Send us a text

What if mental health treated prevention like medicine treats cholesterol—something you build for, measure, and maintain before the crisis? We sit down with Dr Joanna Rosen, a clinical psychologist and trauma consultant, to explore how the nervous system handles overwhelm, why symptoms are the body’s attempt to protect you, and how a few strategic shifts can reduce distress faster and help people thrive through life’s hardest seasons.

Joanna shares the origin of her “move forward better” philosophy and the two-track model behind her work: intensive, evidence-based clinical care that engages the nervous system directly, and consultancy that helps schools, health services, and organisations avoid missteps that delay recovery. We get specific about prevention—social connection, sleep, movement, and cognitive nourishment—but also about rehearsing real-world stressors. The transition from school to university is a prime example: first-semester students face a high-risk window that can be buffered with honest conversations, fit-focused choices, and clear help-seeking plans.

We also tackle systemic barriers. Providers want to support prevention, yet quotas and burnout make it hard to add more. Joanna offers a science-first, human-centred approach that normalises struggle, tracks outcomes, and shows why shorter, focused trauma work can bring faster relief than a long march of weekly sessions. Along the way, you’ll hear practical language for supporting colleagues and loved ones, and a look at her From Lockers to Lecture Halls playbook aimed at parents, students, and educators building resilience before the headlines.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, share it with someone navigating a big transition, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—what prevention step will you try this week?

📝 Guest Biography

Dr Joanna Rosen, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and trauma consultant based in Connecticut with over 25 years of experience. She works across both clinical and consulting settings, supporting individuals and organisations affected by trauma. Joanna is widely respected for her depth of expertise, collaborative approach, and commitment to applying evidence-informed methods in practical, human-centred ways.

Contact Details

• 🔗 Websites: https://www.moveforwardbetter.com https://between2ears.com/
•  🔗LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-joanna-rosen-psyd/

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

What does a sustainable medical career look like when the pager never really goes silent? We sit down with Dr Charles Pollock to chart an uncommon route through Navy service, emergency departments, academic leadership, and a radical rethink of continuing education. His story starts with a military scholarship and a formative tour with the Marine Corps, detours from a surgical track to the organised chaos of emergency medicine, and lands in high-volume trauma centres where research in cardiovascular emergencies became his engine for change.

A severe bout of COVID forced a reset. From that disruption, Charles built a “polyconsultant” portfolio across pharma, trials, and medical education, helping design CME that clinicians actually use. He explains how tweetorials on X deliver accredited, bite-sized learning that respects attention and accelerates adoption, and how working across oncology, rheumatology, pulmonology, dermatology, and neurology broadened his view of what true lifelong learning can be.

We go straight at the hard parts: relentless credentialing, administrative creep, and the myth of perfect balance. Charles lays out practical ways to tame documentation with scribes and voice-to-text, argues that saying no is a clinical safety tool, and makes the case for normalising peer support to reduce burnout. For early-career clinicians, his advice is sharp and generous—pick one or two passions beyond core practice, guard your time, and let focus compound. Then we look ahead to a bigger fix: aligning clinician education with patient education. By pairing accredited CME for professionals with clear, platform-native content for patients, we can replace noisy drug ads with shared understanding, better decisions, and stronger outcomes.

If you care about the future of emergency medicine, the realities of modern practice, and the promise of smarter education, this conversation offers field-tested wisdom and timely hope. Listen, share with a colleague who needs it, and if it resonates, subscribe and leave a review to help others find the show.

🧑‍⚕️ Guest Biography

Dr Charles Pollack is a seasoned clinician-scientist whose career spans Emergency Medicine, Public Health, and medical education. A former Navy medical officer, he later became the founding chair at Pennsylvania Hospital and held senior academic roles at Thomas Jefferson University. Today, he serves as Medical Director at AcademicCME, where he leads innovation in continuing education and clinician engagement. His passion lies in cardiovascular emergencies, clinician wellbeing, and bridging the gap between education and practice.

Contact Details

•  🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-v-pollack-md-7991b

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

Painful periods, vulvar pain, and feeling dismissed by the system don’t have to be a life sentence. Functional medicine practitioner Leslie Jones explains why women’s pelvic health is so often misunderstood—and how a root cause approach can transform relentless pain without rushing to surgery.

