The Sophie Harkness Interview

This week, Stephen interviewed Speech and Language Therapist and Doctoral Researcher Sophie Harkness.

Sophie is a Highly Specialist Speech and Language Therapist with over 10 years of clinical experience across healthcare settings in the North West. She specialises in breathing, cough, voice and swallowing difficulties, with particular expertise in conditions such as inducible laryngeal obstruction (ILO), cough hypersensitivity syndrome and globus. Her approach combines evidence-based care with a commitment to helping people understand their symptoms, feel heard and regain their confidence.

Alongside her clinical work, Sophie is undertaking a PhD exploring unexplained swallowing difficulties, with a focus on how these complex presentations can be understood and supported within existing healthcare pathways.

In this interview, Stephen and Sophie explore everything from medically unexplained swallowing difficulties to broader, systemic questions about the NHS and the care pathways available to people experiencing functional disorders. Sophie also discusses her doctoral research, the questions it is raising, and how emerging findings might inform current models of care.