Student publishes book to help people in lockdown

​​​​​​​A counselling student at South Essex College has published a book to promote positive mental health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Janine Agombar’s book, ‘Embracing Life in Lockdown: How To Beat Anxiety, Restore Inner Calm and Find Your New Normal’ is available on Amazon Kindle for just 99p (free to those with a Kindle Unlimited account), or £3.99 in paperback form.

The 43-year-old from Rayleigh returned to education three years ago to pursue a new career in counselling and has drawn on her new skills and knowledge to share practical tips and suggestions to help people improve their mental health and overall sense of well-being.

She said she has wanted to write and publish a book for some time and the beginning of lockdown provided the perfect opportunity to combine her two passions - writing and mental health.

She said: “My motivation was the thought of how many people are struggling to cope with life in lockdown and although my little book may not change the world, it may just change the world for one person and I couldn't ask for more than that!

“Living through a global pandemic is definitely a challenge for all of us but I wanted to show that by adopting a positive outlook we can actually embrace our current lockdown situation, rather than just feel like we are surviving it.”

Janine’s ambition is to now start a career in counselling after starting a level 2 course in 2017 and progressing through to level 4 which she is currently studying.

She said her course has given her the skills she needed to start a new venture.

She added: “I honestly believe that you are never too old to be in education. There is always so much more to learn and it's about having the confidence and self-belief that we are worthy of investing time in ourselves so that we can go after our dreams.

“I would definitely encourage other people to think about courses they can do. It's never too late to retrain and go after what you want in life. The feedback and support from my tutors really gave me the confidence to believe that I could do this!”

Embracing Life in Lockdown: How To Beat Anxiety, Restore Inner Calm and Find Your New Normal is available on Amazon here