Leslie shares her recovery from severe Lyme disease and how it shaped her focus on menstrual pain, vulvodynia, and hormone balance through integrative care. You’ll hear about a young woman steered toward hysterectomy for extreme pain who found relief with a simple nutrient intervention.

We explore vulvodynia science, including C-fibre hypersensitivity and immune dysregulation, and how neuroinflammation, nutrient gaps, and nervous system overdrive can be reversed to restore intimacy and ease.

We also tackle cultural narratives—why “cramps are normal” is a myth, how social media spreads both hope and confusion, and what Gen Z and Millennial patients now expect. Leslie explains the clinic’s toolkit: nutrition, supplements, and electroceuticals like laser therapy, ozone, IVs, and neurofeedback.

You’ll also hear how they manage long consults, insurance gaps, and info overload, plus how they're expanding access through a curated supplement store and future education programmes.

If you’ve felt brushed off, told to “just relax,” or pushed toward invasive options, this episode offers both validation and a way forward. Subscribe, share, and leave a review.

🧑‍💼 Guest Biography

Leslie Jones is a women’s health specialist and functional medicine practitioner with a deep focus on restoring pelvic health. Drawing on years of clinical experience and a whole-person approach, Leslie works with women navigating pelvic pain, hormonal imbalances, and long-term postnatal issues.

In this episode, Leslie shares how conventional care often misses the bigger picture when it comes to pelvic wellbeing—and how functional medicine can uncover the root causes of discomfort and dysfunction. Her perspective is grounded, empowering, and refreshingly real.

📱 Contact Info and Social Media Handles

Please confirm these or provide missing links before publishing:

• Website: https://www.alabamafunctionalmedicine.com/
• email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alabamafunctionalmedicine/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alabama-functional-medicine/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/memberAFM

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

The stories we tell about care shape whether families reach out—and what happens when they do. Child psychotherapist and founder Helen James joins us to unpack the quiet crisis in youth mental health, the rise in teen anxiety since lockdowns, and the hard truth that trust takes time. She explains why six or twelve sessions rarely cut it for complex needs, how a careful beginning and a gentle ending protect the work, and what ethical triage looks like when demand outpaces capacity.

We also go inside the realities of building a youth-focused practice in Brighton and Hove. Helen shares what filled her caseload so quickly, the bittersweet signal behind “growth,” and the everyday tension between spreadsheets and soul. From CAMHS waiting lists to the patchwork acceptance of private ADHD and autism diagnoses, she maps the system-level hurdles that leave parents carrying risk and therapists navigating scarce options. Her “magic wand” is simple: shorten queues so children get timely assessments and support that actually sticks.

There’s another strand to Helen’s work: brand storytelling for wellness services. Drawing on the therapy room, she makes a case for radical authenticity over expert posturing. Families choose humans they can trust, not slogans. We cover voice, audience fit, and how to communicate without promising quick fixes. Helen closes with the practices that keep her whole—time in nature, meditation, sleep, and friendships—and the next steps for her team: more training, a third room, and sharing practical insights through speaking and writing.

If this conversation resonates, follow the show, and share it with someone who needs it.

🧑‍💼 Guest Biography
Helen James is a UK-based child psychotherapist and co-founder of Cormack and James, a psychotherapy practice in Hove. With over 15 years’ experience supporting children and adolescents, Helen blends clinical expertise with a background in storytelling and brand communication. Her work centres on helping young people navigate anxiety, identity, and developmental challenges—especially in the aftermath of the pandemic.

 A strong advocate for genuine connection, she also guides organisations to communicate with clarity and care. In this episode, she shares her perspective as both therapist and communicator—offering valuable insight into what young people need from those who support them.

Contact Details

• Website: https://cormackandjames.com
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-james-761b8b43/
• e-mail: [email protected]

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

Privacy, speed, and real human connection can coexist online—when the system is built with intention. We sit down with Rotem Moshe, executive clinical director at Stepstone Connect, to unpack how telehealth is reshaping mental health care for first responders, rural communities, and anyone who needs therapy to fit life, not the other way around. From onboarding anxious first-time users to coordinating multi-state crisis responses, Rotem offers a candid look at what it takes to deliver safe, effective care at scale.

