Petra Velzeboer was born into the infamous Children of God cult where she was raised with the pressure of saving the world, with no formal education to speak of or resources on how to make it in the outside world. At 22 she moved to the UK pregnant, isolated from her family and support groups she tried as best she could to just be normal and fit into life on the outside. At 25, with 2 children and a boyfriend who went out to work, she experienced chronic isolation, depression and sank into alcohol dependence leading to suicidal ideation and destructive behaviours.
She has dedicated the last 12 years to learning and experimenting with ways to improve her own mental health, completing her training as a psychotherapist and receiving a MSc in Psychodynamics of Human Development. She specialises in mental health, leadership, strategic change and utilising empathy as a foundation for improving productivity and employee happiness.
Petra helps make Mental Health engaging, personal and funny. She can adapt her keynotes to be more about Mindset, Coaching and Impact rather than use the language around mental health. Some of the organisations Petra has worked with include: Monzo Bank, Spotify, University of Bedfordshire, Amey Construction, UNA Insurance Alliance and MAAG Marketing Community as well as a range of tech start-ups looking to start as they mean to go on, with a robust employee engagement foundation.
