How long have you worked at the Uni? What does your role involve?
This will be my 5th academic year, so I’ve worked here four and a half years. It’s gone really quickly. I am the team lead for the University’s Counselling and Mental Health Service. That means I manage a team of professionals – therapists and mental health advisors. I also help with the day to day running of the service, which includes working collaboratively with other departments and liaising with external agencies including IAPT, the NHS, and external counselling agencies. Our intention is to create as much provision for students experiencing emotional or psychological difficulties as we can, to ensure they are offered a wide range of support.
My colleagues run groups such as Mental Health First Aid, Drop the Struggle for Postgrad students, and I facilitate a range of mindfulness courses for both postgrads and undergrads. I make sure we have enough of these groups running, for students and staff, to increase literacy around mental health and promote wellbeing.
What would you most like to achieve while at the University?
I think the University has a fantastic reputation academically and in terms of research, but what I would like to do is engender a quiet revolution whereby staff and students are given the opportunity to learn mindfulness and mindfulness based skills. This can help them to live a rich and fulfilling life alongside their work. I feel very passionately about mindfulness, meditation and yoga. All things holistic.
Name one thing that makes you feel proud to work at the University of Bath?
Without sounding like a cliché, it’s working with a great team of people and I really mean that. In Student Services (my team, Wellbeing, Disability, Finance and Operations) we have a shared vision, which is basically to support students to be the best they can, so they have a fantastic and fulfilling time at our University. They can then take that experience and hopefully go out and make a difference in their wider community as well. I feel very proud to be part of such a dedicated team.
What piece of advice would you like to give to a student?
Step away from social media. Go and talk to people. Don’t be afraid to feel bored or unstimulated – that’s fine. Being bored is part of being alive, and it’s important to let your mind rest and settle. When you’re being stimulated constantly your mind is in an artificial high and actually being bored is when you generate your best ideas. It’s stillness that allows creativity to flourish.
On one hand social media is an instrument for good, and has engendered lots of social change, but it has also got a very dark side as well, so moderate your use of it.
Why is it important for a student to look after their mental health while studying?
You’re not just a brain on a stick. There is more to life than academic achievement, and your mental health is going to serve you well in the long run. It’s important to learn how to understand yourself, how to treat yourself with dignity and respect, how to notice when things aren’t going well for you, and how to look after yourself. The more compassion you develop for yourself as a human being the more compassionate you can be to people around you. Also, if you’re going to work hard and want to achieve a lot in life, you have to balance that out by really knowing how to look after yourself, when to take breaks, and when to play.
Who was your most influential teacher/educator, and why?
I have been blessed to have lots of great teachers from all walks of life, but the one who springs to mind is my yoga teacher, back in my early 30s. He wasn’t the best yogi in the world; he had a really stiff body and couldn’t get into all the positions, but that didn’t matter. He just had a really fantastic understanding of the subject, was diligent, and explained things really well. He taught me that, above all, it doesn’t matter what you look like. It’s not about aesthetics and perfection, it’s about what’s inside and what resonates with you. He also taught me that being passionate and articulate is what puts the message across.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a cowboy. We moved around a lot when I was growing up, and I was always the new kid - a bit lonely, awkward and a bit geeky. But I had an active imagination, so in those times when I was a bit overwhelmed I would just imagine it was me and my palomino riding off into the sunset.
What’s the one thing you know now that you wish you’d known when you were younger?
If you’re willing to jump into the abyss, sometimes it only comes up to your knees. It’s alright to take chances and the more you embrace life, the more it gives back to you. Don’t overthink things and trust your instincts.
Oh, and that Morrissey would not turn out to be a good role model when he got older!
What was your first job?
I did all the usual things like babysitting and waitressing, but my first proper job was as a music journalist. I fell into that by chance, I happened to be in the right place at the right time. I was living in Manchester at the time, going out clubbing and going to gigs a lot. I just rang up NME and asked “Do you have a review of this band called the Happy Mondays?”, and two days later I had my first half page in the NME. I ended up being a music journalist for about seven years. It took me all around the world, including to the States for the first time ever, and went on the road with various bands (as terrifying as that was sometimes!). I wrote for The Face, ID, Mixmag, and Select too.
What’s your favourite book or album and why?
At the risk of sounding horribly pretentious I’m going to say the Satipatthana Suttas which is one of the main Buddhist texts. It gives you the basic tenets of how to live a meaningful life: get to know yourself well, don’t cling on to things that you can’t control, be curious, treat others kindly, and basically don’t be a jerk! But if I wanted a rip-roaring yarn I’d go for A Secret History by Donna Tartt.
What would people be surprised to learn about you?
I used to be able to speak Thai fluently. I lived in Bangkok for six years and decided I wanted to immerse myself in the culture. Most of my friends were Thai and they didn’t speak much English, so it was a baptism of fire really.
I had visited Thailand and had fallen in love with the culture, so just decided to go and live there! I started out as a DJ in a bar, and I set up Bangkok’s first drum and bass night. I also taught movement and agility to pre-schoolers at a class called “tumble tots”. But I ended up reading the news on a nationwide radio station out there (in English not Thai). I went there to get a job as a radio DJ but they said my voice was too dull! But after they heard I had journalistic experience they said “Oh why don’t you join our news team?”
Tell us your favourite joke
How many therapists does it take to change a lightbulb?
Just one, but the lightbulb has got to really want to change.