Hi my name is Rebecca, or Becky. 

After being under mental health services for some time, I met a Mental health nurse who shared with me his struggles with mental health. No one in that profession had ever shared their own struggles with me and it was a powerful and momentous occasion. It broke down the ‘them and us’ view I had always felt and I was able to work with him to make progress moving forward.

After gaining valuable coping strategies for my own mental health, I was asked to volunteer which did wonders for my self-esteem and confidence issues, from volunteering I was able to progress onto a paid role within the service, going from strength to strength I also felt able to enrol in further education. Fast forward 6 years and I’ve had many positions within the NHS and am still in education and have proudly gained many qualifications. I am still using the skills I learned every day to manage my own mental health, and I will continue to use these throughout my life as recovery is a continuous journey. I am also lucky enough to be able to share these skills with others to help them along their own journey of recovery.

I am now halfway through a master’s degree to further my skills in this area and am gaining valuable knowledge I can use within my role. I feel that my passion for helping others, lived experience and my expanding knowledge puts me in a great position to empower and support others to work on their own recovery.