Jo McAndrews is an experienced training consultant, facilitator and qualified psychotherapist. She specialises in working with parents and families, particularly in the face of trauma, grief and distress.
During her career she has worked with the Family Mediation Service as a trainer and child counsellor and Winstons’ Wish (a child bereavement support organization) as a senior practitioner. She co-founded a funeral company specialising in involving children and creating a personal farewell. She still works occasionally as a funeral celebrant.
Jo has worked for many years as an associate for Difficult Conversations. She has significant experience working with the children and young people’s workforce in schools, nurseries, foster care and adoption, health and social care with the knowledge base of attachment, trauma, recovery and resilience.
Her work is informed by the current research into Interpersonal Neurobiology and Polyvagal Theory, which offers fantastic insight into the needs of children as they develop and also into human thriving. She is particularly interested in the impact of trauma on child development, what are the conditions for recovery and how to grow resilience in children, adults and communities.
In the past few years she has become more strongly involved in the field of climate change action. She gives talks and trainings on supporting children in the face of climate change, eco-anxiety and resilience. She now runs LifeKind, a training organisation dedicated to this work.
Jo has a warm and open style which invites people to participate in their own learning and development. She is skilled at communicating with a wide range of people from different backgrounds and levels of experience.