Hi there. Welcome to Wellness by Greg. This is the ‘about page’, in other words, it tells you a bit about me, my background, and what Wellness by Greg is all about.
My name is Greg (as suggested in the title). I have a history of working in the fitness and mental health fields of medicine. I have worked in the fitness industry as a personal trainer, and one of my earliest connections back to mental health came in the form of a client who had mild depression and was looking to lose weight. Whilst they continued to be treated for their depression, they did lose some weight, which helped to improve their confidence and fitness levels, so there is a happy ending of sorts over there.
Prior to working in the fitness industry, I did a degree in Psychology. I decided to train in fitness due to my love of staying fit, as well as to take a break from the very heavy subjects and ideas explored in the degree. I’m pretty sure there are competent young psychologists out there, but based on personal experience and on my own opinion, it is difficult for a person to take your advice seriously if you haven’t done the mileage yourself.
Having taken a break and working in fitness and the hospitality industry, I was able to build on social skills and learn the art of listening. I also built on my psychology training and studied to become a mental health nurse.
After an intensive training period, I qualified and worked for a few years in an inpatient setting, treating patients with serious mental illnesses and personality disorders. It was, as you would call ‘baptism by fire’. Having cut my teeth and gained experience treating some of the most challenging people I had met at the time, I also began to explore further research, completing a Masters in 2016 where I looked at staff engagement with patients with challenging personality disorders. Some teaching points were also gathered and shared with the team at the time.
During this time I started a blog called ‘Fit for Any Age’, in which I looked at fitness and wellness. I carried on with this blog site, and moved to work for the community crisis team for a few years, during which I launched ‘Wellness by Greg’, feeling that I wanted to be more honest with myself and the reader as my focus was more on wellness than fitness, and I didn’t want the reader to be missold to or felt that they were being sold a personal training blog, which was not my focus.
A third of the way into 2022, a good friend of mine was no longer able to host my sites, and backed them up for me. Not knowing much about websites or technology I have cobbled together bits and pieces, so for anyone who is familiar with the old site, you may notice some differences as it is not the same spec for spec as the older site.
Sadly I have not been able to find old blogs, so the blogs you will see will be new. If by any chance I do find an old blog I will upload it with very excited energy and will probably dance around the house when I do so.
The advice and insights I give are my own based on my own experiences and research. Whilst I have a medical background, I am not a doctor, so for any particular mental health or physical health issues that you are struggling with or simply want advice for, please speak to your local GP.
