Emily Kreyling – Founder

“We want to break down barriers, relieve stigma’s and empower people to understand their own mental health and wellbeing in order to lead a healthy and successful life.”

I am a mum to two happy, charming and fully energised boys and wife to my accomplished, supportive and caring husband. Prior to setting up B MINDFUL in 2017, I taught in two large FE colleges and have been working in Education for the past 18 years.

I have a particular interest in holistic approaches to mental health and wellbeing and I’m passionate about educating individuals so that they are able to develop new healthy behaviours and thought processes. Through the work we do, the aim is to break down barriers related to poor mental health and to provide open and honest platforms for individuals to grow and develop.

Growing up there were a few fundamental people in my life that had been affected by poor mental health. As a child and young adult, I always used to wonder what I could do to help, I remember feeling frustrated that these people weren’t taken seriously enough about their issues, stigmatised and judged and no real help was on offer to support them. It seemed that one size was supposed to fit all. Quite clearly during the years I was growing up, there was a disparity between how mental and physical health were viewed.

I have experienced anxiety throughout my life and at different stages it has been more prevalent than others; in particular when my mother was battling breast cancer. Unbeknown to me this manifested and continued to develop throughout the first few years after my mothers death. Due to the grief I was experiencing, this turned into a much bigger issue than I first thought which left me with crippling anxiety and depression. Through talking therapy and using practical holistic approaches to managing my wellbeing such as developing a greater understanding in psycho-education, fitness, nutrition, yoga and self help, I was able to push past this difficult period in my life.

Throughout my own life I have tried to ensure that I learn from what I had experienced (and what those close to me had experienced). I feel that society on the whole still has a long way to go, and that we all have a part to play. The ability to be empathetic, listen non judgementally and be able to encourage support, are skills we should embrace and develop. One of our natural and most basic instincts is to care for one another, we just need to be equipped with the skills to be able to identify when an individual is experiencing poor mental health and know what to do next.

At B MINDFUL we want to be able to give all individuals the autonomy to think about and understand their own and others mental health and wellbeing. It’s our goal to educate and support individuals so that they feel heard, understood and supported, this in turn should make for happier, healthier and more resilient communities.

Leigh Willcock – Head of B Mindful

Prior to joining B MINDFUL, I spent 20 years working in the retail industry, focusing on the development of both the individual as well as the team. Positive mental health is of great importance in my own life. I have spent the past several years understanding key aspects of mental health through my own lived experiences and how to best support it, all of which led me to a career change in 2019. I am an advocate for talking openly and honestly and acknowledge that for some people (particularly men) this isn’t an easy thing to do. Listening non judgementally is the first stepping stone for individuals to be able to access the support they need.

Being a passionate, empathetic, understanding and driven person allows me to ‘make a difference’ and fulfil my role as Head of B MINDFUL. My focus is on building new and nurturing pre-existing relationships with teams and clients, driving new initiatives, managing the extended B MINDFUL team, whilst supporting employees across the wider group and our local communities.

Being able to recognise if someone is struggling with their mental health is imperative but extending this further it helps individuals feel heard and understood. Something I like to remember is that ‘interaction is the best intervention’.

Outside of the workplace I support the community by volunteering as a FA football coach; coaching children and young adults. I enjoy supporting and developing players to progress within the sport, whilst understanding the value of working as a team. I also volunteer for a local homeless charity, helping to support service users with their mental health and wellbeing. These individuals may be in crisis or simply just need someone to talk to. I enjoy spending time outdoors and I value the benefits this brings to my mental wellbeing.

I feel that we all have a responsibility to make a positive difference within our communities. We must support individuals to develop the necessary skills that enable them to identify potential barriers within their lives, encourage an open platform for discussion and support individuals in accessing the right help and support.

We must continue to create inclusive communities and push forward to educate all individuals so that we can live within a society where mental health conditions are understood and accepted without stigma or discrimination.

