Supportive Leadership Development: Why Leadership Training Alone Is Not Enough

by Samantha Sellwood | Oct 8, 2026 | featured, Leadership, Psychosocial Risk, Workplace Mental Health

In a previous article about supportive leadership, we explored how everyday leadership support can help people manage work demands and stay well. This article asks different questions: Does the traditional approach to supportive leadership development really work? How...

Reasonable management action – how it works as a control measure for psychosocial risk

by Samantha Sellwood | May 31, 2026 | featured, Leadership, Psychosocial hazards, Psychosocial Risk

Here’s a scenario we’ve seen play out in a lot of workplaces: A people leader doing their best to keep their head above water knows they need to take action – to give the feedback, address the behaviour, step into the tricky conversation, whatever it might...

Ongoing training for workplace peer support: why “one-and-done” just doesn’t cut it

by Samantha Sellwood | May 18, 2026 | featured, Workplace Mental Health, Workplace Peer Support

If you’ve implemented a workplace peer support program, chances are you’ve invested in initial training. A solid foundation.A clear role.A group of people who genuinely want to support their colleagues. That’s a great start. But there’s one part that often gets...

A Simple Team Health Check for Leaders: Everyday Psychosocial Risk Management

by Samantha Sellwood | May 6, 2026 | featured, Leadership, Psychosocial Risk, Team Building, Workplace Mental Health

A simple approach to build healthier teams Most teams don’t suddenly fall apart. It happens over time. They drift. Workload creeps up. Priorities blur. Systems get clunky. Small frustrations turn into quiet disengagement. And before you know it, work just feels harder...

Why Peer Support Works at Work

by Samantha Sellwood | Mar 19, 2026 | Workplace Mental Health, Workplace Peer Support

Why Peer Support Works at Work There’s something quietly powerful about a colleague saying, “Are you okay?” – and actually meaning it.Not as a script from a poster.Not as a tick box.But as one human, talking to another, in the middle of a demanding workday. For...

Why Workplace Peer Support Programs Fizzle

by Samantha Sellwood | Feb 3, 2026 | featured, Psychosocial Risk, Workplace Mental Health, Workplace Peer Support

And How Head Strong’s Four Pillars of Workplace Peer Support can help keep your program alive. If you caught my earlier blog – Workplace Peer Support: A Secret Weapon for Safer, Stronger Teams – you’ll know that here at Head Strong Workplaces we are...

Supportive Leadership: The Everyday Resource That Buffers Harm

by Samantha Sellwood | Sep 10, 2025 | featured, Leadership, Psychosocial hazards, Psychosocial Risk, Team Building, Workplace Mental Health

Why I’m Passionate About Everyday Psychosocial Risk (and Everyday Leadership) If you know me, you know I’m a bit obsessed with the “everyday” side of psychosocial risk management and leadership. Not just the policies, frameworks, or compliance checklists – but...

Hard Hats for the Mind: Addressing Vicarious Trauma

by Samantha Sellwood | Aug 17, 2025 | Psychosocial hazards, Psychosocial Risk

Vicarious Trauma: the Cumulative Wear & Tear on the Heart & Mind Most workplaces tend to be all over safeguarding their people from physical hazards these days – wet floors, wobbly chairs, massive pieces of machinery that can grind you to a pulp. But what about the...

The JD-R Model: Your New Best Friend in Workplace Mental Health

by Samantha Sellwood | Aug 4, 2025 | featured, Leadership, Psychosocial hazards, Workplace Mental Health

Balancing the Load: How the JD-R Model Helps Leaders Design Healthier Workplaces Yeah, so, work can sometimes be… a lot. There’s the never-ending to-do list, the meetings that multiply like rabbits, and the inbox that seems to have a personal vendetta. And then...