LionHeart Talks… Resilience and mental health

One month before she sat her APC towards the end of 2020, graduate surveyor Sophie Clarke took her own life.

Although she had experienced periods of anxiety and low moods, there was absolutely no sign just how much Sophie was struggling, and for her many loved ones her heartbreaking decision came like a bolt out of the blue.

In this episode, our host Jo Grant is joined by Sophie’s father Rupert Clarke, also a property industry professional and now founder of the Mental Health and Resilience Foundation, a charity established in Sophie’s memory that her family hope will leave a lasting and positive legacy.

We talk about:

• Why is it important to connect the word ‘resilience’ when thinking about our mental health – and what difference it can make
• Learning to ride the waves: “Don’t judge me by my successes, but how many times I fell over and got back up.”
• Resilience in young people and early career professionals
• How better resilience could support the millions of people who struggle with anxiety
• The early plans Rupert and LionHeart are formulating to build better resilience within property firms

Useful links:

Find out more about LionHeart’s mental health support, including counselling

Read our counsellor’s blog, Looking after your mental health in turbulent times

Watch our recorded webinar, Moving on from setback or disappointment

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

Around 15 million people in the UK (about a quarter of the population!) live with a long-term health condition, so you’re not alone – although it often feels that way.

Our host Lucy Wright and LionHeart ambassador and surveyor, Derek Carter, talk about what it’s like to go from living a busy, active working and personal life to being told you’ve got a health condition that’s not going to go away.

We talk about:

• · The challenges of living with an ‘invisible’ illness
• · Joining the dots and getting a diagnosis
• · Acceptance (and the spoons theory)
• · Balancing the need to be informed – but not falling into the Doctor Google rabbit hole
• · The importance of support networks, and how LionHeart was able to help Derek

Useful links:

Find out more about how LionHeart can support people through ill-health

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

Read Derek’s blog, Living with an invisible illness

Read Lucy’s blog, Learning to go gently

Having your own inner critic is bizarrely not always a bad thing. What was once hard-wired into our brains as a survival mechanism can actually help us to succeed and improve – but only if we use it well.

Our host Melissa Gough Rundle is joined by one of the LionHeart trainers, Isabelle Fielding, who is a coaching psychologist and consultant specialising in working with people and organisations on behaviour change, for this episode on letting go of your inner critic. We talk about:

• How self criticism shows up – aka the “vulnerability hangover”
• Why we often judge ourselves more harshly that we would anyone else
• How, left unchecked, your inner critic can destroy your confidence and stop you from doing things you really want to
• Techniques you can use to quell your inner critic (without getting rid of it altogether)
• When to consider professional help

Useful Links

You might also be interested in our Beyond Imposter Syndrome webinar recording

Find out more about LionHeart’s work-related support

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

As recommended by Isabelle, find more resources on self-compassion on Kristin Neff’s website

The feelings of helplessness when you realise your child is struggling with their mental health are like no other. The worry can be all-consuming, especially if you’re not quite sure when and where to get professional support, and can impact the whole family.

LionHeart host Melissa Gough Rundle is joined by Carmel Mullan-Hartley and Colette Hartley from our youth counselling partner, Open Door.

We talk about:

• Some of the common themes and issues experienced by the young people we support
• The lingering effects of the Covid pandemic on our young people’s mental health
• The role of the family (from parents to siblings) while their young person is having therapy
• What to expect from youth counselling
• The holistic support we can give parents throughout

Useful links:

Find out more about LionHeart’s youth counselling service

Watch this series of short explainer videos on common children’s mental health issues, filmed with Open Door

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

“My body was telling me something was wrong – I just wasn’t listening to it.”

Sudden, serious health events that happen seemingly out of the blue can change everything, mentally and physically. Our host Jo Grant is joined by LionHeart ambassador Amol Bhatnagar MRICS as we talk health problems that change your life – something around 1 in 10 of the cases we support each year have in common – and how you can learn to accept and embrace that not everyone is given a second chance.

We talk about:

• Amol’s chest pain that he thought might be down to rich Christmas and New Year food – but led to him being whisked to hospital for surgery
• The tell-tale warning signs he’d overlooked, including the stress he’d been under working for his own limited company
• Recovering, emotionally and physically
• Life changes Amol has made, and his advice for others in a similar situation

Useful links:

Watch this recorded Men’s Health Month panel discussion, in which Amol and other LionHeart ambassadors talk about men’s health and wellbeing, from the physical to the mental

How LionHeart can support through ill-health

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

What are some of the biggest barriers to better inclusion at work?

In this episode, LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by Vanessa Curtis, senior director at CBRE, RICS Governing Council member, and founder and chair of AbilityRE, a non-profit organisation that promotes awareness of disability and neurodiversity within the property industry.

Vanessa’s journey began with her personal experiences of trying to get diagnoses and support for her own neurodivergent children – which would actually later lead to the ‘lightbulb moment’ that caused her to explore her own diagnosis of ADHD as an adult.

We talk about:

• Some of the challenges faced by neurodivergent people in the workplace…
• … and the strengths and differences they may bring to your teams
• Attitudes and experiences around neurodivergence in surveying
• What’s behind a rise in the numbers of adult females with ADHD and autism
• Things that can be put in place to help (spoiler: it doesn’t have to mean expensive or complicated!)

Useful links:

Check out LionHeart’s Neurodiversity page for some useful resources and to find out more about how we can help

Watch this recorded panel discussion, Embracing Neurodiversity in the Workplace, in which some of the LionHeart ambassador team talk about their diagnoses of ADHD and autism, and the effect on their surveying careers

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

3.1 A Growth Mindset (& how to get one)

What’s a growth mindset: how do you get one – and why would you want one anyway?!

LionHeart host Melissa Gough Rundle is joined by one of the LionHeart trainers and certified coach Rob Edwards to talk about the difference between fixed and growth mindsets and how we can train our minds like a muscle to embrace new skills and opportunities and make us more confident.

We talk about:

· How growth can be about small wins and improvements

· Why what has been a previous failure can be a source of future strength

· How having a set opinion of your natural abilities and talents can hold you back

· Why consistency trumps having massive goals – and the power of the word ‘yet’

Useful links:

Find out more about LionHeart career support, including how to take a coaching approach

to your development

Find a range of our recorded webinars to support your wellbeing, personal and career

development here

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter

Every year, millions of UK employees experience bereavement – astonishingly, around a quarter of the workforce. Yet almost 60% of those felt unsupported at work following their loss. Despite bereavement being something we all experience, it seems workplaces and colleagues are not always well-equipped to offer support and are often not sure what to do or say (or what not to do or say).

In this second of two episodes to mark Grief Awareness Week, LionHeart host Jo Grant is joined by ambassador and surveyor Claire Martin and LionHeart communications manager Hayley Draper, who share their experiences of working while dealing with terminal illness and loss.

We talk about:

· Bereavement policies at work

· The importance of flexibility and kindness

· What helped – and what didn’t

· The zigzag nature of the impact of loss

Useful links

How LionHeart can support following bereavement

Watch our recorded webinar, Understanding Bereavement in the Workplace

Sign up to get the LionHeart newsletter