Safe spaces
Insights and strategies for fostering physical, emotional, and psychological safety in every environment.
What If Someone Tries to Force You Into a Car?
One of the questions I get in almost every self-defense workshop is, “What do I do if someone tries to force me into a car?” People want to know how to get away and which technique will work. But by that point, someone is already close enough to grab you, threaten you...
There’s a Safety Step Before “Trust Your Gut”
Most of us have heard the same personal safety advice at some point. “Trust your gut.” I say it too. If something feels wrong, I want you to pay attention to that feeling. But your gut can only work with what your brain is picking up in the first place. And most of us...
Workplace Stress: You Can Be Coping and Still Not Be Okay
The Person Who Says “I’m Fine” May Be Telling the Truth Workplace stress can change the way you think, react and make decisions long before you realise you’re struggling. If somebody asks how you’re doing and you say, “I’m fine,” there’s a good chance you mean it....
Psychological Safety in the Workplace: When It Gets Complicated
A workplace where nobody ever feels uncomfortable is probably avoiding a lot of conversations that need to happen. Feedback can sting. Being challenged can put you on the defensive. Having somebody point out that your behaviour affected them can be difficult to hear....
Would Your Teenager Tell You If Something Was Really Messing With Their Head?
I'm not talking about forgetting their homework or needing money for lunch. I mean the things they might be embarrassed to admit. Maybe they've started to feel like they're not good enough. Maybe they've been left out of a group chat or they're checking over and over...
Why don’t we all know about grooming?
I watched a documentary a couple of days ago about a woman who was abused by her swim coach as a child. It was only years later, well into adulthood, that she realised she'd been groomed. Up until that point, she was still confused about whether or not what he did was...
Coercive Control: Why Patterns Matter More Than Incidents
Stop Looking for the Bruise. Start Looking for the Pattern. When people think about gender-based violence, they picture a single moment. A bruise. A threat. A violent incident. Those are signs of abuse, and they are important to notice but if that's all you're...
She Showed Up for Work. Nobody Knew What She Was Carrying.
Why the workplace has a bigger role to play in addressing gender-based violence in South Africa than most organisations realise. She drove to work this morning. Made coffee. Opened her laptop. Joined the meeting. Said she was fine when someone asked. And maybe she...
Your EAP is doing its job. Here’s what it can’t do.
Your employees are driving to work in a country where hijackings, robberies, and violent crime are not abstract statistics. Some of them were followed in a parking lot last month. Some of them have been hijacked, mugged or worse... They arrive at their desks carrying...
Creating safe spaces doesn’t make people weaker - it unlocks the strength they’ve been hiding to survive.