I often get asked ‘Why do you do what you do?’ and it's a good question.
Like many young people, I left school not knowing what I wanted to do as a career. I was torn between two completely different courses, but eventually chose - and enjoyed - studying childcare at college and through placements. I left college still unsure of what career path to follow though. Instead, aged 18, I managed to get a job where I could save money and then went backpacking around the world for a year.
I left England with nothing but a backpack and my best friend, but returned a completely different person. My life-changing moment came while travelling in East Asia. I was in Laos, enjoying a hot chocolate in a café (I love chocolate!) when I randomly picked up a book about psychology. It suddenly occurred to me that I'd always wanted to become the kind of person I wish I'd been able to turn to when I was at school. At that precise moment I realised I wanted to become a counsellor and support children and young people.
That was the beginning of a long period of study, until I eventually qualified as a BACP counsellor at the age of 27.
Since then, I have worked exclusively within the education sector as a school-based counsellor. Latterly, combining my academic knowledge with first-hand experience, I've realised that it's not just children and young people who need support, but teachers/support staff and parents/carers too.
Fast forward to today, and I am now a Senior Accredited Counsellor with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP). In 2017 I qualified as an MHFA Youth Instructor and started my own business, Flourish, in 2019.
Areas of Expertise
I believe in empowering the child/young person to help themselves, and to develop their own resilience in order to make better choices and communicate their feelings more effectively now and in the future. I specialise working one-to-one with clients experiencing:
- Family separation or divorce
- Anxiety
- Death of a loved one
- Trauma
- Bullying/cyberbullying
- Self-harming behaviours
- Gender/sexuality
- Abuse (emotional, physical, sexual)
- Suicidal ideation
- Family relocation
- Substance abuse or addiction in the family
- Maintaining healthy relationships
- Mental illness, like depression or anxiety
I deliver tailor-made training to professionals that covers many different topics such as:
- How to promote wellbeing in schools
- Boundaries for better wellbeing
- Strategies for supporting staff and student wellbeing
- Understanding, managing, and supporting anxiety in school
- Student wellbeing introduction for teachers in initial teacher training
And more!
I also support parents/carers through webinars to the private sector.
Promoting happy young lives
