Jess' Story: 25 Lancashire Minds

Jess’ Story

From feeling overwhelmed to finding her voice – how coaching gave Jess the tools to face anxiety, exams and self-doubt with confidence.

When life feels overwhelming, having a space where you can speak freely and feel truly heard can make all the difference.

Jess, a young person navigating anxiety, low mood and exam stress, accessed 1:1 Wellbeing Coaching through Lancashire Mind’s PEAK project. With the support from Becca (her coach), Jess began to better understand her thoughts and feelings, develop practical coping strategies and build self-awareness in a way that felt personal and empowering.

*Content subject notice: Self-harm, anxiety, low mood, stress.

I was struggling with anxiety and low mood, and exam pressure. I was also struggling with self-harm and was really hoping to learn more coping strategies and how to use them.

I met my Wellbeing Coach, Becca, in school every week. The sessions really helped me manage my mental health. The sessions felt like a safe place to discuss my thoughts and feelings especially with my exams getting closer.

I had some feelings of being worthless, feeling alone or like an odd one out. Becca and I split our time discussing the thoughts, feelings and beliefs that I struggled with.

Becca helped me understand what anxiety and low mood are and how they can be recognised. I thought about what might trigger me and how I could stop it. We came up with talking to a friend or checking in with myself like I would with a friend. I could ask myself why I might be feeling a certain way or what could have happened to make me feel like that so that I could try to support myself instead of getting too overwhelmed.

Becca helped me understand that the important thing is finding what works for me, not what is most common or popular. I also learnt about the zones of regulation which worked on how I am feeling without having to identify emotions and created a table of strategies for each zone, these included spending time with family, getting in bed, baking and going for walks depending on where I was at the time.

I feel like my mental health and wellbeing has improved and I understand myself more. I still have urges to harm myself but have used coping strategies learnt in coaching to support myself positively. I have also felt able to speak to staff at school for support when I have felt overcome by anxiety rather than struggling on my own.

I think Wellbeing Coaching is beneficial for everyone, and it has helped me knowing I’ve got a safe place to go to each week.

The PEAK Project is a fantastic initiative, co-created with young people aged 12-18 to enhance mental health support for youth and their families. PEAK stands for Personal, Encouragement, Achievement, and Knowledge—values chosen by young participants to embody the spirit of the project.

PEAK Project