A NURSE has used her time in lockdown to relaunch her mental health business which she aims to be more accessible and affordable than private health care.
Kamara Christopher-Freeman, 31, started The Mental Health Mechanics just before the first coronavirus lockdown in 2020.
She had to put her plans on her halt and she and her partner, Allan, then decided to move from London to Didcot.
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However Mrs Christopher-Freeman used her time in isolation to relaunch the business and now hopes to help children, parents, carers and teachers across the county.
She first decided to start the business after seeing first hand as a clinical nurse specialist how long wait lists were for people struggling with their mental health.
She said: “I’ve been working in mental health since I was 19, I started working on mental health wards for work experience while studying criminology and psychology at university.
“I decided to retrain as a nurse and stayed on the wards for a while and then about six years ago I moved into the community and that’s when I realised how restricted the NHS is.
“I was shocked when I realised how long waiting lists were and that’s where the idea came from to create a service that was more accessible and could help people when they needed it.
“Unfortunately we have to use our resources where they are best placed and that means seeing people in crisis or who are really struggling.
“But that means that others are sat on a wait list deteriorating until they meet the threshold where they too need preventative measures.”
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Mrs Christopher-Freeman then started working in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) in 2019 and noticed a lot of parents were turning to private health services due to the long waits.
However she said not everyone can afford that so she wants to provide a more affordable resource for families to use that also provides help for parents.
She said: “One of the big resources children have are parents and school as that’s where they spend most of their time so while they are waiting it’s parents, carers and teachers who are managing the symptoms.
“There’s no special support for them to do what they can to help and hopefully I can bridge that gap.”
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Mrs Christopher-Freemansaid starting the business during the pandemic was difficult but she is excited to get started next month.
“I feel there is a need in Oxfordshire,” she said. “Life is difficult, it’s about learning how to cope.”
For more information, visit: thementalhealthmechanics.co.uk
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