Nicola offers one to one peer support to individuals around bi-polar, depression and mental health recovery as well as alcohol addiction. In terms of engaging with companies, she can cover general mental awareness, stigma and stress and anxiety in the workplace. Nicola first experienced mental health difficulties in her mid-twenties after an incident of self-harming. From that time until her first hospital admission over twenty years later she struggled outside the system without knowing she had bi-polar mood disorder. Today, her professional competencies from the corporate world of IT enable her to undertake group facilitation, committee roles and public-speaking to share her story and work to reduce the stigma around mental health difficulties. In all of her roles, the recovery-orientated themes of ‘Hope, Empowerment, Support’ are in play.
Service User Support Roles (whilst in Ireland)
- Chair of the Galway Mental Health Forum representing service user issues to the HSE (Irish NHS)
- Committee member as a service user representative for several HSE Service Improvement initiatives
- Co-facilitator for an 8 week information support programme for bipolar service users
- Co-facilitator for the Galway Recovery College
- Ambassador for See Change, reducing mental health stigma via media engagement and the green ribbon campaign
- Committee member of Galway Mental Health Association
- Sole facilitator for SMART Recovery an all-addiction recovery
Achievements
- MA Public Advocacy and Activism
- Mental Health First Aid
- WRAP Facilitation 1
- Mental Health Awareness – FETAC L6
I am a member of the Association of Mental Health Advocates and have signed up to the Mental Health Speaker’s Charter.
