Sunflower Thinking

What a wonderful afternoon! 🌻
A huge thank you to BCHA for a fantastically well-organised, friendly and fun Festival of Wellbeing. What a brilliant event! 💛

It was so lovely to meet so many brilliant people who stopped by to chat about all things mental health, training, wellbeing action plans and mindful colouring (yes… of course there were sunflowers! 🌻🎨).
And I was especially excited to share my new little giveaway — Grow Your Own Sunshine 🌻🌱 — sunflower seeds to plant next March. I hope they bring a little sunshine to your gardens, balconies and windowsills next spring!

A few hours spent surrounded by fabulous, wellbeing-focused people, great conversations, plenty of smiles and lots of sunshine… what more could you ask for?

Thank you to everyone who stopped by, chatted, coloured, planted and shared the afternoon with us. 💛

Already looking forward to the next one!

Thank you to 8 fantastic attendees!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of welcoming 8 fantastic people to the first of my Summer Lunch & Learn: Wellbeing in Action sessions.

It was such a lovely, warm and supportive environment, with plenty of conversation, reflection and practical ideas around Building Your Personal Resilience.

And the lovely feedback coming in has been the perfect reminder of why creating spaces like this matters.

There are still three sessions to come:
13 August – Conversations That Count
20 August – Grief, Loss & Life Changes
27 August – Looking After You While Supporting Others
12:30–1:30pm | Microsoft Teams

If you've been thinking about joining us, there's still time!

Take one hour for yourself this August. 🌻

https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/q7aDztbDv9

A little favour from my wonderful community...

This Friday, Sunflower Thinking will be at the BCHA Festival of Wellbeing and I'm looking for someone who might be able to lend a hand for a few hours.

If you enjoy chatting with people, don't mind getting stuck into some fun wellbeing activities and would like to help spread a little sunshine, I'd love to hear from you! 💛

No special experience is needed, just a friendly face, a willingness to get involved and a passion for supporting wellbeing.

It's a fantastic community event, and I'd really appreciate having an extra pair of hands while we welcome visitors to the Sunflower Thinking stall.

If you're free on Friday 7th August between 1pm–4pm (or even for part of the afternoon), Bournemouth area please send me a message.

Equally, if you know someone who might enjoy it, I'd be so grateful if you could tag them or share this post.

Thank you for always supporting Sunflower Thinking, it means more than you know. 🌻

Have you booked your place yet?

I’ve been so encouraged by the response to Sunflower Thinking’s Summer Lunch & Learn: Wellbeing in Action series. Thank you to everyone who’s already signed up!

These sessions aren’t about sitting through another webinar, they’re about taking an hour to learn something practical, reflect, ask questions and leave with tools you can actually use.

This year’s sessions are:
Building Your Personal Resilience
6 August
Conversations That Count
13 August
Grief, Loss & Life Changes
20 August
Looking After You While Supporting Others
27 August
12:30pm–1:30pm - Live on Microsoft Teams

If you’ve been meaning to book but haven’t quite got round to it, there’s still time. Email [email protected] today!

✔️ One hour over lunch.
✔️ Practical, interactive and supportive.
✔️ Join one session or all four.

Because investing in your wellbeing isn’t a luxury, it’s one of the most valuable investments you can make.

I’d love to see you there. 🌻

Signing off for the week - the moment of switching on the ‘out of office’ has happened!

A huge thank you for all the support, bookings, enquiries, encouragement and conversations so far this year. It truly means so much. 💛

I’m looking forward to picking things back up in August and continuing to normalise conversations around mental health and continuing to grow mentally healthy workplaces.

For now, I’m off to enjoy some well-earned time with the best of friends. See you Monday 3rd August! ✨🌻

Today was all about Trauma-Informed Practice: Supporting Others, Supporting Ourselves

It was a privilege to spend the day with a group of true professionals at BCHA exploring what trauma really is, how it affects the brain and body, why trauma responses make sense and how we can bring greater compassion, curiosity and understanding into the way we work with others.

We also explored something that is often overlooked...
The impact that supporting others can have on us.
We talked about vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout, resilience and the importance of recognising our own signs of stress before they become overwhelming.

One of the messages I hoped delegates would take away is that trauma-informed practice isn’t just about changing the way we see the people we support. It’s also about changing the way we see ourselves.

