I’m Emma, a clinical nurse consultant, living in Yorkshire with my husband James, our sound support dog Arty and our first baby on the way.

I became a mental health nurse after my Mum had a significant stroke when i was 16. I saw how sudden and unexpected life events can affect whole families, creating a ripple effect on our wellbeing that can last throughout our lives. During training i immediately decided i wanted to specialise in supporting younger children. With so much evidence highlighting that prevention is the most effective support tool we can offer, working with young children and their families to learn important skills for their life time mental health became my goal and i specialised in this over the last decade.

Having worked across NHS services for many years, leading up services supporting young children with emotional difficulties, behaviour concerns and neurodevelopmental conditions, I became frustrated by how difficult it was for parents to access quality advice quickly. Too often referrals were turned away until difficulties escalated or families sat on long waiting lists. I started to look at how digital tools, something so familiar in other aspects of our lives, could be used to improve everyday access to quality mental health advice. I love being able to combine my clinical training and experience with my love for all things creative and I get a lot of help along the way, with my parents, siblings, nieces and nephews always happy to test my ideas or designs! With my own little one on the way I also get to practise my own advice and can often be found taking a fresh air break with my dog Arty or using Happiness reflections to help manage some of the more frustrating aspects of pregnancy.