B MINDFUL Associates and Community Team’

Rekha Kapoor

I am a qualified registered nurse, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Finding Peace in a Frantic World trainer and Mental Health First Aid Instructor. With over 30 years of experience supporting people with their physical and mental wellbeing in the NHS, along with mindfulness, self-compassion which have been fundamental in helping me improve my own psychological wellbeing.

My aim is to support individuals and businesses to help create an environment where employees excel, and business prospers. From my experience with workplace stress and no longer being able to work within the NHS, I believe that wellbeing should be at the heart of every business. One way is providing youth, and mental health training which helps participants to gain valuable skills to benefit their colleagues and the young people they support.

My other passion is to empower people to achieve their goals and overcome challenges by applying psychological coaching and mindfulness techniques to improve their performance and achievements.

Caroline Burkett

I am a UKCP Integrative Psychotherapist and HCPC Art Psychotherapist. I offer a creative, trauma-informed and relational approach to my art therapy sessions.

Working with art materials offers an excellent way in which to explore feelings and emotions, as well as to help to support healing and to provide techniques to move forward. Art therapy is not about how well you can draw but instead focuses on the process.

Art therapy offers you the ability to express your thoughts, feelings and emotions that sometimes cannot be expressed easily with words. It differs from other talking therapies because by working with your creativity you can gain a deeper understanding about yourself and gain insight on what is going on for you, it is a very powerful tool of communication.

Art therapy can promote healing by assisting you in discovering any unhelpful patterns of behaviour and thinking, it can gently bring you into self awareness so that you will be able to decide whether these ways of thinking are still useful for you and your well being, or whether they have now become unhelpful. They are usually templates of behaviour that we develop as children that kept us safe then, but may now be out-of-date. They may also stop us getting to know ourselves better or getting our true needs met.

I also have specialist art psychotherapy sensorimotor training which enables me to use the arts in a way which is effective in working with trauma. This technique allows you to explore and work towards healing your trauma without going into the details of what happened to you.

Additionally participating in a creative activity can help regulate your emotional and physical wellbeing. The arts can help you deal with the physical sensation that may arise when you feel stressed or anxious, such as rapid breathing, increased heart rate and uncomfortable feelings in your stomach.

Julie Bronze

I am an accredited member of the BACP (25 years+) and I am listed on the UKRCP register. I have previously worked within the NHS for 20 years and currently have my own private practice. I am experienced in many counselling methods including CBT, Humanistic and transactional analysis amongst others. I am an integrative therapist and supervisor. I have worked with many diverse and complicated situations, I work with individuals and couples who are 18 and above.

Lorraine Bygrave

I am an Accredited integrative psychotherapist and EMDR Practitioner. This is not only a profession for me, it is also a passion, which the spark I found in helping people is continually fuelled by the belief that everyone deserves to live their best life. Connecting with people and assisting on the journey which helps to uncover their real self is a process which I look forward to with all of my clients. Negative behaviour is one of the foremost indications that people are suffering inside, and without judgement I collaborate with my clients to piece together the puzzles, so we can change this.

I remain committed to developing and expanding my knowledge through continually training. This ensures that I remain up to date with innovative therapy techniques, so that I can offer a service which tailors around ongoing developments in psychotherapy. As such, this enables me to deliver ground-breaking therapy which will have long lasting results on the lives of my clients. Living with good mental health is fundamental to our wellbeing and can have an unprecedented impact on physical health, family life, work life, and relationships. Learning how to manage stress and anxiety, as well as processing trauma are crucial steps in moving towards the life that we want to live.

