About Carolyn Barber

Click here to read an interview in the Community news website AboutMyArea Portsmouth, where Carolyn talks about her background and business.

Carolyn brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to the Take Five enterprise and the With Life in Mind programme.

As a professional social worker, Carolyn has worked for over 30 years with vulnerable and challenging people. As a natural social entrepreneur, she has pioneered many new ideas and projects. With experience as a practitioner, researcher, trainer and manager, Carolyn set up her own business, Wayfinder Associates, in 2006, specialising in consultancy, research and training with a range of social care organisations. A year later, she opened a community based training and wellbeing centre in Portsmouth, called The Parlour.  

” My greatest passion is to inspire and teach people how to take charge of their own lives, grow in confidence, and engage with life. I believe we need to work on good mental health just as we do our physical health, but we just don’t talk about it.”

During 2010, Carolyn faced the challenge of closing down her community wellbeing centre because of the economic recession. She found herself drawing on her knowledge and past experience of what had worked in helping to restore her sense of emotional health and mental wellbeing in difficult circumstances.

“I’ve had my own experiences of mental ill-health in the past, and experienced a journey of recovery. What I’ve learnt most of all is that mental health is not as complicated as it can be made out to be. You can decide to take charge, just as you would with looking after your physical health. It may be simple but its not easy, and certainly I’ve needed the help and support of  others along the way.”

 
Out of this particular journey, the 5 Cs were born!

“If you start with the assumption that every individual is different, that their route to good mental health will be unique to them, where on earth do you start? How can services be provided without costing a fortune. The answer, not a new one of course, is to have some kind of framework to work within.”

Later in 2010, Carolyn began piloting workshops and programmes to promote good mental health using the 5 Cs framework, and set up Take Five as a social enterprise.  Now a writer and broadcaster as well, Carolyn continues to develop and innovate – most recently starting ‘fitness classes for the mind’ to encourage practical and accessible ways to improve mental health for everyone.

“My model focuses on the Cs – five components which I believe form the core elements of good mental health for all of us. By developing our awareness of these, we can understand our strengths and resources and build on these to actively find ways to improve or maintain our mental resilience and emotional wellbeing.”

 

Click here to find out more about the 5Cs