Tinnitus on Your Mind with Johanna Carter

13/01/2025

I was planning my support group yesterday and decided to get back to basics - what tinnitus is and also the cycle of distress to focus on today. What is it that you would like🧐 to know ?

08/01/2025

I realised today that I forgot all about Santa when I put away my Christmas decorations, I had gotten so used to him being there that I no longer 'saw' him.
So what is this to do with tinnitus...
My brain had habituated to 'seeing' him! This is often what we aim for with tinnitus management... our brain no longer 'hears' tinnitus the same, it may completely disappear or become less obtrusive. 👂👂

07/01/2025

06/01/2025

So as we are at the beginning of 2025, I thought I'd share some information all about me that you may not know.

I am an Audiologist, Tinnitus Management Specialist, Podcaster, NLP Master Practioner and a life long learner with a passion for helping people lead their best lives. To help people find the difference that makes a difference to them especially with their hearing. I'm also a mum of two and a wife and have been with my husband for 33 years this year!

I started in audiology in the early 1990's - I had been working at Victoria Hospital in Blackpool as a summer job whilst back from Uni and a friendly porter suggested applying for the job in audiology - the rest they say is history!

I qualified as an Audiologist in 1996 and worked all over the Fylde Coast - I loved the diversity of my role as I could be in SCBU in the morning and at a school clinic by afternoon. I love helping people and if I was a stick of rock I'd have service in my middle. I left the NHS early 2000's as I felt that I wasn't able to offer my patients the care that they deserved.
I left to work at Claremont West Family Centre initally as an organiser for Home-Start and then becoming a Centre Manager running groups and activities for the families of the area. I think back to my times there with much fondness and still have friends from then.
By this time, my children were still smallish and my son was still a baby and I left to work in a primary school due to working time pattern initially as a teaching assistant - which has been one of my favourite roles and then as a teacher after retraining.
In 2016, I was approached as Audiologists were needed to fit hearing aids throughout the North West as part of an NHS service delivered in community settings. I loved the job and it reignited my passion for all things ears👂👂.
Unfortunately, I was made redundant from this role in 2019 and this gave me the push to set up with my good friend and colleague Abi. This allows us to give our patients the time they need and also not set them up to fail.
Since the start I now run a support group for tinnitus, record podcasts and have 1-1 clients. With a sense of self compassion and kindness that is often missing looking at the holistic picture rather than just a set of ears and brain.

21/10/2024

Mindfulness has been shown to really help with Tinnitus - would you like to volunteer to help research into this? Click the link below or scan the QR code:
https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/ltu/evaluation-of-an-online-mindfulness-approach-to-manage-tinnitus