Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life

MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC
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In this MHScot-hosted podcast, we break down barriers and spark conversations about mental health. Starting in the workplace and extending outward, we’ll explore tools, stories, and initiatives that shape a healthier, more inclusive world. Whether you’re an employer, employee, or community member, tune in to discover actionable insights, challenge assumptions, and learn how nurturing well-being from the inside out helps us all thrive.

  1. 5d ago

    Not a Personality Flaw: Stress, the Nervous System and Work

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Charmian Johnson, a former global law firm partner, now founder of Charm Johnson Coaching and a Partner of The Mental Wellbeing Company. Through nervous system-aware training and coaching, she helps law firms reduce absence and attrition while improving performance and wellbeing. She also helps female lawyers move from overthinking and self-doubt to self-trust and feeling more like themselves again. Charmian trained in trauma-informed coaching at weekends while still practising, and what she learned changed how she understood herself and her own career. She had received feedback that under pressure, she could sometimes come across as frosty and irritable which she hated. At the time she struggled to see how she could do anything about it without changing the demands of the job. What she had never been taught, during three decades in law, despite mental health training, awareness sessions and resilience training, was anything at all about the nervous system. We talk about why organisations are spending more on wellbeing than ever and still asking why it is not working. Charmian believes an often overlooked piece is biological: understanding how our nervous system influences the way we think, feel and behave under pressure. Once people understand why they show up the way they do, the question in a workplace can change from "what is wrong with Dave in accounts" to "I wonder what is going on for him", and that small shift can change almost everything that follows. We also get into language. Charmian has learned that walking into a corporate environment and talking about being "trauma informed" can create misconceptions about what the work involves. In the workplace it doesn't mean a therapist digging into their staff's childhoods. However talking instead about being "nervous system aware" can open the door to the same important conversation about stress, behaviour and performance in a way that feels relevant and accessible in the workplace. 🔑 Key Topics Why wellbeing budgets keep growing while the results stay flatNervous system awareness as the piece traditional wellbeing strategies leave outThe invisible backpack of trauma we all carry into work, and why nobody else can see itWhy "trauma informed" can close doors that "nervous system aware" opensTraining everyone rather than a few, and the gap it creates when you don't 💡 Did You Know? A CIPD finding Charmian cites: half of organisations taking steps to reduce workplace stress did not think their wellbeing initiatives were effective. [Source: CIPD, Health and Wellbeing At Work: Survey Report, September 2025] 📝 Actionable Takeaways Notice the body before the behaviour. Shoulders around your ears, a clenched jaw and shallow breathing are early signs of a stress response, and they arrive before the outburst doesChange the question. "I wonder what is going on for them" gets you somewhere that "what is wrong with them" never willTrain the whole workforce, not a handful. When some people understand this and others don't, you have built a gap between themAsk someone for a coffee and a catch up. Charmian found some people who had not been asked once in five yearsLook at your data for overworking as well as absence. Both tell you something is wrong 🗣️ Join the Conversation Has anyone ever explained to you why your body reacts the way it does at work? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Charmian: LinkedIn | Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/charmian-johnson-4a99725b/https://charmjohnson.thementalwellbeingcompany.com/

