About


About Dr Sam Akbar

Dr Sam Akbar is a highly experienced clinical psychologist, classicist and an authority on stress management, resilience building, and trauma recovery. With her extensive experience in both clinical settings and corporate environments, Dr Sam brings a unique blend of professional expertise and practical application to her speaking engagements.

Professional Background: Dr Sam has spent years in the NHS, specialising in treating refugees with PTSD, a role that has honed her skills in dealing with severe trauma and its impacts. Her work extends globally, having trained psychologists worldwide, from Ireland to Iraq, in advanced trauma treatment techniques.

Authorship and Thought Leadership: As the author of the widely acclaimed book ‘Stressilient: How To Beat Stress and Build Resilience’, Dr Sam has established herself as a thought leader in the field. Her book, now translated into nine languages, offers a wealth of practical tools and techniques for overcoming stress and enhancing resilience, both in personal and professional spheres.

Ancient Wisdom meets Clinical Psychology: Dr Sam loves the ancient world. She studied Classics at Wadham College, Oxford and delights in bringing the wisdom of the ancient world together into practical guides which are relevant and current for the modern reader. You can buy her book, 'The Odyssey Mindset: 7 Timeless Lessons for Life' here. 

Corporate Speaking and Training: Dr Sam is a sought-after speaker for corporate events, known for her ability to translate complex psychological concepts into accessible, actionable strategies. She specialises in delivering speeches and masterclasses on managing stress, fostering resilience, and understanding trauma's impact on individuals and teams. Her approach is direct yet engaging, ensuring her audience leaves with valuable insights and practical tools.

Impact on Corporate Audiences: Her sessions are particularly beneficial for leaders and teams navigating the evolving demands of the modern workplace. Dr Sam equips them with strategies to increase engagement, reduce burnout, and improve overall well-being. Her focus on actionable outcomes ensures that her advice can be readily implemented, bringing immediate and long-term benefits to both individuals and organisations.

Why Dr Sam Akbar? Choosing Dr Sam Akbar for your corporate event means investing in the mental health and resilience of your team. Her expertise in psychology, classics and the ancient world, combined with her practical approach to stress and trauma, makes her an invaluable asset to any corporate event focused on enhancing employee well-being and productivity.

A bit more about Dr Sam...

Prior to gaining her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from UCL, Dr Sam spent ten years making documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4 and worked on programmes such as Panorama and Dispatches. And before that, she studied Classics at Oxford. She enjoys trying to combine all of the experience she has had in different areas of her life to make psychology accessible in everyday life.  

She lives in London with her husband and daughter. In her spare time, she likes to partake in marathons. Box-set marathons. On the sofa. Otherwise find her at an ancient Greek site getting very excited about inscriptions.

Qualifications

  • Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, University College London
  • B.A. in Classics, Wadham College Oxford

Accreditation

  • Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society
  • Membership of the British Association of Behavioural And Cognitive Psychotherapists (BABCP)
  • Member of the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS)

I founded She Minds to help creative working women thrive in their lives and careers by understanding their minds better.

I have been a psychologist for several years helping women thrive. It suddenly dawned on me that so many of the things I was helping people with in the consulting room could be really useful to lots of women  who want to understand how to use their minds more effectively.

I wanted to bring cutting edge psychology into everyday life because I could see how it was changing my clients’ lives, so I created an online psychology toolkit. It’s somewhere where you can call into anytime to find the best and scientific ways to deal with life’ challenges and to live a rich and meanigful life.

Here you’ll find tools to deal with procrastination, fear of public speaking, lack of confidence - all the stuff that gets in the way of you getting where you need to be. Don’t let your mind hold you back.


About me

Well, I have hopped about the place a bit. I studied classics, which I still love. Latin reading group anyone? I then spent 10 years making documentaries the BBC and Channel 4. Like many of you I am sure, I suddenly realised that I couldn’t see myself doing the same job in 15 years so I left TV to retrain as a clinical psychologist, and here I am. Older, wiser, rounder.

When I am not running She Minds, I treat refugees with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which really isn’t as depressing as it sounds.

And when I am not doing that, I like partaking in marathons. Box-set marathons. On the sofa.