Bake-off Kim-Joy experience of working in NHS mental health

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
Interview in the Guardian.

Before Bake Off, Kim-Joy was a psychological wellbeing practitioner, having done a master’s in psychology. “The technical job role was to help people with low to moderate anxiety and depression,” she says.

She is always careful not to come across as critical, and never more so than when she talks about her work. “I love the NHS. I really want to work in the NHS, but I’m at a point where the clinical side of mental health isn’t for me.

You do a questionnaire with each person when they come in. So they tell you how many times that week they’ve felt low, which is a really weird question. It’s not real. Professionals need it for their data, to see who’s recovering.

A lot of people just make up their answers, because they want to sound like they’re feeling better.”
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full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-...ety-much-mute-at-school-the-bake-offs-kim-joy
 
She is at a crossroads, wanting to carry on working in mental health, but “there’s a big emphasis on diagnosis, and I know there’s a place for diagnosis, but a lot of the time, people don’t fit into those boxes. And it’s helpful, so that people can get the right treatment, but not if the diagnoses don’t fit. I’d love to combine baking with mental health. Art therapy is a thing, isn’t it? Why not baking therapy?”
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CBT, Caring Baking Therapy. I've heard much sillier ideas.
 
I watched bake off and really liked Kim-Joy. Reading this article, I'd say she has a clear eyed view of the needs of people with mild to moderate anxiety and depression and the failings of the IAPT programs. I hope she finds a way of using her compassion and experiences to help others, whether through baking or therapy or a combination of the two.
 
Amw66 said:
Such a project exists
http://www.luminarybakery.com
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I think there was something about this on the TV last week. Or if not this particular organisation, something very similar. I'll try and find if it's on catch up if I get the time - bit caboodled just now after Virgin Media bod came round several hours before expected to replace router and TV boxes. Had to get dressed in a rush, and now feeling confused! :confused:
 
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