About me
From a very early age, most of us are taught and encouraged to learn about mathematics or history, but very little about how our minds work. Societies are mainly interested in the productivity of its people but don’t tend to help people understand themselves better. They seek to foster aspirations of becoming and entrepreneur, engineer, programmer, economist, football player, or shop worker. At no time are Western children or adults taught that our minds can be very difficult to cope and why this is the case. Some relatively simple mind training can really help with anxiety, depression, anger and self-doubt.
My main purpose is to give people the tools to help them live full and meaningful lives. I produce books, online courses and workshops that focus on overcoming anxiety, changing limiting behaviour, and increasing mental wellbeing. My strategy is to educate the public about the practical everyday things that can be done to improve mental (and physical) wellbeing and confidence, while also campaigning for small adjustments in society that help to protect and enable positive mental health. I want to make people stronger through helping them to understand their mind, encouraging them to take responsibility for their mental wellbeing and urging them to be courageous and take action. My approach has four main steps:
Build a strong foundation
Understand who you are
Learn to manage your mind
Take action
When I started working for myself, I wanted to create a different kind of well-being and personal development business. I don’t use psychological marketing methods (such as ‘marketing funnels’, ‘free’ gifts, or email list sign-ups to increase sales, and all of the additional online material for my course and books is free to access without the need to subscribe to my email list. I also don’t use my email list to constantly sell new books or courses, I trust that my work will speak for itself and create value to people and organisations. The work is born out of compassion and the desire to help people to change their lives for the better, and from day one I’ve built the culture around a set of four guiding principles that reflect this:
Put people first
Keep it simple
Make it enjoyable
Optimise for happiness and well-being, not profit
I am an academic, having taught undergraduate and postgraduate students in the areas of health psychology, mental health disorders, exercise psychology, positive psychology, and mindfulness. I’ve held Lecturer and Senior Lecturer positions for over 21 years in both the Psychology and Sport & Exercise Science Departments of Northumbria University in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, U.K. I have an undergraduate BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology with Exercise Science and PhD in Psychology. I am also a founding member of the Newcastle Centre for Positive Living at Northumbria University, a research and consultancy centre focusing on furthering the understanding and application of positive psychology.
In recent years I’ve helped design and deliver courses in mindfulness, positive psychology and Acceptance & Commitment Training (ACT) to the general public, and master classes in positive psychology to coaches, trainers, teachers and health professionals. I’m interested in helping individuals to understand the scientific research within the field of mindfulness, positive psychology and ACT, and in assisting them in applying it to their everyday lives. My purpose is to help people alleviate suffering and to live full and meaningful lives whatever circumstances they find themselves in.
If you’re interested in what I am doing right now, please click here: NOW
