Elemental Occupational Therapy

11/01/2026

In the news 💚

One of the nine "Trees of Hope" awarded to the North East will be planted in Rising Sun Country Park next month

09/01/2026

What’s at the core?

“Is he being difficult…. Or has he just got stuff going on?”

We’ve been socialised to assume that a child is being ‘naughty’ when they are dysregulated or displaying big emotions. But all behaviour is communication. Getting to the ‘core’ of it - exploring ‘what is it they are trying to tell us?’ - gives us an insight into how we can best help.

Often times, ‘difficult’ = scared. And often times a bereaved child is afraid of further losses. They may fear upsetting the adults in their life by talking about or displaying their emotions. And they can fear new, unusual thoughts and emotional states that they may never before have experienced.

I try to dig down to the root of the feeling and gently coax it all the way up. 💚

09/01/2026

Link to the book in my bio 💚

🌿 A tale of hope for you today - Cath Darling's new book for children about bereavement and loss inspired by the felled Sycamore Gap tree.

When we spoke to our client Cath Darling, founder of Elemental Occupational Therapy, in March 2025, she was the lucky recipient of one of the National Trust's 49 coveted ‘Trees of Hope’ saplings from the famous Sycamore in recognition of her work in bereavement support.

Now she has written a children’s book, entitled “The Sycamore Gap and how love lasts after loss” featuring the tree as a symbol of hope. It is beautifully illustrated by Lily Anais Wilson https://www.instagram.com/lilyanaisart/

Read more: https://tedco.org/news/sycamore-gap-saplings-inspire-new-year-tale-of-hope/

Elemental Occupational Therapy

04/01/2026

We’d be extremely grateful if you would leave our book a review. 💚
If you aren’t sure how to do this, here’s a step-by-step guide:

1, Log into your Amazon account
2, Select the book under ‘my orders’
3, Scroll down the page to choose the option ‘leave a product review’
4, Select the number of stars and input your comments in the box provided. If you’d like to you can also upload a picture of it in your happy hands!

04/01/2026

Trees please 🎄

Before you ditch your Christmas tree, please consider donating it to me. I’ve recently used last years trees to make candle holders, yule logs and wooden cookie slices with the young people in my care.

I can’t take dozens, but 3 or 4 trees would be a lovely source of practical wood for me. Drop me a line please if you have one you could donate (and deliver) for me 💚

01/01/2026

2025 has been a beautiful, remarkable and challenging year. This is not my only job - and so it’s even more incredible that this little service has achieved as much as it has.

Here’s a round up of how 2025 looked:
- [ ] Formed a Trees of Hope steering group to coordinate the planting of our sycamore gap sapling. We’ve met monthly throughout the year.
- [ ] Created an Oral history archive of you wonderful people talking tenderly about your experiences of loss. This will be launched officially at our planting event.
- [ ] Nominated for a New Business award. (Which is funny to me because ‘business’ is not a word I’d use to describe this service 🫣.)
- [ ] Successfully completed a fundraising campaign securing the next 12 months of delivery at no or minimal cost to participants.
- [ ] Formed a Community bereavement group of adults and children. 2026 will see this formalised with a constitution and board.
- [ ] Provided over 250 hours of direct in-person, outdoor, bereavement support, reaching 22 adults and 15 children individually this year.
- [ ] Hosted our first Advent spiral gathering - to now take place annually.
- [ ] Established a new site.
- [ ] Formed an ongoing partnership with the incredible Birkheads Wild and secured 3 years of ongoing delivery there.
- [ ] Wrote, published and launched a children’s picture book about loss.

I’m so glad you’re with me. The ‘wins’ are great an’ all, but the joy is in who you get to celebrate them with ❤️🌿

30/12/2025

How did I come to do this work? What brought me here?

I qualified as an Occupational Therapist (OT) in 2003 from The University of Brighton. Across almost 23 years as a clinician I gained expertise working therapeutically with both adults and children - across a range of disability and acute settings.

In 2015 I began working as an OT in inpatient Palliative Care and for 6 years this was my passion. Over those years I supported hundreds of dying adults to find purpose and maximise their LIVING before they died.

This work was humbling and truly transformative for me and inspired me to make many changes in my work and in my personal life. I’m extremely grateful that life led me/my career in that direction.

In 2020 I trained with Hospice UK, St Christopher’s Hospice, and Middlesex University to support bereaved children within my role as a therapist. As a single parent I’m acutely aware that my children have limited options should I die or become very ill.

It’s been extremely important to me that I’m able to support bereaved and/or seriously ill parents to provide the care that their children need to process their own journey of loss. I love working with children. And I love supporting their parents too. It’s an holistic family systems approach that means we work together as a ‘community’. Rarely one without the other. And this feels important. Very very much so 💗

I’ve been working therapeutically for almost 23 years and within the field of loss for almost 11 of those. I took my practice outdoors two years ago and since then have completed the Level 3 Forest School Leader qualification, Outdoor First Aid Training, and a Foundation in Medical Herbalism.

Working outdoors has been life changing for me and I simply can’t imagine now going back to the wards. I have lots of thoughts about the future and what I’d like to implement as part of this service and for our bereaved community. Always very open to hear the things you’d like me to deliver and the ways you think I might be able to help 🌿🧡

24/12/2025

It is here my friends. Just in time for Christmas.
I wrote and published a little book about loss. 💚

Please share far and wide. It might just reach someone in need 🌿💚
The tale is based on our very special Sycamore Gap tree and the illegal felling of it in 2023.

Please know that all of the proceeds from this book will go towards funding further bereavement support for children and adults in the North East of England. Every time you buy a copy, you are directly contributing to our much needed service. 🌿
The link to purchase is in my bio 💚

23/12/2025

The day I discovered that Mal had died, I was visited by a dragonfly. 💗

It was huge - the size of my palm. I could hear it before I saw it.

I’d never seen a dragonfly at the coast before. They’re freshwater insects, so in all my years of living by the sea, I’d never seen one here.

That’s how I knew it was her. That’s how I knew she was still here.

I’ve included a dragonfly on every page of my book. She carries the story from page to page. Much in the way Mal continues to weave through the story of my life. Always there. I hear her. Just like I did on that day.

Our book should be here and available to buy in the coming few days 💗

20/12/2025

Family ❤️

This Christmas I’d like to invite you to consider expanding your concept of ‘family’. See the different forms it can take. The ‘sisters’ and ‘brothers’ you’ve found this year. The love and support you’ve shared with people you may have only met in recent months or years.

Perhaps we could shift away from the binary concept of family and recognise that your village, your unit, your warm and loving community transcends the traditional (and exclusive) nuclear unit. How much ‘more’ we have when we allow this to be true. How much we benefit when we escape those traditional boundaries.

Thank you for being part of my unit this year. My ‘family’ is constantly evolving and expanding. And for this I am truly grateful. Hope to see many of you very soon and into 2026 🌿🌿💚

16/12/2025

This is very near to being here…. 💚
A picture book for young people and their grown ups. To help you to talk about loss.

Myself and are about to bring this beautiful picture book into being. Just a couple of final edits. Watch this space for the publication date. It’s only week or two away 💗