  2. Aug 10

    Being Human at Work: The Whole Person Behind the Job

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Nicky McLaughlin, Area Partnership Manager for Scotland at CAP (Christians Against Poverty), a debt counselling charity now in its 30th year. Nicky supports the debt centre managers and coaches who visit people in their own homes, often at the hardest points of their lives. That means holding two things at once: the toll that debt and crisis take on clients, and the toll that supporting them takes on staff. We talk about what a genuinely healthy workplace looks like when your team spends its days absorbing other people's distress. At the heart of the conversation is an idea Nicky keeps returning to: people are whole people. You don't leave your grief, your money worries or your home life at the door when you clock in. Nicky is honest about his own history, giving up a job years ago to stress and anxiety, learning that it was okay to say he wasn't okay at work, and why sharing doesn't have to be all or nothing. It's a warm, practical conversation about care, boundaries, and building a culture where nobody has to pretend they have it all together. 🔑 Key Topics Why the people drawn to caring work so often carry their own experiences, and what that means for supporting themThe whole person at work: why splitting your work self from your home self doesn't holdSharing without oversharing: telling what you need to tell, and why it isn't all or nothingModelling vulnerability as a manager, and why going first changes the cultureThe risk of assuming the one person who did the training is now the office's mental health serviceWhy a single check-in isn't enough, and the follow-up that so often gets missedSignposting over rescuing: you don't have to be the fount of all knowledgeDynamic flexibility: responding to the curveballs real life throws at working people 💡 Did You Know? CAP started 30 years ago with one man, a financial background and ten pounds in his pocket, in Bradford. It now runs around 250 centres across the UK. 📝 Actionable Takeaways You don't need the ins and outs of someone's situation to support them. Acknowledge what's shared and ask what would helpBuild your own "what I can say" script, so opening up feels safe rather than all or nothingIf you manage people, go first. Naming your own struggles gives everyone else permissionCheck in again weeks later. Distress often surfaces on a delay, long after the first conversationKeep a signposting list. Knowing who to point people to matters more than having every answerMake flexibility responsive, not just a line in a policy. The train delay, the school closure, the sick child 🗣️ Join the Conversation Where's the line for you between bringing your whole self to work and keeping some things private? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Nicky: LinkedIn | CAP https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicky-mclaughlin-040257b3https://capuk.org

  3. Aug 3

    Culture Is the CEO's Job: Ego, Trust and Loss

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Michael Alexander, CEO of JAANUU, a fashionable yet functional medical apparel company founded in 2013 by a female paediatrician. Michael's core belief is simple: a CEO's number one job is to drive culture, and culture is what protects the mental health of everyone in the organisation. We talk about what that looks like day to day, from letting people "shoot the ball" and miss without fear, to keeping ego out of decisions, to picking up the phone instead of firing off another Slack. It's also an honest conversation about the harder side of leadership. Michael shares the sudden loss of a young, much-loved colleague, and how crying in front of the whole company became a moment of connection rather than weakness. We look at grief at work, why people's responses differ, and how a workplace can hold that together. 🔑 Key Topics Why the CEO's first job is culture, and how culture shapes mental healthPsychological safety, and creating a workplace where it's safe to "shoot the ball" and missHow ego gets organisations stuck, and why "be humble" is the leadership habit that mattersOwning mistakes as a sign of strength, not weaknessKeeping relationships close, treating small issues before they drift too far apartCommunication, consistency and coaching, and why the phone still beats the endless Slack threadValues that are lived versus values written on a wallGrief in the workplace, and respecting that everyone responds differentlyAI as a job enhancer, not a job replacement 💡 Did You Know? JAANUU surveyed 1,000 healthcare professionals for its "Scrub Effect" study, testing the idea that when people look good and feel good, they give better care at the bedside. Read the Scrub Effect study: 📝 Actionable Takeaways Make it safe to fail: people who fear mistakes stop taking the shots that move things forwardKeep ego out of decisions, aim for the business to win, not for you to be rightTreat "asking for help" as a strength your team is allowed to showMake micro-adjustments early, before a small tension becomes a hard-to-repair riftPick up the phone or walk over, you notice how someone really is when you're face to faceCheck in again weeks and months after a loss, grief often surfaces on a delayUse AI to enhance people's thinking, not to replace it 🗣️ Join the Conversation What does your workplace do when someone makes a mistake, punish it, or learn from it? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Michael: LinkedIn | JAANUU Michael's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelevanalexander/JAANUU website: https://www.jaanuu.comScrub Effect study: https://www.jaanuu.com/blogs/stories/the-scrubs-effect-what-you-wear-shapes-how-you-care

  4. Jul 27

    Who Looks After the Leader?

