Empire Building Masterclass: an Interview with Despoina Limniotaki

Kalimera (which means Good Morning in Greek)! My name is Despoina Limniotaki (IG @dlimniotaki) and I’m the Founder and CEO of the Healing Tree community, a social cooperative business in Crete, Greece. The Healing Tree community (@healingtreeproject) acts as an intermediate “home” for people coping with mental health issues and their families. It is a safe space where open communication is encouraged, information and support on dealing with everyday struggles are provided and programs see to the needs of different individuals and groups within the city of Heraklion.

I started The Healing Tree community five years ago when I minded the gap that exists between the formal, overwhelmed health services where people turn for help and the patient’s follow-up experience: there was no orientation on the best ways that patients could go on with their therapy, no monitoring of their progress, plus there were limited options given to those who suffer from symptoms as to how they could embrace a more holistic, a less one-size-fits-all approach to their well-being. But first and foremost, mental health had not been a priority to my country for years and I singlehandedly vowed that I would turn the tables on that matter. So here is the Healing Tree community, making noise in my hometown by really helping people learn how to both ask for and give help. It has created a bold community of sharers and strivers within a larger community. After all, I don’t even believe there is progress without cooperation. And I firmly stand for networked mental health visibility.

Tell us and our lovely readers what is it that you do?

I am a Social Psychologist who has been working in therapeutic environments for about twenty years. The Healing Tree community is a recent project that stems from a desire to create bonds and share stories around “the fire” that burns in each and every one of us, the way our ancestors used to do in order to restore and connect the parts that are broken inside. In the community, we offer a personalized approach to mental health, really listen and co-design the best path to recuperation, according to one’s needs and capabilities. We also soothe anxious relatives and allow burnt-out carers to take a break.

Moreover, I have started a series of interviews, videos and podcasts with a #ConversationsWithFriends hashtag that asks different professionals to talk about their work in relation to mental health because I truly believe that, at the end of the day, everything revolves around this topic.

And my latest pet mission is called #SheWorks and asks everyday women entrepreneurs (by “everyday” I mean that you do not have to reach your personal peak or be awarded a prize to be seen and heard) to tell their story in the way they want to – everybody has a story to tell, especially in these difficult times and we should listen, form bonds and create opportunities for each other.

What is your story? How did you end up here?

I was born in Crete, the biggest island in Greece which gave me this islander perspective: on the one hand, you feel disconnected from the rest of the world and this can be lonely and risky because you miss out on people and opportunities. But on the other hand, you can make the most of it by becoming self-sufficient. By that I mean that, although we are social animals, we have to start from the “I”, not in an egotistical sense but in order to find ourselves, understand our potential and limitations and focus on how we can make the best of the situation life has put us in. You know what they say in airplanes, in case of loss of cabin pressure you should put your own oxygen mask on first before trying to help anyone else. That’s what I mean.

Other than that, I became a psychologist from a very personal, family story of close relatives who suffered from mental health symptoms. As a child back in the 1970s I watched as there was absolutely nothing for them to do, nobody to really help. They would literally suffer behind closed doors, living a groundhog-day kind of life. They deserved better, everyone deserves to be given options and care. I dreamt of stepping in one day and, today, I feel that my job and my whole stance is that of the person who steps in. You cannot wait around forever for things to change in your environment; you have to take the responsibility for change. And you have to do it over and over until somebody listens or takes a look.