Erica Cleverly

• I started voice training at the age of 7 through Elocution classes one to one.
• This continued throughout my childhood.
• I did not realise that training the voice in this manner was also training the singing voice.
• As an adult, and in my training as a psychotherapist, my voice began to emerge more strongly.
• At the age of 60 in a singing lesson I discovered I could sing well, in tune in a contralto voice.
• I now sing acapela at Open Mic nights.
• I'm looking to move on from this to sharing my voice more and raising awareness around mental health issues and wellbeing. I see singing as a form of advocacy where I can raise awareness in the public mind as well as entertain and inform.

I live in England. I consider myself Irish by descent due to my entitlement to an Irish passport. I am coming up 64. I have lots of life still in me, some of which has been unlived due to the onerous task of recovering from childhood trauma which takes a lifetime of work. I have had a successful career as a psychotherapist for many years. I currently work self employed running an online Facebook group for people who need to drop a psychiatric diagnosis, reclaim their health and come off medication. I run the group as a copywriter, creating resources for this journey. Although I no longer work as a psychotherapist, I feel strongly about wellbeing, inclusion and all people having access to resources. I support initiatives like Drop the Disorder and currently champion people's choices to reclaim their health. I am looking to extend this advocacy to singing as a form of role modelling, awareness raising and entertainment.