Vanessa Porter

Why inclusive mental health care needs to hold the whole person. There’s something I come back to often in my work. People don’t experience their identity in separate boxes. You’re not autistic in one part of your life, and LGBTQIA+ in another, and struggling with your mental health somewhere else entirely. It’s all connected. And yet, the way support is often designed doesn’t reflect that. The overlap between autism and LGBTQIA+ identity There is a strong and well-recognised overlap between...

There are moments where stress feels obvious. Deadlines, big life changes, something going wrong — the kind of things we’re expected  to feel stressed about. If you’re wondering how to manage stress in everyday life, especially when you’re feeling overwhelmed, you’re not alone. But what I see a lot in my work — and in my own life — is a quieter kind of stress. The kind that builds slowly. It looks like being tired all the time, even when you’ve slept. Snapping at small things and then feeling...

What does happiness look like for LGBTQIA+ people — and how can you build it in a world that isn’t always designed for you? For many LGBTQIA+ people, happiness can feel layered. It’s not just about mood — it’s about safety, belonging, identity, and access to affirming mental health support . At Be/Here, we work with LGBTQIA+ people across Manchester, Greater Manchester, and online across the UK , supporting queer wellbeing through therapy, free workshops, and peer connection spaces. If you’ve...