Welcome to the Lion’s Den began as a vision to blend my love for the great outdoors with my dedication to supporting mental health and personal development. With over 20 years of experience working closely with children facing challenges such as learning difficulties, Autism, ADHD, and youth offending, Hospital forensic Mental Health and community Mental Health. I realised that nature and building skills provides a powerful backdrop for healing and growth while Martial Arts Builds safety and confidence.

I also learned through my travels to Japan about the importance of thoughts and emotions in Buddhism.  THE BUDDHA SAY'S The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. 

I have studied Human growth and development in social work which educated you around the biological social and cognitive developments of a child.

I trained as a joiner which helped me have independence, confidence and the ability to risk assess and problem solve. it also helps you to reflect and think for yourself why being present. Philosopher Socrates once said, "To find yourself, think for yourself."

I climbed Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and mount Fuji in Japan where I learned how to survive at high altitude. This taught me about respecting nature and how to use team work to achieve goals. I also learned to monitor my body and be self-aware. Charles Darwin once said "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change."

I have worked in the NHS and Local authorithy to gain expeience with young people. Here I learned that policies dictate the approaches towards a child and family and they have  forgot what it’s like for a lad to be a lad or a girl girl who is just doing their best in life. DR Lori Desautels once said  'Children who develop inside environments with never ending fear are not able to regulate their nervous system and we punish that fear because we only look at behaviours, schools and professionals can be the safe places where we model the natural exercises for regulation. 

At the Lion’s Den we focus on a masculine, nurturing approach and we understand that you’re a lad lad or a proper little madam sometimes. Here we recognise that sometimes a head nod is enough to respond if we ask if you are ok and we do not need to go in huge detail.

I also have a Daughter called Georgia who has a diagnosis of Autism and has a speech delay. Along the journey with our daughter I have experienced 95% poor professionals who were observed to be winging it and 5% that were absolutely fantastic. From this experience I was inspired to create an approach that could not just help my daughter but help other children to.

Each session at the Lion’s Den is infused with my passion and understanding of the unique challenges from skills that I have learned over the years. for example, being a social worker or being on a building site teaching ADHD teensgers how to build.

 I believe that everyone, regardless of their background, can benefit from learning how to connect with nature and develop survival skills. 

This is the lion Den, my daughter is Georgia, and this is 'Georgia approach'