about

Hi. I'm Kari.

I'm a peer practitioner and professional organiser, based in West London. Before Healing Spaces, I worked four years as a Lived Experience Professional in the NHS, and two as a Peer Trainer at a Recovery College. I left because I wanted to do this work the way I always thought it should be done. Smaller, calmer, and entirely on the side of the person whose home it is.

I bring lived experience, trauma-informed training, and a calm pair of hands. Everything I do is 100% consensual support. Your home, your pace, your decisions.

Contact me

the two-layer thing

What I do, and why it works.

On the outside, what I do is decluttering and cleaning for people who feel overwhelmed. That's the plain-English version, and it's accurate.

Underneath it, the reason it works, is that I bring lived experience to the room. I know the paralysis of a messy home when energy is at 0%, when you feel you can't do anything. I've managed to retrain my brain to turn cleaning into a dopamine-boosting superpower, and I'm here to show you how.

Let's transform "I can't" into "I clean". One small win at a time.

professional profile

Karina Barboza

Professional Organiser specialised in mental health support

Education

Wellbeing & Recovery College

Train the Trainer + multiple courses on mental health

2021 – 2023

Training and resource centre developing and delivering education to support wellbeing and self-management of mental health issues.

Anna Freud Centre

Knowledge and Understanding Frame on Personality Disorders + Train the Trainer

2022

World-leading mental health charity delivering training to West London NHS staff to support recovery for people with complex emotional needs.

West London NHS Trust

Peer Support Training programme

2021

PSW training focused on peer support in formal NHS-funded care: community, crisis, inpatient, criminal justice, and recovery services.

Ealing Recovery Team

10-month Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

2020

DBT focuses on day-to-day skills through Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Emotion Regulation.

Relevant Experience

West London NHS Trust

Senior Peer Support Worker

2021 – 2025

Complex Emotional Needs Service
Community Rehab Team

Collaborative practice with clients based on shared understanding, respect, and mutual empowerment on an equal footing, free of judgement. Helping clients achieve goals, problem-solve, and incorporate life skills.

Wellbeing & Recovery College

Peer Trainer

2023 – 2024

To Keep or Not to Keep: Learning about Decluttering and why we hoard
Understanding Complex Emotional Needs and ways to improve our mental health
Attachment theory: how our early lives shape us and our relationships

Training delivered to several groups, where attendees received skills, education, and hope while being part of a like-minded group.

Anna Freud Centre

Trainer

2022 – 2023

Knowledge and Understanding Frame on Personality Disorders

Training delivered to several groups composed of NHS staff, MIND staff, and Single Point of Access (SPA) staff.

languages

English Spanish Portuguese

Degree in Translation

DBS checked

Trauma-informed training

Former NHS Lived Experience Professional

Recovery College Peer Trainer

how I work

A messy person who learned how.

I always considered myself a messy person. I've struggled with depression for decades. Somewhere along the way, tidying up became my superpower to fight depression, and now it's the thing I help other people with.

I share my personal experience with clients to show them how change is possible.

I help clients:

· understand why they might feel stuck and explore ways forward, gently and without judgement
· review the habits that aren't working and find new ones that could improve daily life
· build cleaning and tidying routines that fit how their life actually is, not how it "should" be
· find motivation again, through personalisation, strengths, and the positives we can lean on

I have experience working with people:

· who hoard or struggle with decision-making
· who struggle with motivation due to depression, grief, or low energy
· with disabilities and/or mental health difficulties

Kari wearing her 'Queen of Clean' hoodie — yes, I have the hoodie

Where I work

Primarily in Ealing, Hounslow, and Hammersmith. I'll travel up to an hour from W13 for the right project. If you're nearby and not sure I cover your postcode, message me and we'll work it out.

What I won't do

I'm not the right fit for every situation. If you're presenting with active psychosis or active schizophrenia, I'll signpost you to services better placed to help. That's a boundary that protects both of us. For most other things, anxiety, depression, ADHD, bereavement, life-transition, hoarding-as-a-pattern, low energy, there's almost certainly a way I can help.

Want to talk?

Tell me a little about what's on your mind. I'll come back to you myself, usually within a day or two.

Contact me