We explore how encrypted platforms, secure messaging, and disciplined protocols protect client confidentiality while keeping clinicians responsive across time zones. Rotem shares why younger clients flock to flexible, private sessions, how older clients gain confidence with simple test runs, and what drives engagement beyond access alone. You’ll hear how Stepstone’s intensive outpatient programme bridges residential treatment to everyday life, matching clients with the right clinician and schedule for continuity and results.

The conversation also tackles the hard parts: documentation overload, insurance hurdles, and the reality that external pressure rarely sustains change without internal motivation. Rotem’s take on AI is measured and protective of the therapeutic space—there’s promise in smarter workflows, but only if privacy and trust are non-negotiable. We explore licensing challenges, cross-state reach, and why in-person care won’t vanish, even as telehealth grows. If you care about mental health access, clinical quality, and the future of hybrid care, this deep dive offers practical insight and clear-eyed optimism.

Enjoyed the conversation? Follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a review to help others discover Voices in Health and Wellness.

👤 Guest Biography

Rotem Moshe is Executive Clinical Director at Stepstone Connect, a leading US-based telehealth platform for intensive outpatient mental health services. With a background in substance abuse treatment, Rotem helps scale care for underserved communities. Licensed in nine states, she focuses on expanding mental health access for first responders and rural populations while navigating the regulatory challenges of multi-state telehealth. 

Social Media:

• Website: https://www.stepstoneconnect.org/
• email: [email protected]
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rotem-moshe-lmhc-728b9428/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stepstoneconnect_/

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

Feeling pressured to “have it all together” after birth? We sit down with Dr Ana Irazabal DeSanchez—licensed clinical social worker, doctor of social work and certified perinatal mental health professional—to unpack what truly supports families during conception, pregnancy, loss and postpartum.

Drawing on her story as an immigrant from Caracas and founder of YAI Wellness, Ana shares how culturally grounded care and radical love can lower shame, reduce anxiety and help parents thrive—without chasing perfection.

We explore why a decolonial lens matters: much of mental health care was built around Western, male-centred norms that don’t fit every body or story. Ana explains how she blends tools like CBT and breathwork with spiritual practices, community support and deep respect for language, faith and identity. By naming the toxic “bounce back” myth and algorithm-driven performance pressure, she shifts blame from individuals to systems—creating space for slower, kinder healing.

We also discuss the overlooked mental load on non-birthing parents, how bringing the whole family into care improves outcomes, and what it takes to practise with integrity outside hospital systems. Ana offers honest advice for clinicians and parents alike: centre history, invite culture into the room, and treat love as a method.

She closes with a preview of her upcoming book for the perinatal season, designed to help readers face transformation with clarity and compassion.

If this resonates, subscribe and share with someone who needs it.

Guest Biography

Dr. Ana Irazábal de Sánchez, DSW, LCSW, PMH-C  is a licensed clinical social worker, certified perinatal mental health professional, and founder of YAI Wellness. As creator of the Embodied Decolonial Therapist Framework™, she helps individuals and families thrive through culturally grounded, trauma-informed care. Her work weaves clinical science, ancestral wisdom, and radical love to support healing beyond traditional models. She’s currently writing her first book on decolonial approaches to early parenthood. 

Guest Contact & Socials

• 🌐 Website: www.yaiwellness.com
• 📧 Email: [email protected]
• 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yai.wellness/
• 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/the-radical-love-doctor/

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

The headlines say ADHD is “everywhere.” We ask why it took so long to see it. Dr Antonietta Pirello, consultant clinical psychologist and founder of the Spectrum Clinic, joins us to map the real forces behind rising diagnoses: updated DSM‑5 criteria, long‑ignored inattentive presentations, and a culture that is only now recognising how masking hides girls and women in plain sight.

Across a candid, story‑rich conversation, we contrast media noise with what rigorous assessment looks like. Antonietta describes a neuroaffirming approach that centres lived experience alongside evidence: gathering examples from daily life, triangulating with family or teachers, and weighing function and strengths—not just ticking behaviours in a quiet room. We dig into clinician scepticism, the shift from a purely medical model toward the neurodiversity paradigm, and why subtle signs matter as much as overt hyperactivity. If you’ve ever been told “you don’t look ADHD,” this is the deep dive you’ve been waiting for.