Drawing on various personal experiences enables me to offer a comforting level of empathy and understanding, which helps develop a trusting and safe environment for my clients. I believe that helping people to become more self-aware, nurtures life skills which they can carry through future difficult situations that they may find themselves in. Life is a journey, it may take many attempts to get it right, but you can never stop learning and growing as a person. Helping clients process negative beliefs about themselves by turning them into positive ones is very rewarding. Seeing progress from being depressed, anxious and fearful to being reinvigorated with a new zest for life is a reward greater than words can describe. I have learnt a great deal from the clients I have helped, whether they have been children, young people or adults. During the lockdown I switched my therapy services to online. Online therapy has proven highly effective, and it gave clients the emotional support and help in a manner which was safe in this pandemic. Working online enabled me to connect with people from all over the UK and, even throughout the world. I feel very privileged to have found a career as fulfilling and rewarding as this one, and that so many people let me help them with their journeys.

Lisa Berg

I am a practising BACP Accredited Counsellor offering person-centred counselling services to both individuals and a number of well known national Employee Assistance Providers. I have experience in working with clients who present with diverse issues ranging from addiction, trauma, bullying/harassment in the workplace, depression/anxiety, eating disorders and relationship issues. I previously worked as an Addiction Treatment Programme Counsellor at The Priory Hospital in Chelmsford. My role was to work within an integrated multi-disciplinary team providing group work within the 12-step model; presenting and processing educational material in the form of workshops and visual presentations; delivering aftercare programmes and an active day-care programme for patients with addiction problems. I undertook my counselling training as a Honorary Therapist at Community Drug & Alcohol Services (CDAS).

I can help support individuals with Addictions, Anxiety, Depression, Post-traumatic stress, Relationships, Self-esteem, Self-harm, Stress, Trauma, Work related issues.

Types of therapy; Brief therapy, Humanistic, Integrative, Person-centred, Solution focused brief therapy

Mandy Tarbard

I have been a Personal Trainer for 10 years (qualified in level 2 and 3 in fitness including Anatomy and Physiology). I run my own bootcamps, 1:1 clients sessions and co-founder of Frenzy a workout for all levels of fitness which includes high intensity physical activity, yoga and meditation and also run bootcamp style sessions at a local children’s nursery educating the younger generation the importance of movement from a young age. I work from a private studio based in Leigh on Sea and also train clients from their home where ever they feel more comfortable.

I love to help others to find their right pathway to health both physically and mentally through exercise and nutrition.

Nikki Nicholas

I am a Senior Yoga teacher registered with the Yoga Alliance, I believe in yoga being for everybody, ‘if you are breathing, you can practice yoga’. I have been practicing yoga for longer than I care to remember and a teacher for 10 years.

Yoga is constantly evolving, and I take inspiration from ‘spine-kind’ practitioners old and new – applying the specialist knowledge I have in back care and promoting a mindful approach to yoga practice.

I have trained in aspects of yoga therapy for back care and mental health and I’m an Accessible Yoga teacher.

I’ve been in the fitness industry for 20 years and have a background in personal training, GP referral and stress management. After personally suffering a back injury, I found Pilates and because of its real and rapid results I decided I wanted to teach it. This is been my teaching focus for the past 18 years.

I deliver my sessions in a real, achievable and accessible way. I am thrilled to find a home for my passion for wellbeing for everybody in the community regardless of background and that home is B Mindful.

Stacie Kinchin Turner

I am a yoga teacher (200hr Yoga Alliance Certified) and wellness coach with over 10 years experience. I am passionate about helping people take care of themselves and re-discover their purpose, giving them a new zest for life. I do this by showing them how to incorporate yoga, breath-work, stillness and real food into their busy lives.

Having worked in some of London’s biggest advertising agencies, I am acutely aware of how stressful that environment can be; the long hours and the pressurised environment. Quite a few years ago, the ‘work hard, play hard’ lifestyle took its toll on me and I began having stress-related panic attacks. Then I came across a healthy eating book that not only changed my life, it changed my whole being. I began a journey of discovery into ‘real’ food, yoga and self-development.

I went from being an angry and impatient person to someone happy, relaxed and positive. I am passionate about sharing the tools and techniques I use in everyday stressful life to keep overwhelm, stress and anxiety under control.