In episode 380 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with Luke Slater.
Luke is the Founder and CEO of Modern Tribes Collective C.I.C. and is a Wilderness Psychotherapist in training at time of recording.
Before he was a would-be psychotherapist, Luke used to work in sales for luxury brands, but didn’t find fulfilment in it.
He went travelling for 3-4 years on and off, teaching English to make ends meet and fund his travels. However, the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic cut his travels short and he had to return to his home of the North West of England.
However, despite his love of travelling, Luke is not your stereotypical private school lad on his gap year, but a working-class lad from a council estate in Manchester.
We came across Luke through his work with great friends of VENT and the podcast Mandem Meet Up. Luke was initially a service user of MMU and a facilitator of their Talking Circles before CEO Jamie Dennis asked Luke if he wanted to get involved in their youth programme, Youtdem.
Luke helped develop the programme, created the right group dynamic and shaped the conversations they wanted to have with the young men.
In this episode we discuss Luke’s professional career, what the role of a wilderness psychotherapist entails vs a traditional therapist, the skills he’s learned along the way and his work with Youtdem.
For Luke’s mental health journey, we discuss social class, how travelling expanded his horizons beyond his council estate, and the life and death of his father, who died when Luke was just 21 years old. His dad was 44 when he died.
Luke was studying for a Psychology degree at university when his dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. His dad would live six months before he died.
Luke wanted to use the learnings from his degree to navigate his grief. We discuss the addiction issues his Dad had throughout Luke’s childhood, how he feels about his grief now vs when his dad died and the legacy he is hoping to leave for his Dad through becoming a psychotherapist.
As always, #itsokaytovent
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