BlogDec2025

For the SmallBiz100 celebrations, I’ve been shining a light on brilliant local businesses who are doing meaningful, heart-led work in their communities. One of those is The Life Skills Mentoring Academy, run by the incredible Laura Darby, who supports children, teens, young adults, and their families through trauma-informed therapeutic coaching.

I’ve known Laura for over a year now through my Accountability Package, and watching her business grow has been a joy. What she’s building is so needed and the heart she brings to it is something you feel the moment you meet her.

I sat down with Laura to talk about her work, her story, and the impact she hopes to make.

Where it all began

When I asked Laura what inspired her to create The Life Skills Mentoring Academy, she paused, not because she didn’t know, but because there was so much to say.

Her career has taken her through early years work, family support, safeguarding, and seven and a half years in the police, working within child protection and the Sexual Assault Referral Centre. In all those roles, she kept seeing the same thing: families who didn’t know where to turn, and support that simply wasn’t available when they needed it most.

“That was something I wanted to change,” she told me.

The Academy was born from that need, a space where families feel understood, not judged, and where young people have someone truly walking alongside them.

What sets Laura apart is her rare combination of forensic psychology expertise, frontline child protection experience, and creative, nervous-system-informed therapeutic coaching – wrapped in a whole-family approach that’s still uncommon in the sector. Laura’s background includes seven and a half years in police child protection and the Sexual Assault Referral Centre, giving her a depth of understanding that’s rare in therapeutic coaching.

What trauma-informed support really looks like

A big part of Laura’s approach is helping families recognise that behaviour is communication. It’s rarely about “naughtiness” or “attention-seeking” as she explains, it’s about connection, and it’s about unmet needs.

Trauma, too, isn’t always the big, dramatic events people imagine. Often it’s the moments that don’t get processed properly: bullying, parental separation, friendship issues, or even small but persistent experiences that quietly overwhelm a young person’s nervous system.

Laura’s job is to look beneath all of that, the past, the present, the family dynamic, and the child’s emotional landscape. Guiding them gently towards understanding.

Adapting support for every age and stage

The Academy supports ages 5 through to 25, and every session looks different.

For younger children, sessions are playful, sensory and creative, often with parents involved so the whole family can understand what’s happening. Older children and teens may talk more directly, use worksheets, or explore things through imagination and games. Laura even teaches about the brain and body using animal characters. A fun way to help young people understand their own responses.

Her team also includes counsellors experienced with over-25s, meaning parents and carers can access support too when emotions and histories overlap.

Inside the cabin

Most sessions take place in Laura’s beautiful garden cabin; a warm, calming, child-friendly space. The Academy also offers online support UK-wide – and occasionally worldwide – ensuring families can access help wherever they are.

The first session is all about making young people feel safe. Nothing challenging happens straight away. Instead, they explore the cabin, choose resources to play with, build a simple family tree using little wooden figures, and slowly get to know Laura.

It’s gentle. It’s spacious. It’s child-led.

As Laura said, “It’s about them knowing they can get anything out at any time, and that this is a comfortable environment to be in.”

Why qualifications matter

 She holds memberships with the Association for Coaching and The Association for Neuro Linguistic Programming – because families deserve safe, ethical, evidence-based support. Her specialist area is supporting young people displaying or affected by harmful sexual behaviour. Laura holds contracts with national charities including Survivors in Transition, the Professional Therapeutic Pathway, and StopSO and has now  established a formal referral pathway with Children’s Services, including their Adoption Teams. She has recently been invited to take part in a pilot training programme with StopSO.

Training never stops, she feels like she can never know enough. The flexibility in her approach is something she holds with pride and she cannot offer this if she does not keep updating her knowledge and skills.

And she’s clear on one thing: “You can’t offer a counselling or therapeutic service without the right qualifications. Families deserve safe, ethical support.” 

A moment that’s stayed with her

Without sharing any confidential detail, Laura spoke about an eight-year-old boy she’s been supporting. Adopted, with significant early life trauma, and a history of being passed between services without meaningful help.

Over the year they’ve worked together, he has begun shifting from unhealthy coping strategies to healthier, more emotionally grounded ones. His mum told Laura she’s been the only professional to truly understand them as a family.

That, Laura said, is the impact she wants to make: not fixing children, but seeing them, hearing them, and helping them feel safe enough to grow.

Helping parents walk alongside their child

When I asked what parents can do, Laura kept it simple:

• Don’t try to fix.
• Don’t assume your child is “the problem”.
• Listen more than you speak.
• Give them space to feel.
• Be present, not perfect.


Behaviour only becomes “big” when the feelings underneath don’t have anywhere to go.

Looking after herself, too

Working in this space takes emotional steadiness. Laura stays grounded through monthly supervision, long dog walks, trips to the beach, playing hockey, and quiet time with her family.

Small businesses she loves to support

As part of her Time to Talk programme in schools, Laura is planning a little wellbeing fair where parents can meet other local professionals who support young people. A few she’ll be spotlighting include:

S&L Safecuts (Sally) – supporting young people experiencing or at risk of self-harm

Emma Palmer – author of You Are Enough and creator of resources for families

Maria from Little Tots – baby classes, hypnotherapy and early-years support


A real community effort — exactly what SmallBiz100 is about.

Her hope for young people

“I want them to have the support I didn’t have,” she told me.

Early intervention matters. Prevention matters. A trauma-informed community matters. If we can recognise the signs earlier, fewer young people will carry those wounds into adulthood.

What’s next for The Life Skills Mentoring Academy

Looking ahead, Laura’s focus for 2026 is taking trauma-informed and trauma-responsive training out into the wider community. She wants to equip schools, professionals, and even small businesses with the understanding they need to better support the children, young people, and families they interact with every day.

It’s a step she feels deeply passionate about. Creating kinder, more aware, more responsive environments far beyond the walls of her cabin.

Alongside that, she’s also working to secure a referral pathway with Children’s Services and continue growing the Academy sustainably as demand increases. 

Furthermore, in January 2026, Laura is launching The Lyric Lounge—a trauma-informed group for 11-16 year olds using music as a bridge to mental health conversations. Because sometimes, music says what words can’t. The monthly sessions will create a safe space where young people can explore emotions, build connection, and develop coping skills through the universal language of music.

But the heart of her next chapter is clear: building a community that understands trauma, responds with compassion, and helps young people thrive long before crisis point.