Why I'm starting this newsletter

And why I think you should read it

So, I’m 33. LinkedIn seems to tell me, maybe implicitly, that I should have everything figured out. I’m afraid not - but I’m writing that because there is nothing wrong with that, and because a little bit about me might tell you about why I can help you. And if you like what you read, you can:

What are your qualifications to be giving this advice?

I’m a European Mentoring and Coaching Council-accredited coach, on the verge of also being Personalised Care Institute-accredited and working towards accreditation with the Universal Coaching Alliance. I specialise in working with children, teenagers and young adults. I currently practice working on low-level mental health needs and helping young people return to habits and ways of living that help them improve their own mental health. In the next few months, I will be completing the Mindful Emotional Coaching and Trauma Informed Schools and Communities Practitioner qualifications, to enable me to give even more specific, specialised advice on proactively managing and working with mental ill health. By the end of next year, I will have completed the Professional ADHD Coaching Diploma. At the same time, I am also a trainee counsellor working towards BACP accreditation. When this process has been completed, I will have trained with Place2Be and the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education which are two of the leaders in the field of qualifying to work with children therapeutically.

Enough on this though - this is becoming my LinkedIn! Which you can check out if you would like:

You’re 33, why are you starting now?

That’s a pointed question - but I’ll take it! My initial desire when I was still choosing careers in secondary school was to work in the area of counselling/psychology. I can’t blame it entirely on the adults around me pooh-poohing the idea (although a lot of them did…) but also a feeling of unworthiness held me back. The same adults that dampened my dreams a little bit, albeit probably because they cared, also missed my ADHD symptoms - of which there are many! I was also diagnosed with ADHD a little over two years ago now. That has been a journey too.

I realised I am still learning about myself in all sorts of ways - and why shouldn’t my vocation be the same? I have tried on a few different hats so far (maybe many) but the second to most recent hat was working as an administrator (then senior administrator) in Specialist Children’s Services in the NHS. I saw first-hand the absolutely huge level of unmet need that exists out there - some of it because services aren’t commissioned (like ADHD coaching…), because there aren’t services for low-level mental health needs and so they escalate through the system, or because waiting lists are long and extended. Initially, this calling felt like I should get promoted and be able to make a bigger impact on making sure services are well run - and I did, and I did. I was also receiving counselling myself as a client: then it hit me, I am meant to help people directly.

And so I am. And here I am.

Can you help me or my children?

Yes - I hope so. I do take on clients privately. I usually see my clients virtually via Teams or Zoom. At the moment, for ethical reasons, I will only see clients for coaching sessions. When I am BACP-accredited, I will be happy to offer counselling sessions too. Want to have a chat with me about this service, or anything in this newsletter? You know what to do:

And if you liked this post, and you aren’t already subscribed, well: