Welcome and thank you for taking the time to explore my site and this blog.

Over the coming weeks and months, I will be uploading new content to help provide information and knowledge around young people's mental wellbeing, giving you the tools to make some sense of your own headspace or that of someone you love. The idea is that this will often be generic in focus but will sometimes look at more specific topics.

I think it's important to start with some background so you know I'm not a cowboy or a fraud.

I have been working with young people in various roles since 2010. I started as a volunteer youth support worker at a church youth group in Plymouth which led to me changing my career from a marketing manager to train to work with young people. From here, I took up a role as a Youth Support Worker with Plymouth City Council before starting a community youth project on an estate in the city, working for a local charity. When this contract expired, I launched with others, a new service called The Pioneers Project CIC which works with young people struggling with their social, emotional and mental health as well as delivering community projects for all ages. During this time I earned a degree in Youth Work and a Masters in Education.

Within this role, I trained as a Trauma-informed and Mental Health Practitioner with Trauma Informed Schools UK and then completed a Diploma in Counselling Teenagers with the Institute for Arts in Therapy and Education (IATE). I also now work as a trainer for Trauma Informed Schools UK.

I have worked with hundreds of young people in both 1-to-1 and group environments and have helped many to become unstuck from some of the problems they face.

Throughout this time, I have learnt the value and power of nature and imagery which is why the two photos accompanying this post are of the beautiful north Cornwall coastline. The ocean can be healing in many ways so I encourage you today to take a few minutes to reflect on a time you've been to by the sea and feel into that experience, noticing any changes in your current mood. Sometimes simply tapping into memories of the natural world can help us to feel better in this very moment.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope that you will be back in the future.

Go well.

Jeff