Hello, I’m Carrie — I’m really pleased you’ve found me.
My own journey of self-discovery began long before ADHD ever came into the picture.
From a young age, I often had a sense that I didn’t quite fit in. I was sociable, funny and caring, and from the outside probably appeared absolutely fine. Underneath, though, I often wondered why I seemed to experience things differently from other people.
I was also deeply curious about people — what was going on beneath the surface, why we think and feel the way we do, why we repeat certain patterns, and what can happen when we begin to see ourselves differently.
That curiosity has shaped every twist and turn of my life and work.
When the penny dropped for me
Alongside my professional story, there has, of course, been my own.
For much of my life, I appeared capable while often feeling overwhelmed underneath.
I could get things done, but sometimes at considerable cost. I second-guessed myself, pushed myself hard and spent enormous amounts of energy trying to meet expectations — my own as much as anyone else’s.
It was post-menopause when the penny finally began to drop.
As I learned more about ADHD in women, I began recognising myself in what I was reading and hearing. Experiences and patterns that had previously seemed unrelated started to connect.
So much began to make sense.
My own experience of coaching gave me space to talk things through and look back at my life differently — with more curiosity and compassion, and considerably less judgement.
I began to understand ADHD as a different way of experiencing and navigating the world, rather than evidence that something was wrong with me.
That didn’t mean ignoring the very real challenges. It meant seeing the whole picture — including qualities such as curiosity, intuition, sensitivity and creativity.
I began to see that being different didn’t have to mean being deficient.
Understanding ADHD hasn’t made me a different person. It’s helped me understand the person who was there all along.
And that experience added another layer to everything I had already learned professionally.
I believe we make very different choices when we understand and accept ourselves rather than judge ourselves.
When I came to Carrie, what I wanted was for her to ‘fix’ the problems. What she gave me was the confidence and ability to look at things very differently, in a way that was empowering and from that perspective I realised there was nothing to actually ‘fix’. I have gained invaluable insight about myself and have become much more accepting and trusting in my intuition.
JJ - Nurse
A professional life centred around people
My career has certainly not followed a straight line. But when I look back over more than 30 years of working with people, the thread connecting it all feels very clear.
My professional background has taken me through women’s wellbeing, counselling, mental health and social care, substance misuse and family support, corporate wellbeing and, more recently, specialist neurodivergent support in higher education.
Different settings, different roles — but always people.
Women’s wellbeing and menopause have been an important part of that journey for many years. I’ve co-created and delivered menopause and wellbeing programmes, workplace talks and women’s retreats, supporting women through a stage of life that can bring significant change.
My work has also included mindfulness and meditation, alongside training in person-centred counselling and solution-focused clinical hypnotherapy.
Together, these experiences have shaped a whole-person approach to my work — an understanding that our thoughts, emotions, energy, stress, circumstances and environment can all affect our capacity and how we experience our lives.
The way I work with people has remained consistent throughout: listening, being curious about what’s happening beneath the surface, and helping people recognise their own strengths, choices and possibilities.
That perspective is an important part of how I work today.
Why midlife women?
I see midlife as a time of huge potential — a chance to understand and experience ourselves in new ways, question what no longer feels right and become clearer about how we want to live the next part of our lives.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy.
Midlife can bring a lot together at once: hormonal change, shifts in energy and capacity, work and relationships, caring responsibilities, and the accumulated demands of many years of keeping things going.
For some women, it’s also the point at which ADHD first comes onto the radar — perhaps bringing a very different understanding of experiences and patterns that have been there for much longer.
And somewhere amongst all of that, different questions can begin to emerge.
What about me?
What do I need now?
How do I want the next part of my life to feel?
After years of adapting, achieving, caring, coping, meeting expectations or simply getting on with what needed to be done, those can be surprisingly powerful questions.
This is the work I care deeply about.
Creating space for women to understand themselves more fully, recognise what they need and make choices about what comes next — without feeling they need to become someone else or have everything figured out.
I live in the beautiful Monmouthshire countryside in Wales, although my ultimate happy place will probably always involve swimming in a warm blue sea.
I love food and cooking - preferably something delicious that can become a one-pot wonder and I’m endlessly curious about health and wellbeing in midlife.
Movement is a big part of what helps me feel well and have the energy to enjoy my life: resistance training, yoga, rebounding, HIIT, walking... variety definitely helps.
I’m also very much a work in progress.
My ADHD traits haven’t disappeared because I understand myself better. I can still become completely absorbed in a new interest or disappear down a fascinating rabbit hole.
I still have challenging phases.
The difference is that I know myself better now. I’m clearer about what helps and what doesn’t - and I’ve learned that humour goes a long way.
And when I’m not doing any of that, there’s a fair chance I’m watching a spy drama series and wondering when I can next get into that warm blue sea.
Away from coaching…
Professional Background and Training
My counselling, hypnotherapy and wider professional background all inform the way I work, but the work I offer here is coaching.
TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS
Certified ADHD Coach
NTA Advanced ADHD Coaching — ICF accredited course - current training
BA (Hons) Person-Centred Counselling
BACP Registered Member (MBACP)
Solution-Focused Clinical Hypnotherapist
3rd Age Woman Peri-to Post Menopause Certification — Burrell Education
Mindfulness NOW Practitioner training
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Specialist neurodivergent mentoring in higher education
Women’s and corporate wellbeing
Mental health and social care
Family support and substance misuse
Samaritans volunteer
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