Amanda, who is from a professional theatre and teaching background and has been a drama therapist for 20 years, has recently retired from the NHS for the third time . She founded Turnways Therapies in 2013, and has been leading a team of creative therapists since. Amanda feels she could write the story of a creative therapist in the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service. Her aim now is to develop Turnways Therapies with exciting projects and new beginnings.

Lizzy has 10 years experience working with children and young people, and works as a dramatherapist with Adopted and Looked After Children. Lizzy works in a client-led way and believes that Dramatherapy can enable people to make sense of their experiences. She also has experience working with people with autism, ADHD, depression, anxiety, and victims of sexual assault. The creativity in Lizzy’s approach, allows an opportunity to see situations from a different perspective, and to harness what is important to the client.

Nichi has over 36 years experience working with arts, drama, yoga, and creative approaches, and offers guided relaxation techniques and trauma sensitive approaches in a somatic way. Nichi has a postgraduate diploma in Dramatherapy, a certificate in Neuro Dramatic Play, and an interest in working with trauma. Nichi has recently completed training with the Human Givens Institute, in the Rewind Technique- particularly useful for working with phobias and trauma.

Azica’s therapeutic journey started as a teenager, when her parent began to foster. This meant that through her late teens to early twenties, Azica shared her home with many young people in care. This led to Azica’s interest in social work, where she spent many years working within Duty and Assessment Teams, Long Term and LAC teams, and Fostering & Kinship Care teams. It was at this time that Azica was diagnosed with dyslexia, which she felt explained her creative approach. As Azica began to work creatively with young people, she increasingly realised the power of creativity, when words are difficult.