I sure am. I suffered childhood trauma and didn't have the skills to talk about or process my experience. Emotional eating became my coping mechanism, so at 8 years old, I began the cycle of guilt, shame and self-hatred that lasted for 15 years.   

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At 18, I discovered alcohol! That was wonderful because it switched off the negative voices in my head that were constantly telling me I wasn't good enough. The hangovers weren't great, but it felt like a small price to pay to silence my brain for a while. 

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At 20, I lost 20 kilos and put it all back on, and some extra. The sense of shame was so overwhelming that I finally decided to face my weight issues and lost 35 kilos. I became a Weight Watchers leader so I could hep others deal with their emotional eating, and as a way to hold myself accountable for keeping the weight off.

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I changed my relationship with food and have kept my weight off for over 20 years. But I did nothing about the issues that caused my emotional eating, so drinking remained my coping strategy.  

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It helped me through miscarriage, post-natal depression and anxiety. It helped me through the yearly years of motherhood and the shock of being diagnosed with ADHD at 47. 

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I tried multiple times to moderate but it never lasted. Something would always drag me back to my drinking habits and and another cycle of shame, guilt and self-hatred would begin. 

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I finally realised it was time to change when my daughter told me she was worried about me dying from my drinking. I realised I was making her relive my own childhood and decided I needed to be the cycle breaker. 

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I promised her a year of sobriety and started my journey on 1 January 2023. I had been drinking for 30 years so it didn't take long to realise that my one year commitment needed to be a life commitment.

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I had to face my internal demons once and for all. I had to learn new coping and relaxing strategies and take responsibility for my life decisions. As I progressed, I realised I wanted to help others finally break the grip alcohol had on their life, so enrolled in a Diploma of Alcohol and Drugs Practice.

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I did not expect to find myself forging a life of sobriety, while being back at university for the first time in 15 years, but there I was. 

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Now, I find myself with more energy, self-compassion, patience and trust. 

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I am a better mother, wife, employee, friend and person. 

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I am living the life I always wanted to - free of the negative cycle I'd been in for 40 years.

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Now, I can help you to achieve your own freedom.  

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My qualifications

• Diploma of Alcohol and Other Drugs Practice (2023)

• Understanding ADHD (2023)

• Graduate Diploma of Psychology (2006)

• Bachelor of Business - Communications (2002)

• 20 years specialising in corporate coaching and change management

• 2 years as a Weight Watchers leader  

• Personal lived experienced of childhood trauma, emotional eating disorder, alcohol use, depression, anxiety, infertility, pregnancy loss, adult ADHD diagnosis and mother of two neuro-divergent children

• Wrote and self-published "Welcome to ADHD", a simple guide to help adults understand and share their diagnosis 

• 30 years of self-help through counselling, psychology, psychiatry, hypnosis and art therapy

• Personal interest, research and study into trauma-informed care, ADHD and autism management, relaxation techniques, holistic healing and art therapy.  

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This is your journey so we'll work together to develop the right therapeutic approach for you, guided by what's worked for me and other clients.