Dr Phoebe Lau from the Inner Collective: Shapes and Sounds Interview #2

Sometimes all the stars align and you meet the right person at exactly the right time. For me, Dr Phoebe Lau is one of those people.

I’ve been creating a list of Asian Australian mental health practitioners (you can find the Victorian list HERE) and the way I first went about this was to crassly search for “Asian psychologist Melbourne”. The number one search result was Phoebe’s website and when I called her, I knew right away that she was extremely credible, intelligent and a bit of a boss lady too.

Since then, we’ve been dreaming up some exciting things together for the future and we can’t wait to share these ideas with you soon!

Please enjoy reading her interview below.

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1. Could you please tell us your name, age and what it is that you do?

My name is Dr. Phoebe Lau, I’m in my thirties and I’m a Clinical Psychologist.

2. What do you do to take care of your mental health and wellbeing?

From my personal and clinical experience, our mental health and wellbeing is best supported through a combination of emotional and physical approaches to life. Here are a few of my approaches:

• I’m naturally introverted, so emotionally I need my “hermit time” to recuperate and recharge. I don’t compromise my down time so I will cancel plans or my friends will not hear from me for a few weeks. Creating this space for myself also means having firm boundaries with others.

• I seek to remain curious and accepting of my emotions. I don’t mean that I let my emotions take over, but I’ve learned to build a relationship with the more vulnerable parts of myself so I can work with them more compassionately. As a result, these vulnerable parts might show up and let me know about something important, but they don’t drive my behaviour or dominate my life.

• I’ve realized over the years that physical movement and being outdoors is vital for my general wellbeing. Pilates not only helps my body to metabolize residual stress but it’s also a great practice for being in tune with my body. I also make time to be outdoors, whether that’s a few minutes with my feet on the grass, or a walk in nature (trees, hills, mountains, ocean – it doesn’t matter!). I believe that being in nature is grounding for me and it places some worries into perspective.

3. Can you think of one example that demonstrates how growing up Asian in Australia has impacted you?

This is a tricky question! Growing up Asian in Australia has impacted me in many positive and not so positive ways, in large ways and small ways. Broadly speaking, I grew up at the height of Pauline Hanson’s “Asian Invasion” in a predominately Anglo-Saxon community. Imagine what messages our little brains were absorbing at that time! Looking back, I really felt for the “Little Me”, who had to find her place in the local community and wider Australian context.

I feel like I’ve lost a big part of my cultural heritage, as a result of wanting to fit in so much (as all children do) and those strong assimilation (rather than acculturation) messages from the Australian media at the time. Embarrassingly, my Chinese is extremely poor now! I probably speak like a 5-year-old. As I get older, losing that “Chinese part” has saddened me and I think about what I might need to salvage from that part to pass onto my children.

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You can find out more about Phoebe at:
http://www.innercollective.com.au/

And if you would like to get in touch or arrange an appointment please email Phoebe at:
[email protected]

NB. If you are in a crisis or are distressed, please call lifeline (13 11 14) or the Mental Health Advice Line (1300 60 60 24). If your life is in immediate danger, contact emergency services now (call 000 in Australia).