About me
I came to this work the long way round.
For years I have been a Clinical Nurse Specialist building services, leading teams, working at the outer edges of healthcare where people are complex and the standard answers rarely fit. I loved it. It was the kind of work that felt like it mattered.
Then my daughter’s needs changed everything.
She is autistic, has ARFID and hEDS, and hasn't been in school for two years due to school distress, significant mental health issues and autistic burnout. When her world contracted, mine did too. I stepped back from the career I'd built and given my all to, and for a while I felt genuinely lost - not because I didn't understand what was happening clinically, but because understanding something and living it are completely different things.
What I discovered surprised me. The clinical knowledge didn't disappear, it deepened. The years of working with people in crisis, of listening properly, of building support around who people actually are rather than what systems expect them to be - all of it started making sense in a new way. So did my own experience: I'm neurodivergent myself, and have Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder. I'd spent years being good at adapting. I hadn't always been good at noticing the cost.
Doing this work has - genuinely, not just in theory - reversed that. Doing something that aligns with who I actually am, that makes use of everything I know, that helps people I understand from the inside: that's what sustainable looks like for me.
I'm telling you this because the people I work with have usually spent a long time being helped by people who understood their situation professionally but not personally. I think the difference matters. Not because lived experience replaces expertise (it doesn't) but because it changes how you listen, what you notice, and whether someone feels truly seen.
Doing things properly matters deeply to me. I care about evidence, curiosity and continually learning. I have studied and read widely across neurodivergence, nervous system health, trauma, behaviour, physical health and psychology, and I’m committed to work that is both grounded in evidence and deeply human in practice.
Professionally
I'm a Registered Nurse with current NMC registration, a Clinical Nurse Specialist, and designed an Health Service Journal (HSJ) award-winning 24/7 service which I led through its first 18 months until it scaled into a larger team. It's now seen as a gold-standard model, replicated across Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) nationally. I'm completing advanced coaching training through an International Coaching Federation (ICF)-accredited programme (ACC pending) and a diploma in Autism and Mental Health through the National Centre for Autism and Mental Health. I've spent years in dedicated specialist study across autism, ARFID, hypermobility, school distress, sensory processing and co-occurring conditions.
I work closely with research groups and professionals who are experts in their fields to ensure I am at the forefront of knowledge and research. This ensures my practice is founded in evidence and integrity.
I also sit on the leadership team of ARFID Awareness UK as Service Development Director.
The people I work with
The people I work with are usually carrying more than one thing at once. Neurodivergence, physical health, mental health, exhaustion, a child who's struggling, a career that's becoming unsustainable. They've often been seen by multiple professionals and still feel like no one has seen the whole picture.
That's where I come in. To help people find a path through.
If any of this sounds familiar - whether you're an individual, a family, or an organisation - I'd love to talk.
Specialist training and education across the field
Substantial CPD study and investment in the specific territory of the work: autism, ARFID, school distress, hypermobility and the conditions that travel alongside them.
-
Multiple specialist autism and neurodivergence trainings
Neurodivergence, across affirming practice, autism in girls and women, late identification, autism and co-occurring conditions, and autism across the lifespan.
-
Specialist ARFID training and ongoing learning
Including assessment, formulation, the three presentations, ARFID in schools and EHCPs, ARFID in adults and the intersection of ARFID with autism and sensory processing.
-
EDS, HSD, sensory processing and school distress
Specialist learning across hypermobility-spectrum conditions, sensory processing, menopause, mental health, emotionally based school avoidance, alongside the broader picture of neurodivergence-affirming practice.
-
Continuing professional development
Regular engagement with research, conferences, professional networks and lived-experience-led practice. The field is moving fast, and staying current isn't optional.
Six principles that shape everything I do.
These aren't slogans. They're the things I hold on to whether I'm doing 1:1 coaching, running a half-day workshop, sitting with a leadership team, or speaking to a room full of people.
-
Neurodivergence-affirming, by default
Not as a marketing line, but as a working model. Starting from the assumption that neurodivergent people aren't broken versions of neurotypical people, and building everything else from there.
-
Whole-person, not single-diagnosis
Most of the people in front of you are living with more than one thing at once. Training and consultancy that pretends otherwise will miss them.
-
Evidence-informed, not evidence-gatekept
Bringing the best of what we know, but staying honest about where research is thin, contested, or lagging behind lived experience.
-
Warmth as a clinical skill
The professional habits that hold people well, listening, pacing, not flinching from hard things, are skills like any other. They're trainable, and they belong in every setting.
-
Practical above all
Sessions are pitched at the people doing the work, on a Tuesday morning, with a full caseload. Theory matters only insofar as it changes what happens next.
-
Honest about complexity
I don't pretend the answers are simple, and I don't sell certainty I can't deliver. The people I work with appreciate that more than they appreciate slogans.
Get In Touch
Whether you’re looking for training, consultancy, speaking, or simply want to explore whether I’m the right fit, you’re very welcome to get in touch.
I know that the work people bring to me is often personal, complex, or hard to put neatly into words - so you don’t need to arrive with a perfectly formed brief. A conversation is enough.
I also know that some people find phone calls challenging so please let me know how you’d prefer to communicate (phone, email, whatsapp).
If you’re ready to dive straight in, book a free 20 minute chat and we can get started.