Hi…….. My name is

Victoria,

Im 43, I'm a single mum with a gorgeous boy of 11.

We are also very lucky to have a gorgeous dog (Rocco).

For me, talking to someone can be overwhelming, especially on a just met basis. So I wanted to share a bit of what has brought me here today as the best version of myself. I hope this helps settle the nerves……

At 18 months old I had a freak accident which led me to hospital and I recently learned that I had 48 hours to live. I have no memory of this, however our brains work in amazing ways in which to protect us. A few years later our parents split and me and my twin sister were separated from our older brother who remained with our Dad. We moved around a lot growing up from pub to pub. I hit my teens, I always wore black and covered up.

I really struggled in school within maintaining relationships. I always felt stupid like I couldn’t grasp information that had no interest to me, so I played the class clown to deflect this, and had fun doing so. I loved art and community studies; we would go out of school and help the elderly which I loved. There were many social interactions of self medicating and toxic coping strategies. This went on for some time, it became a cycle of behaviour, a product of my impulsive actions (little did I know that this was me trying to manage my brain and its differences, dopamine chasing/addictive).

I would lose my job every once in a while through not turning up for work due to being hammered/ exhausted.

I decided I wanted to have my own Family and I gave birth to my beautiful Boy !! who has taught me soo much. Im soo lucky to have him !!! I don’t take being a parent lightly and blessed for all of the most amazing friends I have, who have become family.

I later went on to study Behaviour at University and in the first year I was diagnosed with Dyslexia and Dyspraxia this was the first glimpse of learning why I struggled so much at school understanding of my behaviours, I felt SEEN !! I received so much support through my university and am forever grateful for my lecturer for picking up on this at my age of 38. I was given support and a SCRIBER for my dissertation which I could not have not have done without her !!

With my increased knowledge I went on to work and gain experience. Within this time my son seemed to fly through first school but really struggled with the transition to middle school and this was coming out at home, but no one was seeing he wasn’t getting the support.

I was really struggling at the time with demands of full-time work and having to leave work to pick him from school where he was complaining of tummy ache. This put huge worries on my shoulder as a mum I wanted to let him know I had his back and was going to support him. Seeing him this way broke me. To see your child go through this can be heartbreaking. Work was supportive but I needed to be home for my son. We changed schools and he’s been great since. Once he was sorted, I then just broke and went on to what seemed to become a burnout.

It all hit me at once, I was dissociating. I was then out with friends, thinking of how my face looked when it was time to add to the conversation, and be hit by huge rushes of anxiety and paranoia. Once home I would hit FREEZE mode like I couldn’t function and felt STUCK in all ways, emotionally/physically and financially. It was so frustrating as I knew going back to work would cut the cycle but I had a fear of being SEEN. I cannot explain this in any other way, but going outside filled me with such overwhelm and FEAR. I would go the long way round just so I didn’t have to PEOPLE.

I found Art and took some down time AWAY in what I call my CAVE (my home) away from the noise, I craved peace !! A year off led to a late diagnosis of ADHD and I am now awaiting an assessment for Autism, which has made me question my whole life, but has also given me a sense of belonging and peace. I can now understand my struggles and emotions and it has helped me become the person I am today, which has led me to you. Although I had soo many great people around me I still felt alone. I now understand the journey of self-discovery is profoundly UNIQUE, particularly for the neurodivergent community.

I wanted to KEEP this introduction as RAWand TRUE as POSSIBLE so people don’t feel alone. in keeping in tune with that I have used grammarly due to my dyslexia mishmash that comes out all at once.

As a Mentor with a Psychology Degree Bsc I have a deep understanding of counselling theories, I offer Personalised Mentoring that harnesses the transformative power of creativity and expression through using Art and strategies.

Please take a look at some of my expressive pieces displayed in my gallery below.