Background
Up until the end of May 2026 I ran specialist emotional wellbeing workshops and established & facilitated community discussion groups & goal focused 1:1s for the charities BHT Sussex & Wsx Mind.
I have also worked part-time in elderly care for a local agency for the past 2 years, where I offer companionship via company calls.
I am a firm believer as support staff we need our own therapeutic input & have accessed several forms of therapy over the years. Alongside support in the workplace & counselling via EAP services (Employee Assistance Programmes) I have accessed :
Over the years I have successfully set up pilot projects that are, to my knowledge, still running. These include a community Home Support Team in Essex for the elderly & a Community Team offering short-term practical support to people attached to NHS, ATS mental health services, I continued to work in that team for 10 years & loved the autonomy, variety, flexibility & holistic nature of that community role.
I've also worked in residential rehabilitative units, 2 social services day centres, an EMI day hospital, a peer-led charity run day centre, a primary care counselling service, a medium secure forensic unit, acute psychiatric unit, a mental health helpline and more recently a part time mental health recovery worker in the charity sector & have been so for 3 years.
I also worked in an Early Intervention Psychosis specialist NHS mental health service for 2 years.
My favourite role where I feel I excelled the most was in the community support work role for 10 years. I saw people in their homes & had a high level of client contact where I felt I could really see how well someone was coping & offer personalised & intensive support. The job was also so varied, it was brilliant - one minute I might be supporting someone as they went through bankruptcy, another visit might entail helping out with some washing up, cleaning or some neglected bills or helping support someone with hoarding issues & then I maybe supporting someone to source & attend a local community art class. I loved it's holistic nature, the people I met & the variety & value of what the team were offering.
As a stressed out mental health worker 12 years ago, I found I couldn't access the emotional wellbeing & support services I needed as I would come across my colleagues & clients which caused privacy & boundary issues.
This led to a personal journey over the past 11-12 years of finding my own way & having to be extremely committed & creative in how I looked after my wellbeing.
This is partly why I'm offering discounted emotional wellbeing services via my new business to healthcare workers & carers, I.e. so they can more easily access the very services that they offer to others. Eventually I'd love this to be free via a separate entity of a CIC initiative, that's the long term vision.
Recently I devised my own bespoke 90 minute Carers workshop for those too busy to attend a weekly workshop that is usually offered over 5 sessions. The one-off workshop can be delivered to a group or used to inform 1:1 sessions.
If you feel you've reached a limit in your life where you need some guidance & support (this could include pointing you in the direction of the vast amount of specialist services available & helping you navigate these - e.g. specialist health services, carers support, cost of living advice etc), this could be the service for you.
Sacred Shed is not in the place of any NHS or specialist mental health service, it's designed to be complementary & different & hopefully where appropriate, run alongside it.
The regular face to face sessions don't appear to be such a common option these days in statutory services & I think rapport & human connection is hugely important.
I am well versed in & an enthusiastic advocate of the '5 ways to wellbeing' model. This is a tried & tested approach proven to enhance emotional wellbeing & recovery. 5 ways to wellbeing is used in NHS mental health recovery services as well as the charity sector, and this is due to it's proven effectiveness.
My business, i.e. Sacred Shed, is a holistic service rather than a psychiatric, medical model.
So it's not for those in crisis but perhaps could be preventative & avoid onset of a crisis.
So if you're:
-Anxious?
-Burnt out?
-Lost?
-Feel isolated or disconnected?
Get in touch & see if it's for you.
I can offer 1:1s & will take your lead on how to deliver these - e.g. meet for a coffee or walk or just sit & practice a hobby together or visit a community service / gallery / museum / garden or activity you've felt too unconfident to go to alone.
The approaches I use include Behavioural Activation & Graded Exposure techniques to help inform support sessions & to slowly build on confidence.
So 1:1 confidence coaching is available.
And tips & techniques for coping with anxiety, overwhelm & low mood & low self esteem can all be agreed in a plan we make together.
My approach is both trauma informed & Neurodivergent friendly as well as holistic, creative & client centred. It is a service for adults, so those over 18.
When you reach out we can arrange a FREE 30 minute phone* consultation (*or other medium that suits you) & start to make an agreed plan.
- CBT
- Behavioural Activation
- Art Therapy
- Solution Focused Brief therapy
- Psychodynamic counselling
- Equine therapy
- Goal focused 1:1s
- Nature therapy/Ecotherapy
- As well as drawing on the 'Five Ways to Wellbeing model'.
- https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/self-help/guides-tools-and-activities/five-steps-to-mental-wellbeing
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