little more on your personal journey with Healthy Minds, like what your growth throughout, starting your business, looked like.
Dr. Lemke: Okay. So I started my practice, it was just me and a friend of mine, an occupational therapist, and we developed it really out of the need of the community. We have training in multidisciplinary assessments, and there weren't a lot of people in this area who had experience doing that, which is specialists collaborating together to create comprehensive assessments for kids. It really helps when you have the perspective of different professionals, because everybody has their own lens that they look through, and sees a problem or understands a challenge that a kid is having differently. So it's really helpful to have everybody's perspective altogether, and it puts together a really unique puzzle for that child, to really guide them in getting whatever services or support they would most benefit from.
So that's how we started, and then over time it was always something that I wanted to do, to grow the practice, collaborate with other specialists, provide a safe environment for people to come to where they could just be themselves. No judgment, it was just comfortable. While I'm a psychologist, I didn't want it to be super doctor's-officey, I just wanted it to feel like a safe, comfortable place where they felt like they could be whoever they are. So that's what I feel like we've really grown into. We've expanded even outside of seeing kids, we see adults now individually, and support parents, and offer groups and assessment. So it's really grown and blossomed into something that I think the kids and individuals really enjoy coming to, because they feel safe and they feel seen, and they feel like they can really be themselves.
Maria: That's awesome. Finding a practice is really difficult, there's so many out there and you just never know what you're going to get. So it's really cool that you have that goal and that you see adults too. That actually did bring another question into my mind. Do you find that there is a huge difference in what your patients need to be seen or feel heard, between children and adults?
Dr. Lemke: I think it depends on the person. What I have found is that sometimes kids, even teens, it seems like they try and act cool and mature outside, and then they come in and see us, and a lot of them enjoy coloring or just playing a game and being more kid-like, because they can, they don't have to put on a facade and be somebody else.
Maria: No need to act or put on a show.
Dr. Lemke: And sometimes adults will do the same. There are those adult coloring books, I guess they're not so new anymore, but there's something soothing about doing something calm like that, that's reflective and takes us back sometimes to childhood, and being mindful about how we're feeling and just relaxing into that.
There are some differences, but I think overall there's a lot of similarities, in that we all just need a safe, quiet place where we can be heard and be ourselves, without feeling like we have to be something else, whatever that might be. No societal pressures.
Maria: Exactly. That's really cool, I mean, you get to see people at their most authentic form, it seems like.
Dr. Lemke: Yes, that's certainly our goal.
Maria: Running a business while supporting families emotionally, it's a lot to juggle, I can imagine. How do you navigate that balance?
Dr. Lemke: So I think the big thing, and it's funny, I was just preparing for another session and this fits perfectly into what I was going to talk to these kids about, is that sometimes your best that day isn't always 110%. You just do as much as you can every day, and everybody's just doing as much as they can. Sometimes that's going to be every ounce of your being goes into everything, and sometimes it's going to be, I am doing as much as I can and I can only do 50% today, and that's okay. Balancing is a work in progress, and every day it's a little bit different, and sometimes you're going to be leaning one way or another, your family needs you more, and sometimes your work needs you more, and you just have to do the best you can. Something's going to drop, and you can't always do everything all the time, but it's hard, it's certainly a lesson that I'm still working on and things that I'm still learning, because it's a very hard thing to balance.
But I just try to take care of myself and take breaks, plan ahead, that helps too, to have the best idea of what's coming next, what do I need to be ready for, what should I be prepared for. Remembering that we're all human.
Maria: Yes.
Dr. Lemke: Including ourselves. I really try hard to remember that everybody's just doing the best that they can, generally, and we don't know everybody's full story. They might be having a really hard day today, and we just have to meet everybody where they're at.
Maria: The next question kind of goes into neurodivergence and inclusivity. As someone who champions neurodivergent-affirming practices, what's one actionable thing you'd encourage other business owners, as a whole, not just in therapy, to do to create more inclusive spaces for neurodivergent people, because the world's really not built for brains like ours?
Dr. Lemke: No, it's not. I think it kind of goes to what I was just speaking of, understanding that everybody's generally doing the best they can, and that we all think about things differently, and we might all need different things to get our work done. So sometimes flexibility in the workplace is really important. When you can have flexible work hours, or flexible settings, or built-in breaks, and opportunities to stand at a desk rather than always sitting all the time, even something as simple as that, or having fidgets around, and letting people move between different spaces, can make a big difference for a lot of people.
Even allowing different communication styles can be really helpful. Our culture and our world put such a great emphasis on verbal communication, and some people aren't as articulate verbally, and assumptions are made about them if they aren't speaking as clearly or sharing everything verbally as well as we might want them to. But in fact, sometimes those people are the most creative thinkers, and the people that do other things really well. So allowing people to share their knowledge in different ways can be really effective. You don't want to lose out on someone's creative ideas just because they can't give you a one-hour verbal presentation on it with a PowerPoint, maybe they can write about it. How can we access people's knowledge in different ways? Flexibility, I think, is a big thing. Understand everybody expresses themselves differently, everybody might have different needs.
Maria: It makes sense that freedom is just kind of what everyone needs.
Dr. Lemke: It is. And I think that's the thing that can be so frustrating, is that everyone would benefit from it. It's not like only neurodivergent people would benefit from these strategies, every single human can benefit from this. So why not? It's not going to be harmful, it's certainly not going to hurt anyone to have these flexible options. So why not present them as an opportunity for everybody? And of course rules are important, and there's certain times where things have to be a certain way. I get that, I accept that. But sometimes it's just because that's how it's always been, and that's not really a great reason.
Maria: Totally agree. What would your sage advice be?
Dr. Lemke: I think two things. One, knowing that everything will eventually work out, that it's not always an easy road, but you'll get there eventually. And, to not be afraid to try new things. Just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean it's a bad idea. Sometimes it's just that nobody's thought of it, or nobody's been brave enough to try it. So we have to not be afraid to think outside the box and try something different. With all business, it seems that there are ebbs and flows, sometimes things are great and sometimes things are really hard, and just knowing that eventually it will work out and it will get better and it will improve. You just have to keep pushing through and keep trying.
Maria: I like that, keep your passion. That was very insightful, thank you so much.
Dr. Lemke: Yeah, thank you. I'm glad we were finally able to make this work.
Maria: Me too. And it was fun, it was really nice meeting you.
Dr. Lemke: Yes, it was nice meeting you too.
Maria: To find out more about Dr. Lemke and Healthy Minds, visit healthymindscal.com.
