#55 The Golden Cage: Former Xero Design Director Lee Young on Leaving Tech for Art Therapy
Bear Academy Season 4. Lee Young spent nearly 20 years as a designer, most recently as Product Design Director at Xero in Auckland, where he and Bear were colleagues. Then he left, retrained, and became a creative arts therapist. He now works at two ends of life: neurodivergent children at Rainbow House, and hospice patients nearing the end at Dove Hospice, while running his own private therapy practice. In this conversation we discuss why his 20-year detour through web design, e-commerce, product design, and design leadership was not wasted but necessary. We talk about the illusion of corporate job security, why "design is creating for others and art is creating for yourself", the relationship between creativity and play, and practical ways to find presence in a distracted world. Lee also shares stories from his practice: the woman who spent an hour filling a page with yellow pastel, the six-year-old who released his anger by throwing clay at a tree, and his involvement in New Zealand's first psilocybin-assisted therapy programme. Chapters 00:00 Intro: Lee made a choice most of us think about but rarely make 00:52 Monday mornings now vs as a designer 01:12 The 20-year detour: web design to product to leadership to coaching to art therapy 03:00 Was the career counsellor's advice a wrong turn? 04:30 Trust your gut at each stage 05:20 What transferred: Double Diamond and the coaching process 07:30 Freelancer skills that most therapists do not have 08:20 Corporate salary as a runway for career change 09:50 The first weeks after leaving: freedom or void? 11:20 Golden cage: high salary makes it hard to leave 14:00 The illusion of corporate job security 15:50 Freelancing gives you more transparency and control 17:00 Creativity in corporate vs agency vs independent work 18:30 "Design is creating for others. Art is creating for yourself." 20:00 Creativity and play share the same root 22:00 Xero Design Jam: the most fun project was in month one 23:00 What is art therapy? Using things other than words 26:00 Pastels, clay, twigs, drama, dance: all languages 27:30 An art therapist is a guide, not a fixer 28:30 The woman who filled a page with yellow pastel for an hour 30:30 The six-year-old throwing clay at a tree 33:00 Measuring impact: why CBT gets funded and art therapy struggles 36:00 How therapists maintain their own wellbeing 38:00 Systemic challenges for neurodivergent children 41:00 Working with adults vs children: adults have more wiggle room 42:00 Hospice work: a privilege and an honour 44:00 Presence is a rare commodity 46:00 Anxiety lives in the past and future; presence anchors you 48:00 Neurographic drawing: a 5 to 10 minute stress release 50:00 The simplest reset: face the sun, close your eyes, two minutes 51:00 Mini nature therapy: prioritise touch, sound, smell over sight 53:00 What's next: peer supervision training and psilocybin-assisted therapy 55:00 Dr Fee Caracott and NZ's first psilocybin prescriptions 56:00 Possibly returning to Whitecliffe as a guest lecturer 57:00 "Enjoying beginner's mind, not rushing to the next step" Hosted by Bear Liu. Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/FFu5nH4V_tA More at https://bearliu.com