Access is where ideals meet reality. We unpack NHS backlogs, the promise and pitfalls of Right to Choose, and the shared‑care prescribing breakdowns that leave people ping‑ponging between providers. Antonietta shares how her multidisciplinary team designs inclusive assessments, from staggered forms to phone‑supported questionnaires, and why personalised recommendations beat copy‑paste reports. We also explore practical reforms: consistent acceptance of independent assessments, clearer GP protocols, and community‑based hubs that offer adjustments and coaching before a formal label—because support shouldn’t start at the end of a queue.

If you care about ADHD, women’s health, evidence‑based assessment, or fixing care pathways, this conversation will give you language, data, and hope. Follow the show, share with someone who’s seeking clarity, and leave a review to help more listeners find thoughtful, stigma‑free content on neurodiversity. What myth would you retire today?

🎧 Guest Biography

Dr Antonietta Pirillo is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and the founder of The Spectrum Clinic, a UK-based private service specialising in adult ADHD and autism assessments. With over a decade of experience across Italy and the UK, she brings a unique perspective to the intersection of neurodevelopment, clinical practice, and system reform. Antonietta is also the creator of ADHD Match, a training platform for clinicians seeking to deliver gold-standard, neuroaffirmative ADHD assessments. Through her work, she’s actively redefining how neurodivergence is understood and supported — in clinics, in education, and in wider society.

Contact Details

• 🔗Website:

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

If you could cut months of waiting into minutes of meaningful help, how much would outcomes improve? We sit down with Peter Grinbergs, co-founder of EQL and former elite sport physio, to unpack how musculoskeletal care can be faster, safer, and more equitable when data, design, and clinicians work together.

Peter traces the path from pitch-side rehab—where variables are controlled and recovery is predictable—to everyday healthcare, where duplication and delay often end with a late “do exercises at home.” EQL’s FIO platform tackles that gap with intelligent digital triage grounded in evidence and governance. People get rapid guidance, many can start supported self-management immediately, and those who need escalation move smoothly to the right clinician. The result: compressed time to value, consistent safety, and measurable impact across populations.

We also go deep on the system-level shifts: moving from reactive services to prevention, and from transactional billing to value-based models that align payers, providers, and patients. Peter shares how enterprise buyers are raising the bar for 2025—demanding transparent outcomes, responsible AI, and better member experience—while EQL scales to around 25,000 assessments per month with no detectable digital divide. Expect candid insights on regulation, bias mitigation, clinician-in-the-loop design, and a roadmap that includes enhanced triage and early digital twin work to personalise prevention and rehab.

If you care about MSK access, health equity, and technology that proves its worth, this conversation offers practical lessons and a hopeful vision. Enjoy the episode, then share it with a colleague, subscribe for more conversations with health innovators, and leave a review to tell us what you want to hear next.

Guest Biography

Peter Grinbergs is a physiotherapist-turned-health-tech founder and the co-founder of EQL, creators of the Phio platform — a digital triage and self-management tool for musculoskeletal health. Drawing on his early career in elite sport and his experience building nationwide physio services, Peter brings deep clinical insight to the digital transformation of MSK care. His mission: make high-quality, data-driven musculoskeletal support accessible to everyone, everywhere.

Contact Details / Social Media Handles

• 🌐 Website: https://eql.ai
• 🔗 LinkedIn (Personal): https://www.linkedin.com/in/peter4healthcare/
• 🏢 LinkedIn (Company): https://www.linkedin.com/company/eql-ai/
• X: https://x.com/EQL_AI

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

Burnout thrives in the space between good intentions and leaky boundaries—and that’s exactly where we go with licensed acupuncturist and zero balancing teacher, Ben Fleisher. From early studies in Buddhism and meditation to founding Woodstock Healing Arts in upstate New York, Ben shows how grounded rituals and collaborative care can protect a clinician’s energy while improving outcomes for patients across ages and conditions.

We trace the arc from philosophy to practice: a three-step ritual that centres both practitioner and patient, a clear definition of scope that makes referrals a strength, and an integrative model where acupuncturists, massage therapists, chiropractors, and functional practitioners share cases for better continuity. Ben demystifies zero balancing—subtle bone and joint work with whole-system effects—and explains why presence, stillness, and smart sequencing transform sessions. He also opens up about the business side: evolving the clinic model, considering an expansion, and exploring a community fund to serve lower-income neighbours after testing the limits of community acupuncture.

