Welcome!

Hi,

Firstly thank you for coming and checking out my page. Mental health and wellbeing have always been a passion of mine and I feel so very lucky to have the opportunity to emerge myself in this work and provide assistance to children, teens, parents, carers, step-parents, families, teachers and schools who are looking to improve their current situation or need some extra tools to help themselves or someone they love or care for.

The journey that lead me on this path is complex as many of our journeys are. I have struggled with mental health issues from my childhood, during my teenage years and well into adulthood. I have been on a quest to help find tools to empower myself to take control and manage my mental health and along the way I have found it difficult to find tools to help me at these crucial times in my life. This in part is why I am so passionate about Mindtools as I want to provide children, teens, families and schools with practical tools which help improve mental health issues.

My family like to joke that I have tried every job in the world as I have had many different jobs since I was 14. I have worked in nursing homes, hospitals, insurance, hospitality, in our dairy, as a primary school teacher and school counsellor. Whilst all of these jobs seem like a strange combination they all involve helping people which is what I love to do.

Shortly after having my first child I realised something was not quite right. Even as a newborn he was difficult to console and he cried a lot. He didn’t enjoy being held and the only time he really seemed calm was when he was laying under the fan on the floor. As he got a bit older things became harder he wouldn’t eat, he barley slept and leaving the house became almost impossible as he hated the car, pram and being in shopping centres. I looked for answers everywhere on the internet, I asked other mums, doctors, maternal nurses and all gave me various answers like its just a stage, you are a first time mum you worry too much and lots of things to try.

I took on board everyone’s advice and tried everything yet nothing worked. I felt so alone and hopeless as a mother who could not help her upset child. My child’s father was in the army and from when our son was 3 weeks old till 10 months old he was posted on deployment to Iraq. Many people advised me that it was the stress of him being away combined with being a first time mum that was causing me to overthink my son’s issues making me believe that it was all in my head. Not long after my son was one we joined a local playgroup and it was there that I realised that it was not all in my head. My son was different to all the other kids his age. This was the evidence I needed to seek further help.

I found an Educational Psychologist and she changed my life. For the first time I felt like someone was truly listening to my concerns and not just writing me off as an anxious fist time mum who’s partner was on deployment. I poured my heart out to this women told her all of my concerns and fears about my son and I felt she really cared. At the end of our session the therapist told me she thought my son was autistic and although it was very early and difficult to diagnose there were things we could do to help him. I burst into tears finally someone had listened, heard and validated my concerns. I didn’t feel angry or shocked at her diagnosis I felt like I finally had hope as I could now find ways to help my son. Whilst my journey with my son has been long and hard (my second son is also autistic) I will never forget the kindness of that therapist. We continued to see her for the next five years working towards shared goals.

While I will share details of my journey with my sons in later blog’s the reason I felt this was important to include in my first post is that this therapist is the person who inspired me to become a child therapist. So I can provide a safe, judgement free space for children, teens and families to come and seek help and feel truly listened too.

Watch this space I will be delving into lots of deep topics through this blog and I look forward to hearing from you guys as well.

Have an amazing week! Love B xox