Head Strong Workplaces

06/10/2025

🌞 Well, Spring has sprung and the sun is shining!

Nothing is better at this time of year than a bit of a makeover - shedding a few kilos and squeezing yourself into a bikini that says "hello world, here I am!". So that’s exactly what we’re doing at Head Strong*.

*Except by makeover we mean a brand refresh and by bikini we mean a Canva LinkedIn template.

With the help of Kat Potter from Little Black Kat Creative we have rejhooshed our look and feel to better align with what’s in our hearts – a commitment to creating healthier and happier workplaces while keeping it real and bringing a little bit of sunshine and laughter along the way.

Check out our new(ish) look and let us know what you think! (I mean, as long as you think it's awesome. Because it would be a total downer if you were mean about it...).

And if you want to find Kat (because she was an absolute delight to work with ☺️), you can find her website here: https://lnkd.in/g7juRAkf

22/09/2025

A massive thank you to the CAE Defence & Security – Indo-Pacific team at Homebush for last week’s training!

The conversations were lively, the catering was fabulous, the laughter was real, the catering was amazing, and the enthusiasm was off the charts. Absolutely brilliant. The engagement from everyone made our job easy (and a lot of fun). And did I mention the catering??

Thanks again for making the training so enjoyable (and delicious). Looking forward to next time - though you may have spoiled us for all future events!

15/10/2022

Wow. Fantastic new free complex mental health support service.

I'm a Health Professional I'm a carer I'm self referring I'm a Health Professional About SANE's Guided Service SANE’s free guided service combin...

08/09/2021

Nice article (and not too long) talking about how positive imagery might help to improve your mood and motivation, increase your sense of optimism and buffer you against stress. A simple strategy that looks like it can have some great benefits.
https://psyche.co/ideas/its-possible-to-help-more-positive-images-pop-into-your-mind?utm_source=Psyche+Magazine&utm_campaign=5894bc4f83-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_09_06_07_40&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_76a303a90a-5894bc4f83-71332536

07/09/2021

Had the BEST fun delivering the Neuroscience of Engagement workshop for the crew of Luppinos Hair Brisbane City - Luxury Salon today!

21/08/2021

It’s great to see that this initiative keeps going from strength to strength

Inside Queensland's successful police unit that sees an officer and mental health nurse spend much of their shift in a gutter hearing people's life stories in times of crisis.

18/08/2021

This was posted on LinkedIn. Says it all really.

27/07/2021

The Masked Facilitator. Coming to a workplace near you. Unless we’re locked down in which case I become the pyjama-ed work from homer.

13/07/2021

I'm doing a FREE course on 'Food & Mood' - how nutrition impacts on mental and brain health. It's offered by Deakin Uni and talks about some great research in this area. It's a fascinating field! (that's a photo of my 'fascinated study face', in case you're wondering.) If you are interested, you can check out the course here: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/food-and-mood

13/07/2021

A reminder that working from home comes with negatives as well as positives. But there are things we can do (and should be doing) to keep the negatives from tipping the balance in terms of employee (ill) health.

Over the past year, 76% of employees did not receive any training to support them in the transition to remote work. Now, a year later these employees are burned-out, isolated, and looking to their employers for guidance. Here's what you can do to help.

12/07/2021

Some really interesting data from this survey by NAB in a special Health & Wellbeing report about Australian's working from home experience. For most people, it has definitely been a positive change. Check it out here:https://business.nab.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NAB-Health-Wellbeing-Insight-Working-From-Home.pdf

29/06/2021

I love the Thrive at Work website. It has a huge array of resources for creating a mentally healthy workplace. Check it out here:

Help your employees thrive at work by implementing this intiative to help improve mental and emotional wellbeing in the workplace designed by Curtin Uni.

24/06/2021

It’s been a busy month at Head Strong so this article that talks about “attention fatigue” and how to restore a tired brain with activities that allow “soft fascination” was excellent.

Attention fatigue is a threat to your cognitive and mental health

18/06/2021

09/06/2021

For those of you who have done Mental Health First Aid training with me, you will know I'm a big fan of EMDR as a treatment for trauma. This is a great article that explains a bit more about how EMDR works.

A radical therapy based on eye movements can desensitise painful memories, heal hurts and aid transformation at warp speed

04/06/2021

Always nice to get lovely feedback! This one was from a recent Mental Health First Aid course. https://headstrongworkplaces.com.au/mental-health-first-aid-australia/

01/06/2021

Great to see that NSW has developed a Code of Practice for Psychosocial Hazards (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UBNyRFeXXM
). This gives employers more guidance about obligations in relation to identifying and managing psychosocial hazards in the workplace. It also likely means more regulatory activity in this area (i.e. health and safety inspectors investigating potential breaches of workplace health and safety obligations). Qld is also developing their own Code so that's coming soon. If you want to make sure you are meeting your work health and safety obligations in relation to psychosocial hazards, get in touch! https://headstrongworkplaces.com.au/contact-us/

No business ever wants to see their workers harmed just because they did their job. The Code of Practice: Managing psychosocial hazards at work from SafeWork...

30/05/2021

A big thank you to the Australian Agricultural Company for another great Mental Health First Aid course with a knowledgeable and engaged bunch of people. It's always lovely spending time with the folks from AACo!

28/05/2021

Another favourite from Leunig.