Along the way we challenge scarcity thinking. Patients can sense competition; what they want is coherence and care. Ben’s take is refreshingly practical: diversify your week to keep curiosity alive, invest in peer supervision, and treat admin, sleep, and tech hygiene as clinical necessities. We also face the wider landscape—moral fatigue, political stress, and the rising tide of burnout—and pivot to action you can feel, from personal rituals to community anchors that make the work sustainable.

If you’re a practitioner seeking longevity, or a patient curious about integrated, community-centred care, this conversation offers grounded wisdom and tested tools. Subscribe, share with a colleague who needs a reset, and leave a review to tell us the one boundary you’re committing to this week.

Guest Biography

Ben Fleisher, LAc, CZB is a Licensed Acupuncturist, Certified Zero Balancer, and founder of Woodstock Healing Arts, a multidisciplinary integrative wellness center in Upstate New York. With over 20 years of experience, Ben brings a unique fusion of Eastern philosophy, body-based healing, and community-rooted care. He’s deeply passionate about supporting practitioners in avoiding burnout and living in alignment with their values. Ben is also a teacher of Zero Balancing and an emerging writer focused on practitioner sustainability and health justice.

Social Media Handles

• Website: woodstockhealingarts.com
• Instagram: @woodstockhealingarts

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com

Send us a text

Walk into a busy independent optician and you’ll feel it right away: the pace, the care, the quiet choreography that makes a complex clinic look effortless. Helena Stengel, a dispensing optician and director of a 90-year-old UK practice, takes us behind the counter to show how authentic communication and advanced technology can coexist without losing the human touch. We explore what it takes to keep patients seen and heard while running double clinics, mentoring trainees, and staying present for a team that depends on calm leadership.

We dig into the new shape of eye care on the high street: patients arrive curious about OCT scans, biometric lens measurements, and dry eye treatments; GPs and hospitals increasingly point people to opticians for triage; and chains and online providers compete on speed and price. Helena makes the case for a different value proposition—one built on specialist services, precise measurements, and time to listen. When online glasses don’t fit or a symptom needs quick assessment, that extra attention can be the difference between weeks of frustration and a clear path forward.

Helena also opens up about the emotional pressure beneath the smiles: how to filter constant demands, when to step back, and why nature, wild swimming, and simple walks anchor her week. COVID’s hard lessons linger as better hygiene habits and a stronger, busier clinic. Looking ahead, she’s expanding capacity by hiring another optometrist and supporting a final-year trainee toward qualification, aiming to cut waits without cutting corners. If you care about community health, craft, and the reality of leading with heart, this conversation offers practical ideas and rare honesty.

Enjoy the episode? Follow the show, share it with a friend who loves independent healthcare, and leave a quick review to help more listeners find us.

👤 Guest Biography

Helena Stengel is a Dispensing Optician and Director at Anstee + Proctor Opticians, a longstanding independent eye care provider in the UK. With over a decade of experience running the practice, Helena blends deep clinical expertise with a refreshingly human, community-centered approach to leadership. Her ethos—grounded in authenticity, communication, and care—shines through both in-clinic and online. A mentor, educator, and advocate for thoughtful, bespoke service, Helena exemplifies what it means to lead with heart in today’s healthcare landscape.

• Website: https://ansteeandproctor.co.uk
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ansteeproctor/
• Linked in: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helena-stengel-3a0593109/

About Dr Andrew Greenland

Dr Andrew Greenland is a UK-based medical doctor and founder of Greenland Medical, specialising in Integrative and Functional Medicine. With dual training in conventional and root-cause approaches, he helps individuals optimise health, performance, and longevity — with a focus on cognitive resilience and healthy ageing.

Voices in Health and Wellness features meaningful conversations at the intersection of medicine, lifestyle, and human potential — with clinicians, scientists, and thinkers shaping the future of care.

🔗 Connect with Dr Greenland:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-andrew-greenland-977b2624/
• Website: https://www.greenlandmedical.com

💌 Join the mailing list for new episodes and exclusive reflections:
https://subscribe.voicesinhealthandwellness.com