In my role as Specialist Creative Designer at Beacon House, I bring together lived experience, creative practice and clinical understanding. As an adoptive parent to children with developmental trauma, I have lived through some of the most difficult and uncertain places families can find themselves in. I know how fear, blocked care and secondary trauma can settle into a parent or carer’s heart, body and mind, how connection can get lost in the pressure of survival, and how much can begin to change when safety and relationship are slowly and safely restored.

That experience shapes every part of my work. I understand, from the inside, the emotional labour carried by families and frontline professionals: the weight of it, the loneliness, and the quiet courage it takes to keep going. Psychological safety is not just an idea to me; it is something I have had to build, and keep building, for myself, my family, and the people I indirectly support through my work.

Working closely with our clinical team, I help shape training that is warm, practical and rooted in both neuroscience and lived experience. I care deeply about bridging the gap between academic knowledge and the emotional truth of trauma, so that people are not only able to understand the theory, but can also feel its relevance in everyday life. I specialise in turning complex theory and painful subject matter into clear, grounded information that can be understood and used in real homes, classrooms and professional settings.

I believe that when we understand how each of our brains and bodies adapts in order to survive, we begin to understand one another more fully. From there, things can start to feel safer, more manageable and more possible. Much of my work is driven by a hope that the right information, offered in the right way, can help children, families and professionals feel less overwhelmed, less isolated and more supported.

At Beacon House, I bring together my artistic training and trauma-informed insight to create visuals, tools and resources that feel human, compassionate and genuinely useful. This runs through the illustrations and resources I have created for our forthcoming book on healing developmental trauma in families and systems, written by my colleague and friend Dr Shoshanah Lyons, and to be published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers in Spring 2027. The book reflects so much of what Beacon House has learned over the years: a commitment to holding science and humanity together in the way we understand developmental trauma.

I am also the creator of the Inner World Work series ‘Survival In…’, which is currently being updated for 2026.

  • Professional Diploma in Therapeutic Life Story Work, IATE
    October 2017 – October 2018
  • Foundation Diploma in mindfulness, Centre of Excellence
    Sept 2015 – Dec 2015
  • Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills, Northbrook College
    Sept 2012 – June 2013
  • BA First Class Honours in Surface & Textile Design, Northbrook College
    Sept 2003 – June 2006
  • BTEC National Diploma in General Art & Design, Northbrook College
    Sept 1999 – July 2001
  • Therapy in colour – Anti-Racist and Intersectional Approaches
    Online Global Events, 14th and 15th July 2023
  • Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Training
    Roshmi Lovatt, 28th January 2023
  • Self-Harming in Children & Teens
    Beacon House Online Training, 3 hours, August 2022
  • The Power of the Senses; re-building sensory systems and supporting regulation in children impacted by early trauma
    Beacon House Online Training, 6 hours, May 2021
  • Building Emotional Regulation Skills in Children & Young People
    Beacon House Online Training, 6 hours, December 2020
  • Developmental Trauma for Professionals
    Beacon House Online Training, 12 hours, May 2020
  • The dynamic maturational model of attachment across the lifespan
    Dr Ben Grey, Dept of Attachment Studies, University of Roehampton, one day, May 2019
  • Trauma Informed Schools with Stuart Guest
    Guest speak at Beacon House, 25th January 2019
  • Éadaoin Bhreathnach: An Introduction to Sensory Attachment Intervention
    Training by Éadaoin Bhreathnach, 7th December 2018
  • Éadaoin Bhreathnach: The Art of Stress Management With You & Your Child
    Training by Éadaoin Bhreathnach, 6th December 2018
  • International trauma recovery summit, Belfast
    27th & 28th June 2018
  • Dan Hughes masterclass
    Centre for Emotional Development, October 2016