About

Mental illness has been the reality of my life for over a decade having first struggled with bulimia as a young teen, to then experiencing depression and finally, receiving a personality disorder diagnosis in my early 20's.

I have had first hand experience of suidical thoughts, self-harm and alcohol misuse and I've dealt with both the stigma and discrimination that comes with these.

I understand the degredation that accompanies the removal of your freedom of choice when you no longer have the mental capacity to make decisions for yourself and, I know the pain of supporting a loved one with mental illness all too well.

In stark contrast, I have also experienced the overwhelming power of support, understanding and compassion that has been fundamental to my recovery.

I have lived in and observed a society that is taking baby steps to challenge and change the negativity that surrounds mental ill-health and I aspire to be part of the huge steps forward we will continue to take.

Professionally, I have worked in community mental health settings in the form of supported accommodation as well as an inpatient psychiatric hospital.

For the last 5 years I have worked for the South East Coast Ambulance Service and I also work as a Crisis Volunteer for Shout - the crisis text line service.

I am a fully insured instructor approved by Mental Health First Aid England, I have a Certificate of Higher Education in Life Sciences, a Level 3 Diploma in Health & Social Care and a Level 2 Certificate in Awareness of Mental Health Problems.

I have worked with the South East Coast Ambulance Service to help produce a mental health awareness video as well as the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to aid the production of an online training video on how best to support people experiencing a mental health crisis.

I have such a wealth of knowledge, experience and skills acquired from a vast amount of personal and professional exposure to mental illness and so grew Changing Minds Training. I am enormously passionate about making mental health an every day conversation and I'm advocating for a world where nobody is ashamed or embarrassed about having a mental illness.

My mission is to empower each and every person with the skills, knowledge and compassion required to support the mental health of themselves and others and I provide a growing number of training courses which aim to achieve just this.

Mission

To empower each and every person with the skills, knowledge and compassion required to support the mental health of themselves and others.

Values

Compassion

Experiencing and managing challenges as one

Empowerment

Inspiring and enabling others to make a positive difference

Practicality

Not only great in theory, but fantastic in practice!

Vision

A world where mental health is an everyday conversation, and nobody is ashamed or embarrassed about having a mental illness.

Testimonials

I first met Olivia last year when attending a MHFA course in Surrey, I found her enthusiasm for the often difficult topics and knowledge of the subjects very helpful in helping me through to complete course.

Olivia's experience and background shines through with real life examples and her encouragement of the group to have open discussions as part of the course made the course interesting and relevant to the group.

As Mental Health First Aid was also new to my company I arranged for Olivia to come in and bespoke a course for our managers awareness and understanding of the subject and their role which she delivered twice for us.

We wouldn't hesitate to use Olivia again in the future, Mental Health First Aid should be very important to everyone.