Postgraduate Psychodynamic Counselling student Laura is combining her wealth of experience as a therapeutic art practitioner and her trip to Kefalonia to volunteer for a wildlife charity to create a book that allows children to gain an understanding of conservation and to express their own feelings throughout the story.
How it started…
For the past 12 years I have worked as a Teaching Assistant in my local Primary School. During this time, I have witnessed a significant increase in the number of young children experiencing anxiety and requiring additional emotional support. The school enabled my training as an Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA) to help meet the growing demands from children and their families.
To further support the children at school, I qualified as a therapeutic art practitioner to enable children to express themselves without using words. Drawing and Talking Therapy helps the right and left side of the brain to communicate effectively, bringing the unconscious to the conscious. For younger children, Sand Play works in the same way. Obtaining these skills allowed me to practice art therapy outside of the school and support a greater number of children.
I helped to coordinate the set-up of a therapeutic space at school, providing the children with a safe retreat during moments of overwhelm and to express their feelings in confidence. Alongside this, we began working in partnership with the YMCA to deliver relevant programmes to the children aimed at boosting confidence and resilience. While receiving the training to facilitate this work, the leader told me that she’d studied Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations at Essex and recommended that I investigate reinforcing my experience with a formal qualification.
I came to Essex as a mature student, completing my BA in Therapeutic Communication and Therapeutic Organisations in 2022. Having enjoyed my studies and witnessing first-hand the transformative impact therapeutic counselling can have, I decided to continue my education with an MA in Psychodynamic Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP accredited). The Masters is intense and involves clinical placements, allowing me to develop my knowledge of working with a range of age groups and gain an understanding of the various, emerging demands for children and adolescents.
Business development
During my undergraduate studies I participated in one of the University’s international volunteering programmes, visiting the Greek island of Kefalonia with charity Wildlife Sense to support a sea turtle conservation project. Alongside my daughter, who joined the trip, our focus was to rescue sea turtle hatchings and ensure they made it to the sea.
One night, as we sat on the beach waiting for the hatchlings to emerge, I was struck by the bravery of these tiny, vulnerable creatures as they made their perilous journey towards the water…and the unknown. I felt that children would be able to relate to the experiences of the turtle hatchlings and learn from them.
Emotional regulation in children can develop at different rates and can be impacted by a variety of experiences. Helping children to recognise their emotions and teaching them the vocabulary to label them, supports self-regulation and encourages children to express their feelings enabling others to understand.
Tiny Turtle 32 is a book for 5-9-year-olds following the journey of a sea turtle hatchling on her way to the ocean and her feelings along the way. Throughout the book children will be encouraged to express how they may feel in similar situations, using dedicated space to draw and write. This book will support parents and caregivers to communicate different feelings, as well as introducing children to the importance of conservation and caring for the natural world.
Working with Essex Startups
My first encounter with Essex Startups was a mentoring meeting with Entrepreneur-in-Residence James Cracknell. I arranged the meeting to see if my idea of creating a book sounded feasible, and to gain an understanding of the process. From the outset, James was enthusiastic about my idea and was able to provide clear steps for me to follow. He taught me the importance of viewing my business as a whole, rather than the book as a sole project. The experience I have gained as a therapeutic art practitioner is intrinsically linked to the creation of the book, and once I have qualified as a counsellor there may be opportunities to scale my offering further.
With encouragement from the team, I used the University’s Click crowdfunding platform to raise the initial funds needed for self-publishing. I was hesitant about going down this route, due to feelings of impostor syndrome, but was delighted to achieve my target and to have received the financial endorsement from the University’s stakeholders demonstrating a tangible belief in my project.
I am currently participating the Essex Startups Empower: Female Founders programme. Despite other commitments restricting my attendance in-person, the team have accommodated my participation via Zoom enabling me to be a part of this amazing course detailing the development of start-up businesses from a female perspective.
How it’s going…
Life is extremely busy, and I find myself feeling constantly tired. I am working part-time in the school, coming onto campus each week for teaching and seminars, attending placements and supervision, working on the development of my business, and managing my caseload of regular private clients. However, I remind myself that this situation is temporary and by September I will have submitted my dissertation for completion of my Masters. So, while I’m extremely busy now, I just need to keep pushing because it won’t be long until I am able to achieve more balance.
I try to keep one day a week completely free to spend quality time with my family and to clear my mind. I enjoy the Chinese practice of QiGong, incorporating movement, breathing and meditation. Working as a counsellor and dealing with trauma can be emotionally draining. It can be difficult to disconnect, so I have found this practice useful to maintain focus and restore a sense of calm during periods of stress.
What’s next…
The next step will be to produce a publishing brief with the aim of securing a publishing contract. There are financial outgoings associated with this, but the service of typesetting, editing, assigning an ISBN, registering with libraries and major book retailers, as well as managing the manufacture and distribution process, are essential for the book’s release and ongoing sales.
My intention is to establish a fund where a percentage of money raised from book sales can be used to acquire equipment which would be donated directly to Wildlife Sense who inspired this journey.
Words of wisdom…
No matter what age you are, you can chase your dreams. Don’t let your age be a barrier to achieving your personal or professional goals, it’s never too late.
I would never have come this far in my entrepreneurial journey without the guidance and support of the Essex Startups team. I am so grateful to James for helping to bring my vision to life and for having the belief in my abilities. The team continue to give me the boost I need to persevere and have inspired me to keep developing my skills.
Find out more
If you have a potential business idea, or are interested in developing your business skills, find out more about the training, events and support Essex Startups offers to current students and recent graduates.
