Me & My Story
My name is Adam Digby and I am a highly skilled and experienced Specialist Consultant in Mental Health offering training and coaching and running a busy private practice offering counselling services. I started where you are now, a registered Mental Health Nurse, with loads of experience, needing to create a change and diversify my skill sets. After much searching, I realised I had everything I needed and more to set up an offering others would value and start the long journey which has led me to “speaking with you” here, now, today.
I qualified and registered as a Mental Health Nurse in 2004. I worked within both forensic inpatient and child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) up to and including 8a service manager for both inpatient and community CAMHS services. I am still working in the NHS community mental health services today.
Due to an unexpected change in personal circumstances which impacted my professional circumstances in 2016, I needed to leave my job in the private sector managing a 55 bedded secure hospital, and move my work much closer to home and work out what I could do that would give me more flexibility, and provide an additional income alongside my day job (when I eventually found one!).
After A LOT of consideration, reading and planning, and having no resources to go off and do additional lengthy professional training, I started to work on developing my existing skill sets into an independent offering. This involved navigating all of the obstacles that came with it, working out the truth from fiction in relation to really big subject areas like the CQC, NMC, & how to qualify for professional indemnity, just to name but a few – as well as battling my own imposter syndrome and tackling many ‘negative nellies’ along the way!
Finally, I hit a point where I could do no more aside from taking the leap and start getting the word out there about me and what I had to offer. I “re-launched” my company ANJ Consultancy Ltd (having registered it some years prior with companies house, but never had the time to do anything with it!).
Gradually I marketed and built up a client group with my offering, and then using that income, I paid for therapy training to enhance and take my offerings to the next level. This was my choice and my direction but it’s not the only next step once you have the basics in place and I love to work alongside and support other professionals to do the same.
Now I provide mentorship to other aspiring Nurses and Health Care Professionals to make the same journey I did but in their own way and in their own direction.
Break Out to Break In - Mentoring Sessions
I know firsthand that It can be incredibly intimidating thinking about setting up independently, especially if what you have to work with is your nursing career, qualifications, and experience not to mention potentially being surrounded by lots of other professionals who seemingly may be more qualified, registered and entitled to set up in independent practice. This is where mentoring and coaching can help in so many ways!
Whether you are looking for help to formulate an idea of an offering, refine an idea you already have, or just need help to try and work out where to start, support in tackling complex challenges for the first time, or guidance navigating the difficulties of your particular sector, I can help!
I provide coaching and mentoring for Nurses & Allied Health Professionals who want to diversify their skills across the UK and have already worked with clients in both Kent and Essex.
If you are unsure whether this mentoring offer is for you, make the most of my free mentoring consultation, delivered online through Zoom, with no hidden fees or obligations.
How it works
The program of mentoring is really very straightforward and is always carried out as a partnership, with me using my experience, knowledge, and when needed - my contacts as a value add.
I work as a ‘sounding board’ and as a ‘critical friend’; I am a third party who is detached from your enterprise. I believe in the value of taking a non-judgmental and supportive approach at all times - and will give you honest feedback.
All conversations and contacts are treated in strict confidence. As a mentee, you maintain your own accountability and due diligence in relation to the decisions you make about your business enterprise. I do not charge for communication between sessions, this is included within the session cost and will make you aware if topics need to be held for in-session discussion.
Most only require once a month sessions, but there is the option to scale this up or down depending on your needs and planned service offering.
session
Firstly we meet on Zoom and have a conversation about you, your ideas as well as my experience, and establish if we can work together. This is usually half an hour and completely free of charge.
If you decide that you would like to proceed then I will send you a session contract (you can terminate sessions at any time). Then we agree on our schedule of meetings. I then take you through a skills audit so we can both be really focused within our sessions on what it is you’re planning to offer so we don’t waste time looking in all the wrong directions and areas between us.
Then we get really clear on your audience and work out what we need to look at from a legislation (NMC / CQC) perspective. Then we start to hone your offering, working out how to find your clients, get your name out there, work out websites and all the other “behind the scenes stuff” (health & safety, GDPR, social media) that you need to be aware of.
Sessions are set at an hour-long as standard, there is flexibility for longer if you think longer is needed. All session time is considered billable hours, and payment is asked to be upfront within 24hrs prior to the session start time by bank transfer details provided on the signing of the contract.
My aim is to share my knowledge with you, cheer you on, and support you to have a successful and fulfilling journey into independent practice. Where we can, we will minimise the time (and at times money costing) mistakes that I made, by giving you a useful heads up informed by my own experience. The people I have worked with to date all seem to have had a positive experience on contact which has only prompted me to formalise this offering to support others do the same as I have.
partnerships - The Centre of Excellence
The Centre of Excellence provides a state-of-the-art online learning platform, accessible from anywhere, making learning available 24/7. Their courses usually cost around £175 however, they have agreed to provide a discount code to mentees undertaking the program which reduces courses to £29, over 80% off!
Whether you're looking to learn a new skill, gain a qualification for a new career, or start a new business, the Centre of Excellence can help you to achieve your goals and get to where you want to be. I have used the Centre of Excellence myself and built an independent hypnotherapy practice. Many of their courses however are excellent portfolio builders to support your independent offering.
The Centre of Excellence's reputation has thrived by word of mouth; & is there really a better form of recommendation?
The courses are all backed by CPD Certification Service, Quality License Scheme, & the complimentary medical council giving you assurance of high-quality learning which is accessible & credible to enhance your business offering.
When you sign up for the mentorship program the course code will be shared with you during your first paid session.
don’t just take my word for it…
“I have been busy creating since we last spoke. I have all the tasks done and started to network and promote locally. I was feeling so unfocused before our meeting, just not knowing what to do and you helped me realise what was possible”
“Thank you, you’re wonderful. You should go lecture full time about all this. The workers would be happier in their jobs knowing what’s what. You’ve done fabulously for me so far, and I thank you.”