By Pamela McGowan Health reporter

Last updated at 10:13, Saturday, 07 July 2012

A mother whose son’s illness inspired her to become an inventor will fly out to the US to present her idea at a high-profile global conference.

Maureen Colohan

Carlisle hypnotherapist Maureen Colohan, 50, of Denton Holme, has created a unique therapy aid to help people talk about their feelings.

She developed the MindSlide to help her terminally ill son Niky, who suffered from kidney failure.

“He died five years ago. He was 24, which was an achievement in itself as we were told he wouldn’t live past his teens. He’d had three failed kidney transplants by the time he was 13,” she said.

Knowing that Niky, who relied on regular dialysis, was going to die was devastating for both him and the family.

It was because of this that Maureen started looking into different types of therapies, leading her to eventually train as a hypnotherapist and mindfulness teacher.

And it was in finding ways to help Niky express his feelings that she came up with the MindSlide – and it worked.

“Some people are talking people and some are feeling people. When you work with a feeling person as a therapist it can be quite difficult because it takes them a lot longer to open up. It’s doesn’t come naturally.

“For some reason being able to physically move a slide along helps them to focus on their feelings and talk,” she said.

It can be used for all kinds of emotional problems, such as anxiety and phobias, and even weight management.

“We used it to come out of a place where it felt so dark and slide it along until he felt more happy. It doesn’t mean you’re happy all the time, just that even on the blackest of days you know there is somewhere you can move forward to.

“Niky died in my arms with my husband holding his hand,” she remembered.

Now, with her new prototype hot off the production line, she has been chosen to present her idea at the international conference of the Association of Contextual and Behavioural Psychology in Washington later this month.

“It feels like it’s Niky’s legacy. I can carry it on in his memory and help others. That’s really important.”

First published at 08:56, Saturday, 07 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk