Fay Hicks is a qualified teacher, EBSA practitioner and mentor, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Rapid Transformational Life Coach, with more than 20 years’ experience working in education and supporting children, young people and families.

Fay has a BSc (Hons) degree in Psychology, a Postgraduate Certificate in Education and Qualified Teacher Status. Her background combines education, children’s mental health, autism and SEND support, emotionally based school avoidance, family guidance and neurodiversity-informed community work.

Fay was an EBSA Mentor within the successful NHS and London Borough of Bromley EBSA mentoring pilot programme. In this role, she supported children and young people experiencing significant anxiety and barriers to school attendance, many of whom were autistic or neurodivergent.

Her work involved building trusting relationships with young people and their families, understanding the emotional, sensory and environmental barriers affecting attendance, and working collaboratively with schools, families, Educational Psychologists, local authority professionals and other services to develop personalised and supportive pathways forward.

Fay received specialist EBSA mentor training through Drumbeat School and ASD Services in Lewisham and has also completed further EBSA professional development through the Educational Psychology-led EBSA Horizons programme.

Alongside her EBSA experience, Fay previously worked as a Mental Health Lead and Mental Health First Aider within a primary school. She has completed children’s mental health and trauma-informed training through the Anna Freud Centre and has supported pupils experiencing anxiety, low mood, emotional distress, SEND and difficulties engaging with education.

Fay has also worked as an Autism Information and Support Officer at Bromley Mencap, providing one-to-one support, information, workshops, guidance and signposting for autistic people and their families. She helped families navigate education, diagnosis, SEND support, EHCP processes, emotional wellbeing and access to local services.

Her teaching career has included mainstream primary education, learning mentoring and teaching within a specialist SEMH setting. This has given her a strong understanding of how anxiety, sensory needs, communication differences, masking, trauma, unmet SEND needs and emotional overwhelm can affect a child’s ability to learn and attend school.

As a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Rapid Transformational Life Coach, Fay also brings experience supporting anxiety, confidence, emotional regulation, sleep difficulties, fears and unhelpful beliefs. Hypnotherapy-informed support is only used when appropriate, with parental consent and the young person’s agreement.

Fay is the founder and CEO of CANDI CIC, a neurodivergent-led community organisation supporting hundreds of neurodivergent and learning-disabled people and their families through mentoring, wellbeing activities, community connection, volunteering and inclusive opportunities.

She is also writing a practical book for parents and carers about EBSA and school-related distress. The book brings together professional learning, parent voices, lived experience, research and the lessons gained from working directly with children, families and schools.

Fay’s approach is compassionate, practical, relationship-led and neuro-affirming. She does not believe that children experiencing EBSA are being difficult or simply refusing to attend. Instead, she works with families to understand what may be underneath the distress, reduce pressure, rebuild trust and confidence, and create small, realistic steps towards learning, wellbeing and greater stability.

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