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Jodie Marshall, Founder and Managing Director of social enterprise A Mind Apart, and founder and owner of her consultancy and coaching company Mantleco Ltd. We start with a question most workplaces skip: who looks after the leader? Jodie is honest about her own burnout, and about how a burnt-out leadership can never build a team that isn't burnt out too. She explains why she deliberately put a therapist on her board, so that when hard conversations come up there is someone to bring the human angle, and so she has support of her own. From there the conversation widens into something rarely tied to mental health: money. Jodie makes the case that financial sustainability is a wellbeing issue. When an organisation is firefighting, wellbeing, training and development are the first things dropped. Get the business right, and you can reinvest in the people. We also talk about the fear running through employment right now, the young people entering work who are the COVID teenagers, and Jodie's argument that mental health belongs under the Equality Act, not just the HR inbox. 🔑 Key Topics Why a team can't be well if its leadership is burnt out, and who supports the leaderBuilding a board on purpose, putting a therapist in the roomFinancial sustainability as the foundation of staff wellbeing"What is not serving you?", the courage to drop what is draining the teamFear-driven employment: probation, rights from day one, and getting stuckNeurodiversity and treating a team as individuals, not one 40-hour mouldShared responsibility between employers and workers, and the generation now entering work 💡 Did You Know? After A Mind Apart brought in creative therapy and proper wellbeing support for those they were working with and their team, serious safeguarding incidents with the young people they work with fell dramatically, from something close to a daily occurrence to a handful across a whole year. When you resource the people doing the work, the work itself changes. 📝 Actionable Takeaways Look after the leadership, not just the team, and ask your board to resource itTreat financial sustainability as part of your wellbeing strategy, not separate from itAsk of every service and commitment: is this still serving us? Be willing to stopDo the market research before you launch. Piling untested ideas on your team is a wellbeing costHave the conversation about someone's working pattern and needs. Letting people lead it is not saying the wrong thingIf you are an SME without HR, get external support in place before you need it, through a chamber membership or ACAS 🗣️ Join the Conversation If you lead a small organisation, who looks after you? And what would change if you treated the health of your business and the health of your team as the same question? Connect with Jodie: LinkedIn, A Mind Apart, Mantle https://www.linkedin.com/in/jodie-marshall/https://amindapart.org.uk/https://www.mantleco.io/

  5. Jul 13

    The Colleague You Think Is Fine: Trauma at Work

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Tracey Secker, founder of Voices Social Enterprise, a non-profit raising awareness of domestic abuse, trauma and other forms of abuse, supporting both employees and employers through training, resources and events. Tracey also works with the charity Rape and Sexual Violence Project. Tracey came to this work through lived experience of domestic abuse and its long aftermath. She understands how trauma can shape the way someone responds to managers, colleagues and pressure at work, often without realising it at the time. That understanding sits underneath everything she now does. We talk about why a mentally healthy workplace starts with a culture that feels safe, open and supportive, and why so many people, including senior leaders, stay silent for fear of being judged or seen as weak. Tracey lays out the scale of the issue: around one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, which means trauma is present in almost any workforce, whether it's current or historical. She's candid about the assumptions that get in the way. "It doesn't happen here" is, she argues, one of the most dangerous things a leader can believe. People hide it well. For some, work is the one place they feel in control, a safe space they protect by becoming someone else for the day. The fix isn't to turn managers into counsellors. It's far simpler, and it belongs to everyone: notice, ask, listen, believe, and point people towards the right support. 🔑 Key Topics Why a mentally healthy workplace starts with a culture that feels safe, open and supportiveThe scale of domestic abuse and trauma in any workforce, and the ONS figures behind itHow historical trauma, coercive control and post-separation abuse follow people into workWhy "it doesn't happen here" is the assumption that does the most damageWork as a safe space, and the quiet signs someone may be surviving something at homeSupporting people without being a counsellor: hear, believe, listen, signpostPolicies that mean something versus tick-box policies that don'tWhy checking in on each other is everyone's job, not just managers' 💡 Did You Know? Around one in four women and one in six men experience domestic abuse in their lifetime (ONS). In a team of ten, the maths is unavoidable: someone you work alongside is likely carrying it, current or historical, whether you can see it or not. 📝 Actionable Takeaways Don't assume trauma isn't present. Find out. Even an anonymous QR-code check-in can surface what you can't seeWhen someone opens up, hear, believe and listen first. You don't have to fix itBe honest about your limits. Don't promise what you can't deliver, and signpost to specialist supportMake your policies (domestic abuse, menopause, mental health) mean something, and live by them from the top downCheck in on people, including the ones at the top who rarely get askedTreat a disclosure as a chance to support and educate, not automatically to discipline 🗣️ Join the Conversation When did someone last ask you, simply, "are you okay?", and what difference did it make? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Tracey Secker on LinkedIn | Voices Social Enterprise LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracey-secker-9522b047/Voices Social Enterprise: https://www.voices-social-enterprise.co.uk If anything in this episode affects you, support is available. In the UK, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline (run by Refuge) is free on 0808 2000 247, 24 hours a day. If phoning isn't safe or possible, you can also reach them through the live chat on their website: https://www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk

