Working for Time to Change in 2020, here with Chris Affleck from Stamp It Out, County Durham’s mental health anti-stigma campaign.
I created my own consultancy in 2021, after 25 years of working in various voluntary, community and charity sector roles. I am passionate about people; about how our identities and life experiences make us who we are and how important it is for us to be able to operate authentically.
Inclusion and belonging are so important to our overall wellbeing. The spaces where we feel able to show up as our whole selves and feel accepted are the ones that really help us to thrive.
The stigma and shame that surround mental health and mental illness create big barriers to this, and I am making it my mission to bring anti-stigma practice into every space I encounter.
Over the years I’ve worked in places where I felt psychologically safe… and some where I definitely did not. Those experiences have inspired me to make it my goal to help others discover what works and what needs to change.
My Approach to mental health at work:
Unconscious bias, stigma and inequality are powerful forces at play in all of the environments we operate in.
In the workplace, they often exist under the radar and despite everyone’s best efforts to create psychological safety, they have a sneaky way of undermining all our hard work.
To make things even trickier, they can feel really uncomfortable to engage with, to talk about… but they’re all around us and they need equal (if not more!) attention to all of our wellbeing resources and activities.
I offer individuals and workplaces the opportunity to create safe spaces that enable us to explore, understand and then challenge these areas; enabling people to really get to the root of what brings true inclusion.
Make tackling the tricky stuff a central part of your mental health strategy.
I am ASIST and MHFA trained.
