Don’t harden up… HEARTEN UP.
Telling someone to ‘harden up’ and just ‘get on with it’ is effectively telling them to ignore and suppress how they feel. Not only is this unhealthy, but the exact opposite of good mental health.
When we talk with someone about our challenges and issues, we dramatically increase our wellbeing. Especially in the case of depression and anxiety.
Humans are creatures that thrive with connection and camaraderie. We always have been. But somewhere along the way, we devalued sharing our stories and learning through conversation. And it has been to our collective detriment as people and communities.
Suicide is at emergency levels, with 10x more deaths than the national road toll… Opening up and heartening up is the start of your recovery journey and critical to not becoming a heart-breaking statistic.
News
Launching the new podcast!
Be Human, Not Concrete: the Hearten Up podcast, is now LIVE! It features stories and thoughts from me, around dropping the facades we all build up, normalising being human, recommendations on all sorts of resources (genuine ones, not sponsored) and future episodes will have some people I’ve met over the
It’s ok me, I got this
The single most powerful and liberating psychological practice I have ever done is reintroduce myself to my inner child, and show him who I am now. Yes, it sounds wanky and flowery but I truly don’t care. I gave this a crack and the positive change has been nothing
Honey, I’m home! (reconnecting with myself)
Last year I came to realise that despite all of the work I’d been doing to strengthen my mental health and overall feeling of being well, I hadn’t yet tackled a core issue: I didn’t know who I really was as distinct from what I’d been told or thought I
From superannuation marketing to mental health first aid training
A self-described “corporate refugee”, Mr Clapham spoke to AIST on the tipping point that triggered his mental health mission and turned his life around. Mental health is the greatest healthcare risk facing Australians after cardiovascular disease and cancer, according to The Australian Burden of Disease Study. Its effects are particularly
Learning from the best
Earlier this week I got to spend two days hearing from arguably the world leader in trauma therapy, psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, MD, whose book ‘The Body Keeps the Score’ was a game-changer and best-seller (and he signed my copy for me :D) I learned a lot more about
Radio interview: ABC Darwin
In 2017, ABC Radio Darwin interviewed me about my show HUMPTY DUMPTY DADDY, which I delivered at the Darwin Fringe Festival that year. I really enjoyed the conversation with the lovely Rebecca McLaren. We spoke about the show, my father’s suicide, and how I talk to my own children about mental health.
How my father’s suicide helped me to become a ‘real man’
LOSING his dad as a teen was “truly horrible” for JC Clapham but the father-of-three was soon faced with his own moment of despair. IT WAS Saturday, March 28, 1998, when I received the news that would cast a shadow over the rest of my life. I was 16
More community mental health training in Wangaratta
We’re so excited to announce a further 30 people in the Wangaratta region are now accredited mental health first aiders! Supported by our project partner The Grit and Resilience Program, 2021’s intake of the ‘Hearten Up Wangaratta’ community program undertook two days of training across topics such as mental
Founder & Executive Director
NOW:
Joel Clapham is a mental health training specialist and consultant, a Principal Master Instructor in Mental Health First Aid, who is also undertaking postgraduate study in psychology to become a clinical psychologist.
A former award-winning corporate executive in financial services and marketing, Joel burned out and broke down from major mental health problems in 2016, before doing the work to firstly survive, then heal, and now thrive once more.
Joel is a vocal advocate of recognising we are all human beings first, and employees/managers second.
He is also an award-winning writer and performer with national tours of two solo shows under his belt, both of which looked at mental health, identity and masculinity.
THEN:
In late 2013, Joel seemingly had it all: aged 31, married with three healthy children, a home in outer suburban Melbourne, and an award-winning senior executive in the not-for-profit financial services industry who was on track to become a CEO before he was 40.
But in 2016, aged 34, Joel broke down and nearly lost himself completely.
Through Hearten Up, Joel brings together his personal story, experiences, humour, compassion, and training, to help bring more heart to an often-hard world.
VFMC have been very proud to partner with Hearten Up to train and certify more than 20 mental health first aiders across our organisation.
Personally, I valued the opportunity to participate and get a new understanding for contemporary triage of mental health injuries.
The training manages a serious topic thoughtfully and the learning environment is supportive and inclusive.
I feel very pleased that so many of our team are accredited to enable them to support colleagues and friends should there be times of crisis in or outside of work.
It is a powerful capability uplift that will enable all of us to better support ourselves and others post pandemic.
I thoroughly recommend investing your time to build your own skills to manage life and sponsor others in your organisation to complete this incredibly valuable accreditation.
Joel Clapham is a wonderful advocate for mental health. He is open about his own struggles and isn’t afraid to discuss difficult topics.
Generous with his knowledge and time, his insights and practical advice have been invaluable for our audiences.
He’s articulate and a terrific performer, both on camera and as a speaker. He’s also approachable and professional. It’s been an absolute pleasure to work with him!
WHO WE WORK WITH
