Helen has been passionate about helping kids – and their families - for a long time.
In 1990 Helen commenced working at the Psychological Medicine Department at Princess Margaret Hospital, and 27 years later, helping children, teenagers and their families to recover from tough stuff, develop habits of resilience, and walk the path of good mental health, remains her passion.
Experience in child and adolescent mental health services both in Australia and the UK followed together with a private practice from 1996 to 2006. ‘Kidzmix’ – a social and emotional skills wellbeing program took shape through that decade with many, many thousands of children being graduates, taking onboard skills to help them to deal with the challenges that life threw their way in both the playground and the classroom.
Helen published her first book in 2011 – Kidzmix Helping Kids Become Social Heroes – and in 2014 joined forces with Claire Orange, speech pathologist and social and emotional wellbeing expert to combine 50 years of experience to develop a whole of school curriculum in social and emotional wellbeing.
As co-Directors of BEST Programs 4 Kids, Helen and Claire have a passion to bring the latest information about enhancing children’s wellbeing to parents, schools and educators. With a raft of quality resources and more in the planning, Helen and Claire can truly say, ‘We are the Children’s Wellbeing Experts’. Our Program: BEST Programs 4 Kids was co-founded with Claire Orange and it's grown wings and is flying. The resources continue to grow and the reach into homes and little minds is a point of amazement and pride. Years and years of working with families and schools, studying and building skills in business - and life - have lead to the birth of a program that's out there changing lives - and changing outcomes.