MEET THE TEAM
Lavinia Dowling MSc, RMN, Dip Counselling, NNEB
Psychiatric Nurse Consultant & Founder of The M Word
Lavinia has practised as a licensed mental health clinician for 29 years in hospitals (General and Psychiatric), nursing homes for those with Dementia and learning/physical disabilities, Huntington’s Chorea (inpatient and community), drug and alcohol rehab, forensics, community teams (CAMHS, Adult and Older Adult), Mother and Baby units, CAMHS (Community, Autism screening and assessment, and A&E), and the military (MoD and the NHS). She works with children, adolescents, young adults, and older adults with a broad range of Mental Health issues, and has a wealth of experience helping clients who have Autism and military trauma.
Lavinia’s approach starts with risk assessing her clients’ needs with regard to their mental health and wellbeing, and then actively promoting a natural way of repairing self-esteem and confidence to build up resilience. Instead of prescribing medication, Lavinia believes in empowering her clients to move forward in a healthy way by understanding and listening to themselves, identifying negative coping mechanisms, and discovering the positive coping mechanisms that can enhance their wellbeing.
Lavinia graduated from the University of Plymouth as a Registered Mental Health Nurse (1996) and Counsellor (1998). She gained a Masters in Professional Practice (Emotional Problem Solving) in 2012 from the University of Surrey, and is currently studying a Doctorate in Mental Health at Bangor University. In 2006, Lavinia designed a model of care called “Emotional Problem Solving” designed to reduce negative mental health symptoms, boost self-esteem, and build resilience.
Maria Sowa
Maria is a highly experienced practitioner with over 23 years of practice across health and social care. She specialises in neurodevelopmental assessments, with extensive expertise in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Her clinical background spans CAMHS, crisis intervention, community mental health, fostering and adoption and specialist diagnostic services.
Maria is dual-registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2007) and Social Work England (2015). She holds a Diploma in Mental Health Nursing, a BSc (Hons) in Mental Health, and a Master’s degree in Social Work. She has also completed advanced specialist training, including ADOS-2, Autism and Asperger’s studies, psychodynamics, Cognitive Behaviour and systemic practice.
Throughout her career, Maria has worked in a range of roles including CAMHS Crisis & Liaison Practitioner and Specialist Practitioner within ADHD and neurodevelopmental services. She has led diagnostic clinics, delivered complex assessments using validated tools, supported young people in crisis, and collaborated closely with families, schools, and multidisciplinary teams. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade in community residential rehabilitation, developing strong foundations in person-centred and recovery-focused practice.
Maria brings a trauma-informed, holistic, and culturally sensitive approach to her work. She is passionate about improving outcomes for children and young people through accurate assessment, early intervention, and collaborative care planning. Her key strengths include diagnostic formulation, crisis intervention, multidisciplinary coordination, and high-quality clinical reporting.
Outside of work, Maria enjoys reading—particularly in the fields of psychology and neurodevelopment—and travelling to explore diverse cultures and healthcare systems.
Matt Kennedy
Matt is a highly experienced mental health practitioner & neurodevelopmental specialist, with over a decade of clinical & leadership experience supporting neurodivergent individuals, both adults and young people as well as their families. His work with neurodivergent children is rooted in both evidence-based clinical practice & a deep respect for each child’s unique strengths, interests, & ways of communicating.
He is currently work within specialist neurodevelopmental services, carrying out autism assessments & supporting children with complex presentations. His background spans child and adolescent mental health, learning disability services, autism & ADHD pathways, forensic & acute settings, & senior leadership roles across NHS services. This breadth of experience allows him to understand not only the young person in front of him, but also the wider systems around them – school, family, and health services.
Gaming allows him to meet young individuals where they feel safest & most engaged. By using games as a shared language, he support emotional regulation, social communication, confidence, problem-solving, & self-understanding in a way that feels natural & enjoyable rather than clinical or pressured. His approach is strengths-based, trauma-informed, & highly individualised, recognising that play & gaming can be powerful tools for connection, growth, and emotional expression.
Alongside his therapeutic work, I have extensive experience in assessment, risk management, family support, & collaborative working with multidisciplinary teams. He is trained to clinical reliability in both ADOS-2 & ADI-R autism assessments & bring a strong grounding in neurodevelopmental theory, psychology, & mental health nursing into every session.
Outside of his professional life he is a self-confessed unapologetic nerd. He has been playing video games for as long as he can remember & collects old consoles as far back as Atari. Aside from video games I really enjoy playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends, designing & creating 3d printed pieces & coding little hobby projects in Python. He also enjoy keeping fit by running and going to the gym, playing music on guitar & spending time with his 2 cats Charlie and Mellow.
Above all, he is passionate about helping neurodivergent children feel understood, empowered, & supported to thrive, not by changing who they are, but by building on what already makes them unique.
Anne Griffiths
Accounts Manager
Anne has worked for us on and off over the last 4 years. She is unflappable and has helped out in a variety of tasks but now spends time supporting both TMW cic and EPS ltd with book-keeping, sourcing venues, and liaising with many people in a bid to raise our profile. Anne lives on the beautiful Isle of Anglesey working remotely from home.
Yasmin Alexandria
Media Manager
Yasmin Alexandria works in the background of The M Word, playing a vital role. From IT, Video editing, supporting the social media side of The M Word & formatting our growing range of products, Yasmin has become a lead in establishing TMW 's profile in the Mental Health & Autism communities.
Over the years she has Guest spoken at Webinars & published blogs that shine a light on how Autism & Mental Health impacts our Young People. The importance of giving our more vulnerable members of the community a voice is something that really resonates with Yasmin.
Ellie Matthews BE'd (Hons)
Education Consultant
Ellie has volunteered in primary schools since she was 14 and graduated university with a BEd (Hons) Primary Education degree in 2013. She has spent time in many settings including mixed age classes, small village schools, large mainstreams, nurture groups, schools with large intakes of pupils with English as an additional language or pupils with SEN needs. She has recently supported pupils over the last 3 years on a 1:1 and group basis in the classroom with a variety of different learning, communication and SEMH needs.
Ellie has daily lived experience from her own family of a wide range of additional needs, school avoidance, well being and anxiety, restrictive eating and more. She understands the juggles and demands faced of being a SEN parent and accessing support for your family and children.
Monty
The English Setter
Monty is an English Setter who came in as an emergency foster to live with Lavinia in September 2019. He was very stressed and anxious, very nervous about being stroked, had absolutely no recall, and was very underweight. He used to tear about the place and disappear for ages on end trying to catch wild birds. After a lot of patience, a lot of TLC, and daily walks on and off the lead, this is the same dog now relaxing in his home.
Monty is a big fan of mental health recovery as he now loves cuddles, likes to sit with humans on the sofa, has 90% recall (although can still be side-tracked by the birds!) and loves a banana muffin as a special treat. He now maintains a steady weight and fitness, and is happiest sitting in the office or bounding on the beach, watching the birds on the waves.