Emma’s Profile

I’m Emma and I have struggled with my own mental health throughout my life, in particular, anxiety. I am diagnosed with General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). I’ve also had periods in my life where I have struggled with depression and have taken medication to help me manage it.

Growing Up

I didn’t have the easiest of childhoods, with a breakdown between family relationships, an abusive stepfather until I was around 6 years old and other traumas that happened; not always to me but to those I was close to. This is really where I think my anxiety stemmed from. Always worrying what might happen and it felt easier to expect and imagine the worst scenarios than be caught off guard with something. I put a lot of weight on (I was a size 22 and 14 stone at 12 years old) and was severely bullied throughout school because of it. Despite all this I did pretty well at school and went on to college and university. I graduated with a first BA (hons) Degree in Tourism & Business Management. I went into the corporate world after university taking the first job I could find to support myself. I started to look at my lifestyle and made some changes, learning how to eat health and finding exercise that I enjoyed in yoga and swimming and lost in total around 6 stone. In 2005, I decided I needed a big change and I spent 6 months travelling and went to Fiji, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, something I’d wanted to do for years.

I met Nick in 2007 and we became a couple. Nick had existing mental health difficulties already but deteriorated in the following years and not only was I his girlfriend but I also became his carer. I would sort out all the bills, do all the shopping and cleaning, give him his medication and organise and attend all his appointments with him. I do sometimes wonder how I did it all and worked full time at the same time but that’s what we do when we love someone. In that time, I think I pretty much lived my life in a state of anxiety. I’d not dealt with my issues but I didn’t even think about them as I was busy and caring for someone else. Nick doesn’t need me as much now but he will say there are some things that he still needs me to do such as ringing Sky etc! Once he didn’t need me as much that’s when my anxiety really started to show. I wasn’t as busy so I couldn’t hide it or shy away for it anymore. I decided to look after myself and it was time to start working through it, so I sought help through my GP.

Managing Anxiety

Managing my anxiety is a daily thing for me and I find the best way for me is to be proactive and to do things to try and stay on top of it. I have done Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and talking therapies; both given me some really good tools on challenging negative thought processes. I have done a 12 week Wellness Recovery Action Plan Course (WRAP), which I still use daily; I find the daily maintenance and action planning really useful in managing my anxiety. The biggest thing that I have found to help manage my anxiety is meditation. I practice daily and I find this makes me so much calmer and helps me to process my emotions. It enables me to take a pause and a breath before I let my mind take over in situations which could cause my anxiety to spiral. Now, I will take that breath and question myself rationally about the situation before I am drawn into the emotion of it. It doesn’t mean that I don’t have down days or anxiety pangs because I do, I am only human. I do know now I have the tools to stop me getting any worse. If I have a bad day I can heal myself with self-reiki and be kind to myself by using my wellness tools.

The Missing Peace

I was made redundant from my corporate job in 2019 and it’s then I decided I wanted to put my energy into Missing Peace full time. I have tried to take every opportunity that has become available to me, so we’ve been able to offer holistic therapies to support people’s wellbeing as well as mental health support. I am a trained Meditation teacher and a Level II Reiki Healer. I am qualified in Mental Health First Aid and Suicide First Aid and I have Level 2 qualifications in Mental Health Awareness, Children and Young People’s Mental Health and Counselling. I am also a Wellness Advocate for doTERRA, which means that I can sell their natural products such as pure essential oils and skin care. I use the doTERRA products in my daily life to support my own & Nicks wellbeing which is why I went on to be a wellness advocate. I can now share their benefits with others. I have a certificate in Aromatherapy blending, so that I can blend essential oils and understand which oils can be used to support conditions such as anxiety, but also, which oils should not be used when someone has particular medical conditions.

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