  6. Jun 29

    Leading with Humility: Why the Best Bosses Stay Human

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Steven Pink, who is the CEO of Verve Healthcare, a SELDOC Group company. Steven has worked in retail, banking, aviation, the NHS and private healthcare. You will hear in the podcast how experiences from each of these industries have shaped Steven's view on how to lead well. Steven's route to leadership has been interesting, starting as a 16-year-old selling men's suits in Marks and Spencer to leading two healthcare businesses as CEO: Verve Healthcare and SELDOC. That breadth shows in how he thinks about work. For Steven, a mentally healthy workplace is one where people get something back for themselves, not just a wage, but a sense of purpose, challenge and growth. He makes the case that we often have far more agency over our working lives than we think. We need to take hold of it. We talk about reflection as a vital discipline rather than a luxury. We consider why leaders who never carve out time to think end up leading with tunnel vision, and how saying no in a good way is an important technique you can learn; it isn't just about confidence. Steven shares his own turning point on health and fitness, and what changed when he finally treated his own wellbeing as a priority. He's also candid about the kind of leader he wanted to become. After working for some excellent bosses and some poor ones, he set out to build the kind of workplace he wished he'd been in when he was unhappy. The result: 97% workforce retention over five years in his current business, without the need to always be the best payer. His explanation is disarmingly simple, just be a bit human. 🔑 Key Topics Why purpose and challenge matter as much as pay for mental health at workThe agency we have over our own working lives, and why we underestimate itReflection as a leadership discipline, and building structure to protect itSaying no by offering an alternative, a learnable technique, not just confidenceLeaders not always putting themselves last, and why looking after yourself isn't selfishBuilding the workplace you wish you'd had: humanity, belonging and retentionInfluence with humility, and the responsibility that comes with seniority 💡 Did You Know? Steven's business holds 97% staff retention over more than five years, despite, in his words, not always being the best payer. His reason: once people arrive, it's simply a good, human place to be. Genuine kindness and low ego are vital ingredients for effective leadership. 📝 Actionable Takeaways Decide what gives you value from your work, then engineer more of it into your weekProtect time to reflect, whether that's the gym, a walk, or talking it through with someone you trustPractise saying no with an alternative: "I can't really do that this week, but I can do a great job with it next week. Would that work for you?"Treat your own health and wellbeing as your number one priority; allow other things to reorganise around itIf your team look nervous or avoid you, treat it as feedback on your leadership, not on them, change how you areUse influence with humility, the bigger your role, the greater your responsibility 🗣️ Join the Conversation When did you last give yourself real time to reflect, and what changed when you did? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Steven: LinkedIn | Verve Healthcare https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenpink123/https://www.vervehealthcare.co.uk/

