Rachel Kelly

Rachel Kelly’s new book Singing in the Rain is, she says, ‘a practical, everyday workbook for mental health’. But what does that mean, and why do we need it? Along with the New Year so often comes the onslaught of ‘how to become a better you’ articles. And, no doubt, many of us do want to be healthier and happier versions of ourselves. But it’s the idea of judging and shaming our ‘current’ selves to get there that Rachel wants to challenge: ‘If we set our standards too high and suddenly want to reinvent ourselves come January, well it’s never going to happen and we’ll just end up disappointed.’

Since publishing her first memoir in 2014, the former newsroom journalist has turned her attention to the conversation around mental health. ‘I wanted to create a toolkit for both myself and others to help safeguard mental wellbeing.’ As an ambassador for SANE and Rethink Mental Illness, Rachel now runs workshops for people struggling with mental illness. But the techniques she teaches can be applied to us all, particularly if we’re stuck in the ‘new year, new me’ mindset. ‘Often we can get so bogged down in the bigger-picture idea of what we want to be, that we don’t actually make small changes towards improving our lives. We’re much better off rethinking perfectionism.’