About Me

I often get asked, “Why do you do this work?” It’s a good question and the answer goes back to when I was 18 and trying to figure out who I wanted to be.

Like many young people, I left school unsure of my direction. I studied childcare at college but didn’t feel I’d found the right path. So I saved what I could, took a year off and went backpacking around the world.

I left England with a backpack and my best friend. I came home a very different person. 

My lightbulb moment happened while travelling through Laos. I was sitting in a café drinking hot chocolate (I love chocolate!) when I randomly picked up a psychology book.

Something clicked.

I realised I wanted to become the kind of person I wish I’d been able to turn to when I was at school.  Someone who could listen, understand and help make sense of the messy parts of growing up.

And that was it. I knew I wanted to become a counsellor and work with children and young people.

I trained for years, completed multiple placements and eventually qualified as a BACP counsellor at 26. I began working in schools, where I’ve now spent more than 15 years listening to young people and learning about their lives, relationships, worries and experiences of growing up.

As years progressed my work grew beyond the counselling room. The more I spent time alongside children and young people, the more interested I became in the world around them – their families, schools, relationships and the adults supporting them.

I’m still learning from these mini humans every day. They continually remind me that there is rarely one ‘right’ way to feel, cope, communicate or grow up, and that being genuinely listened to and understood can make an enormous difference.

A lot has changed since that hot chocolate in Laos all those years ago, but my curiosity about the world of children and young people - and my commitment to help adults understand it - has never left me.