The psychologist behind The Valent Collective

I've spent over a decade working in some of the hardest corners of mental health: crisis teams, A&E, prisons and general hospitals. I've trained teams of nurses, prison officers, police officers and social workers in the psychology of supporting people in distress, and sat with the families around them, people who'd do anything to help someone they love but had no idea how. When I talk to your team about pressure, burnout and confidence, it comes from the real thing.

Early in my career I ran group workshops in a recovery college, teaching people how their minds work. I loved it, and people would often say, “I wish someone had told me this sooner”. They were right. However, funding meant that this understanding was only ever available to people already unwell enough to qualify for services. I never understood why we weren't sharing how our brains work with people before they started to struggle. The people who were doing demanding jobs, and holding it all together, never got to learn how to optimise themselves to stay well.

After my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the University of Liverpool, I worked in liaison psychiatry in A&E. I met people at the worst moments of their lives and explained to them and their families what was happening in their brain and what could help, there and then. Taking complex science and making it usable, digestible, and actionable in-the-moment is something that I have continued to practice in NHS crisis, private, and group training. It shouldn't take things falling apart before you learn how your brain works. That's why I founded The Valent Collective: to share how our brains work in a warm, friendly way, and change what looking after your mental health actually looks like.

This work comes alive in a group. Mental health doesn't exist in isolation; a shared language, and understanding ourselves and each other, is what makes it powerful. When someone understands how their mind works, they do their best work. When a whole team does, it compounds: they steady each other, make clearer decisions, recover quicker, and grow together. At scale, across a large company, everyone understanding how their mind works multiplies that effect, and collaboration and growth follow naturally. Understanding how we're wired isn't only about wellbeing, it's about what a group of people become capable of, and what that's worth to you, in talent, in culture, and great people doing great work that they love. The numbers for that speak for themselves.