27/05/2021

This week I'm back with the lovely folks at the Australian Agricultural Company for Mental Health First Aid, so I thought it might be timely to talk rural mental health. This excellent (and shocking) infographic highlights the increase in su***de rate the further people live from major cities.The Rural & Remote Mental Health website has some great resources, if you want to find out more. https://www.rrmh.com.au

26/05/2021

Bag packed (and inspected by Gemma), ready to rock 'n' roll for Mental Health First Aid tomorrow and Friday. Whoohoo!

24/05/2021

Work-related aggression and violence directed towards employees continues to be an ongoing issue in many industries, including health care. Unfortunately, there is often a culture of acceptance in health care - a view that violent and aggressive behaviour from clients/patients/residents/visitors is "just part of the job", particularly when initiated by individuals who have a mental illness, dementia or other illnesses that affect their cognitive functioning and mood regulation. This resource from Workplace Health & Safety Qld is packed full of really practical strategies to address work-related violence and aggression. Although it is specifically directed at health care, many of the tools can easily be applied to other industries. Take a look:https://www.worksafe.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/21639/prevention_management_health_services.pdf

20/05/2021

I miss The Far Side...

20/05/2021

We can help make your workplace great. Find out how https://headstrongworkplaces.com.au

18/05/2021

Some small changes to the language that we use can have such a positive impact.

Language around mental ill-health can play a big role in keeping alive stereotypes, myths, and stigma. Here's some helpful guidance on some small adjustments you can make, that can have a big difference to those in recovery.

Read more → https://mindframe.org.au/mental-health/communicating-about-mental-ill-health/language

18/05/2021

"...an overly busy office can kill morale and leave employees disengaged and less capable of getting everything done. It’s on you, the manager, to help your people cut through the chaos, reduce stress, and make sure your team can accomplish its most important work." I would go one further and say it's a health and safety responsibility. Some great ideas in this article

Focus people on the things that matter.

17/05/2021

I was recently part of a webinar talking about workplace mental health for early career scientists, organised by the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) mentoring program. Excellent presentation from Kim, a Black Dog Institute volunteer community lived experience presenter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1x3wk3lCek&list=PLbDuOSTzwqhqymb9s4L-MIV-bEDMXxGZ8&index=1&t=60s

14/05/2021

Some fantastic resources here for supporting our Indian colleagues in the workplace as India is facing such devastating losses due to COVID-19.

Workplace mental health resources for Indian Professionals across the globe.

29/04/2021

Always good to be reminded about the importance of sleep. Interesting that the CDC in America has designated lack of quality sleep as a public health problem.

When we’ve gotten a bad night’s sleep, it can reverberate through our workday. We explore the ways sleep directly affects mental wellness in the workplace.

27/04/2021

Got some $ left in your workplace training budget that needs to be spent before 30 June? Our Standard Mental Health First Aid training is a great option to help your staff to feel more confident supporting people who may be experiencing mental ill-health. Get in touch to have a chat about the options https://headstrongworkplaces.com.au/mental-health-first-aid-australia/

21/04/2021

Words of wisdom from Ralph Waldo Emerson.

12/04/2021

I really like some of the 'small fixes' this article talks about for promoting employee mental health, like not sending emails after hours!

Explore the inadvertent ways company culture may be undermining your mental health objectives.

08/04/2021

I'm sharing this article because a) it's continuing with the theme of laughter being important for our wellbeing; b) it's interesting that the researchers have concluded that laughter makes us feel like we belong in a group and believe its purpose is to build trust the way mutual grooming does for primates and c) how freakin' cute is that baby???
https://ideas.ted.com/meet-a-scientist-with-a-most-delightful-job-he-studies-baby-laughter/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_content=2021-4-01&fbclid=IwAR19k4gPvWCJ6mZpnN_pQ0hKMXBAwxqxB0LBXrLmA3Y9TKVIOoG-Xv-wt3M

Babies start laughing before they can speak, and this delicious sound just may serve as a powerful source of human communication and connection, says psychology researcher Caspar Addyman.

26/03/2021

Some Friday hilarity...

25/03/2021

The physiological benefits of laughter "include an enhanced immune system, muscle relaxation, and reduced blood pressure". I love that this article talks about how you can train yourself to laugh more often. Just that concept amused me no end. I assume this would involve getting up early, getting into your clown clothes (active wear for laughter training, obviously) and watching Mr Bean videos...😆

You don’t have to wait to be amused, there are ways to train yourself to enjoy the ‘cheap medicine’ of laughter every day

23/03/2021

I really love the mood meter from Yale's Center for Emotional Intelligence. We talk about this one in both our resilience and emotional intelligence workshops. It's a great tool for tapping into, and labelling, your emotions. They also have a pretty cool app - you can check it out here: https://moodmeterapp.com

22/03/2021

Last week I was a participant (which is very nice for a change ☺️) in Scott Dutton's virtual facilitation training. I've got heaps of new ideas about how to put together really engaging virtual training, so we are looking forward to having a play with that for some of Head Strong's workshops. It was excellent training and I highly recommend it if you are planning on facilitating any virtual groups.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6778607516281638912/

18/03/2021

I had the pleasure of delivering our 1-day Mental Health Essentials workshop for staff from the Qld Teachers' Union yesterday. It was really great to hang out with this fun, knowledgeable (and photogenic!) bunch of people. Thanks for having me, QTU!