Dr Caroline Lloyd's
This month, we interviewed Dr Caroline Lloyd for our Member Story, a regular feature in our newsletter where we shine a spotlight on the passionate individuals that make up our member base.
If you would like to share your story, please email the Secretariat at admin@aspm.org.au
The Early Dreams That
Shaped My Career
My first dream was to be a hairdresser, inspired by a woman at my mum’s salon with stunning copper-red hair. Later, I set my sights on medicine, fascinated by anatomy in our Encyclopaedia Britannica. After high school, I applied to both med and acting schools. Acting schools suggested life experience, so I pursued medicine. During uni, I kept performing, and after my RMO year, I chose general practice to balance both passions.
25 Years GP Jobs
Over 25 years, I worked in sexual health, dermatology, bariatrics, surgery, and at the races.
Bariatric medicine
At Family Life, my supervisor suggested EMDR. I trusted her and signed up — it changed everything.
Challenge and Value
Mental health can't be fixed in 15 minutes, but you can connect, show care, and plan to follow up.
“In my practice I set my own hours (I do 75 min consultations) and this is so rewarding too, as it suits my natural tendency towards deep conversations, which would often get in the way of a productive day in classic General Practice. Now my curiosity about people is an asset rather than a disadvantage.”
Dr Caroline Lloyd's
Over the next 25 years, I worked across a wide range of GP roles — from sexual health (including visiting brothels for STD checks, a job I loved), to cosmetic dermatology, bariatric medicine, surgical assisting, and even covering the races.
I vividly remember my first EMDR client — a bariatric patient battling long-term, treatment-resistant depression. Her trauma stemmed from discovering a loved one after suicide.
So I asked her about it. She replied that she hadn’t laughed for 17 years, and she had just spontaneously felt like laughing — so she did. So we laughed together for a minute, and finished the session. It was beautiful, unexpected, and profoundly human.
COVID lockdowns hit after that session, so we never had a chance to do more EMDR. But I kept in touch by phone — and her deep depression had lifted. She was reconnecting with family, walking the dog, sleeping well, and finally free of the haunting images.
Dr Caroline Lloyd’s
This month, we interviewed Dr Caroline Lloyd for our Member Story, a regular feature in our newsletter where we shine a spotlight on the passionate individuals that make up our member base.
If you would like to share your story, please email the Secretariat at admin@aspm.org.au