  7. Jun 4

    Supervision, Not Snoopervision: Leading with Compassion

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Dr Emma Williamson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and CEO of Aneemo. Emma spent over 20 years in the NHS, including developing what is now the largest homeless psychology service in Europe, and she now supports organisations across sectors through trauma-informed leadership, training and immersive learning. We start with a simple question: what does a mentally healthier workplace actually look like? For Emma it begins with psychological safety, compassion and a trauma-informed approach, an environment where people can raise concerns or admit they're struggling without fear of repercussion, while still holding high standards and healthy challenge. From there the conversation opens out into leadership. We get into how we set managers up to fail, handing them targets and KPIs but little training, support or time.We talk about why so many people, younger workers especially, are stepping back from management, what happens to our judgement when we're burnt out, and why leaders so rarely give themselves the care they extend to everyone else. Her answer to the one change that would make the biggest difference is refreshingly practical: regular, genuine one-to-one spaces. "Supervision, not snoopervision," a phrase she credits to Dr Karen Treisman, support that's about the person, not just their objectives. 🔑 Key Topics What a trauma-informed workplace looks like, and why it benefits everyone, not only those who've experienced traumaPsychological safety sitting alongside high standards and healthy challengeWhy trauma is a wide umbrella, and why we don't need to label or diagnose to support people wellHow we set leaders up to fail, and why healthy teams produce better outcomes than target-chasingBurnout and the three signs to watch for: emotional exhaustion, disconnection, and feeling you achieve nothingWhy leaders have to start with their own wellbeing, and role-model boundaries, leave and restDistributed leadership, and letting go of the idea that one person does it all"Supervision, not snoopervision" (a phrase from Dr Karen Treisman): regular one-to-one support as prevention, not paperworkWhat to do when you don't get on with your line managerWhether wellness action plans help, and why it's how they're used that counts 💡 Did You Know? Around 70% of the global population will experience at least one traumatic event in their lifetime, and more than a third of workforce sickness and absence is linked to mental health. A trauma-informed approach isn't a niche concern, it's about almost everyone you work with. 📝 Actionable Takeaways Build regular one-to-one spaces that are about the person, not only their KPIs, at least monthlyNotice the people who say "I don't need that", sometimes they can be the ones who need support mostAs a leader, start with yourself: take your leave, hold your boundaries, find your own supportUse "I" statements rather than "you" statements when a working relationship is strainedTreat wellbeing tools as the start of a conversation, not a tick-box exerciseFind your own "team of solidarity", the people who reset you when your boundaries slip 🗣️ Join the Conversation Do you get a regular one-to-one space that's actually about you, not just your targets? And if you lead a team, are you giving yourself the same support you give everyone else? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media. Connect with Dr Emma Williamson: LinkedIn | Website https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-emma-williamson-04bb7a85/https://www.aneemo.com

  8. Apr 27

    Construction, Culture, and Why You Can't Shape a Bully

    In this episode of Inside Out: Mental Health at Work and in Life, I'm joined by Marjorie Thomson, a commercial leader with more than 30 years in the construction industry. Marjorie's career has taken her from graduate trainee in Croydon to regional director responsible for a £26 million business, through two start-ups, two sales, and the process of leading a company through administration. She's now commercial manager at the startup she helped build, in what she describes as the best place she's been in her entire career. We talk about what culture actually is, not what the organisation declares, but what people decide to build on the ground. Marjorie argues you cannot shape a bully, and she's honest about the last 18 months leading up to her previous company's collapse, about the mental health crisis playing out in construction right now, and about what kept her going when it would have been easier to walk away. This is a conversation about what good leadership looks like when it shows up in other people, why mental health first aid training changed how she listened, and why, despite everything, seeing people develop is what still gives her hope. 🔑 Key Topics What a mentally healthy workplace actually looks like in practiceWhy culture isn't driven by the organisation, it's driven by the people in the right positionsWhy you cannot shape a bully, and what happens when one becomes your leaderLeading over 120 people through the slow decline of a businessMisogyny in construction, then and nowWhat mental health first aid training changed for Marjorie as a leaderThe specific mental health pressures in the construction industryWhy "I stayed for the people" is a leadership stance, not a consolation prize 💡 Did You Know? Construction has one of the highest suicide rates of any UK industry. Marjorie talks about why the sector's culture of "just get on with it", combined with long hours, financial precarity, and a near-complete lack of psychological safety, makes honest mental health conversations almost impossible on site, and often impossible in the office too. 📝 Actionable Takeaways Check where your organisation's culture is actually coming from: the boardroom, or the people closest to the customer?If you spot a bully in leadership, don't try to coach the behaviour out. Marjorie's lived experience says it cannot be shapedLook at who your team comes to for advice. That's a signal of who's leading in practiceAudit your approach to wellbeing. Are you ticking boxes, or creating real space for people to speak?If you're in a failing organisation, remember the people relying on you. That's a legitimate reason to stay, and a legitimate reason to leave when the damage becomes personalAsk yourself: what gives you hope? If the answer is nothing, that's information worth acting on 🗣️ Join the Conversation What shapes workplace culture more, the people in it or the organisation that employs them? Have you ever stayed for the people when everything else told you to go? Share your thoughts and connect with us on social media.

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In this MHScot-hosted podcast, we break down barriers and spark conversations about mental health. Starting in the workplace and extending outward, we’ll explore tools, stories, and initiatives that shape a healthier, more inclusive world. Whether you’re an employer, employee, or community member, tune in to discover actionable insights, challenge assumptions, and learn how nurturing well-being from the inside out helps us all thrive.

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