"I was born in South Africa and moved to the UK when I was aged 19. I worked as a chef and was successful in this career, working in Michelin starred restaurants, until my dreams of being ‘the best chef in the world’ were somewhat overridden by my experience of psychosis.

During my last psychiatric inpatient admissions in 2015, I came across my local hearing voices group, Eleanor Longdens’ video ‘the voices in my head’ and an amazing nursing assistant. I found comfort in the way all three seemed to understand the experiences I was having; this gave me courage to take ownership of and make much needed changes in my life.

With the help of Clinical Psychologist, Dr Pete Ord, I found a way of living with my voices, and was given the opportunity to co-deliver training on psychosis to staff working in the inpatient mental health unit where I had been admitted a year earlier.

Over the years Pete and I have become a bit of a double act where our training is concerned! We have adjusted our training sessions to reflect our personal experiences, incorporated our growing interest in Narrative Therapy, Compassion-Focused Therapy and trauma-informed approaches. We have used this knowledge and learning and applied it into everyday practice with staff employed to serve in mental health and general acute hospital wards, in primary care, community teams, in social care services and police forces.

Today, I still enjoy cooking, am soon to be married and am busy completing a MSc in Mental Health Recovery and Social Inclusion. I am a keen advocate for peer support and lived experience practice. I hope that my work can provide strength and hope for others who are experiencing their own mental health difficulties and also offer guidance on what has been found to be most helpful for those in professions in a position to offer support."

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