Our entrepreneurs: Fin Williams

In our latest #OurEntrepreneurs profile we meet cohort 7 Clinical Entrepreneur Fin Williams, Consultant Clinical Psychologist.

Tell us a bit about yourself 

I am a Consultant Clinical Psychologist who has worked in the NHS and in universities training across the psychology professions for the last 20 years.

I’m absolutely committed to improving access to Psychological Therapy and early intervention for young people and families, and I’ve finally plucked up the courage to bring the ideas I’ve been developing, to life.

Why did you apply to the programme and what are you looking forward to?

A non-NHS entrepreneurial friend told me about the programme!

I’ve been mentally developing my idea over a number of years but with my clinical work, I haven’t found the time to create and nurture a network to help me bring it to market. The chance to learn from other innovators, with the support of mentorship and networking, was an incredible opportunity that I wasn’t going to miss.

Tell us about your innovation  

MindPsy is a wearable/phone technology, built around a passive data repository and algorithm designed to support young people to monitor their emotional wellbeing, in the same way they do their physical wellbeing. As well as using evidence-based approaches to improve emotional wellbeing, the same algorithm brings the front door of talking therapy services (remote and in-person) into the young person’s hand; reducing wait times, barriers to access, and bottlenecks in the system.

Bringing genuine change through joined up, evidence based, and NHS approved technology means that young people can develop an appropriate language for their emotional experience; communicate and normalise this and seek additional help when needed. For me, it’s the opportunity to finally bring parity between our physical and emotional needs, and consider ourselves as an interconnected system, with the natural impact that our physical wellness has on our emotional wellness, and vice versa.

I was lucky enough to receive prompt mental health support as a teenager, and I credit this with being a mentally healthy adult. Working with children and families facing long waits only makes me more committed to change. I’ve always been an innovator (which is pretty tricky in the NHS) and this is the natural next step.

5 years from now, I hope that every young person has access to wearable technology that actively helps them to take care of their emotional wellbeing with the same importance as their physical wellbeing. Just like young people and parents naturally seek physiotherapy for physical injuries, I hope they will naturally seek low intensity talking therapy for emotional experiences that are preventing them from living the way that they want.

I also hope that Clinical Psychologists like me, have more time to dedicate to families with complex relational and mental health needs that require longer term input.

What motivates you? 

Inequality, injustice, and the misplaced notion that somehow the emotional experiences of younger people are less severe or impactful than the experiences of adults, rather than the potential of adults being impacted by the unsupported emotional experiences in the younger years.

I feel driven to support change and innovation.

What are your ambitions for the next year?

To learn, network, gain investment, and meet the technical collaborators that I need to bring my innovation to market.

Why do you think innovation is important in healthcare?

We have a growing population, with additional needs in multiple areas and increasingly fewer resources to serve them well. Innovation gives the opportunity for efficiency and improving the quality of the preventative healthcare that we need to improve capacity for the health care that can’t be prevented.

How can we find out more?

To find out more, please visit my Instagram and TikTok as @Drfin_clinpsy (trying to make psychology accessible) and I lead a group of psychological professionals in a private partnership: http://www.in-mindpartners.uk          .