Kay
Lives Not Labels Co-Founder
Kay
Kay (She/Her) has been involved in mental health activism since the age of 14 when she founded her own project to improve services for children and young people. Kay won an array of local and national awards for her mental health activism, including an accolade from Government Office West Midlands.
Following her keen interest in Sociology, Psychology and Philosophy, she initially trained in Social Work, specialising in Mental Health. After this she completed her Postgraduate in Psychological Therapies, a sector she worked in for six years.
Kay later became involved in lived experience work and went on to teach in a range of settings, most notably teaching fifth year Clinical Psychology students at Hull University. She has also spoken at conferences, having co-produced a masterclass at the 2019 UK Psychological Trauma Society conference and a talk for the 2023 Peerfest with Mind alongside Katja.
Kay’s primary diagnosis is Schizophrenia but she has had multiple diagnoses over the years including – but not limited to – Psychosis, depression, bulimia nervosa, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Borderline Personality Disorder.
Spiritual Focus
As a practising Buddhist, Kay is also interested in how people can use Buddhist principles in recovery, as well as considering what other therapeutic activities people can do to help in their healing journey such as Indian Head Massage, Qigong and hydrotherapy.
Kay has co-written and published her first book Sorry My Mental Illness Isn’t Sexy Enough For You alongside Katja. She is also a keen artist with ambitions to return to university to train as an Art Therapist. She is looking forward to exploring poetry, photography and other creative endeavours.
Kay loves animals and lives with her hamster Marley. Her other interests include music, gaming and football. Kay is a life-long learner and takes great joy in completing courses relating to health, social care, spirituality and education.