Supporting ourselves is not selfish.

It isn’t a luxury.

It is part of safe, ethical and sustainable practice.

One of my favourite reflections from today was that “behaviour begins to make more sense when we stop asking ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ and start asking ‘What might have happened to them?’’
And perhaps just as importantly...
“What do I need to stay well whilst doing this work?”

Thank you to everyone who contributed so openly, reflected so thoughtfully and shared your experiences throughout the day. The conversations reminded me why I am so passionate about this work.

If you’re looking to introduce trauma-informed practice into your organisation, this workshop can be tailored for a range of sectors, including housing, homelessness, health and social care, education, emergency services, community organisations and leadership teams.

Together, we can create workplaces that support people with compassion, without forgetting to care for those doing the supporting.

Sunflower Thinking is coming to the BCHA Festival of Wellbeing 2026!

We're delighted to be joining this year's BCHA Festival of Wellbeing and can't wait to welcome you to our stall!

📅 Friday 7th August 2026
📍 Boscombe Chine Gardens
⏰ 1pm – 4pm

This fantastic FREE, family-friendly event brings together local organisations from across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole to celebrate wellbeing, community and mental health awareness.

Expect an action-packed afternoon with activities including yoga, dance sessions, circus skills, wellbeing stalls, face glitter, hair braiding and much more. The event is also alcohol-free, making it a great day out for families.

At the Sunflower Thinking stall, you can look forward to plenty of sunflower-themed wellbeing activities, along with opportunities to discover practical support, guidance and resources for you and your family.

Whether you're looking for a friendly chat, ideas to support emotional wellbeing, or simply want to connect with your local community, we'd love to meet you.

Bring your family, invite your friends and join us for an afternoon focused on connection, learning, mindfulness and wellbeing.

We hope to see you there!

New free resource 🌻

I’m continuing The Supportive Conversation Series - a six-month journey exploring how we can better support the people around us.

Each month focuses on a different skill: noticing when someone might be struggling, starting supportive conversations, listening with care and following up.

Part 5: Summarising & Signposting

When someone shares something difficult, it's natural to want to help. But being supportive doesn't mean having all the answers or trying to fix the situation.

Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do is reflect back what we've heard, help someone make sense of their thoughts and gently explore what support might be available.

This month's free guide shares 10 ways to summarise conversations and signpost support with confidence, compassion and respect.

It's not about taking over.
It's about helping someone feel heard, supported and empowered to take their next step.

Sign up to the mailing list to download the free guide:
🔗 https://preview.mailerlite.io/forms/1083901/192532424160184075/share

Because supporting someone isn't about solving their problems, it's about helping them realise they don't have to face them alone.

I am going to use this month as an opportunity to really shout about the Hub of Hope too - absolutely fantastic database of support for signposting - check it out! https://hubofhope.co.uk

🌻

While delivering training on psychologically safe workplaces, someone once asked me - “Isn’t psychological safety just another woke trend?”
After an initial pause to reflect on the question (and an intentional inhale) it gave us the opportunity to explore what psychological safety really means.

Because it isn’t about avoiding difficult conversations. It isn’t about protecting people from feedback. It isn’t about lowering standards or expecting everyone to agree.

In fact, it’s the opposite.

Psychological safety is about creating a culture where people are brave enough to speak up, resilient enough to hear different perspectives, confident enough to challenge ideas respectfully and humble enough to admit when they’ve got something wrong.

It’s about asking the difficult questions. Owning mistakes. Learning rather than blaming. Having honest conversations that make teams stronger.

The highest-performing teams I’ve worked with over the last 20 years aren’t the ones that avoid challenge. They’re the ones that welcome it, because people trust each other enough to have the conversations that matter.

That’s not about being “woke.”

That’s about good leadership. A healthy culture. Courage, accountability and self-awareness.

What do you think? Has psychological safety been misunderstood?

Some feedback means more than you can put into words.

“Our trainer was just brilliant, with a wealth of knowledge. I was made to feel comfortable and she provided a safe space for us all. I cannot rate Marie Clare enough.”

After 21 years of delivering training, this is exactly what I hope people take away.

Knowledge and experience are important, but so is trust.

Creating psychological safety, where people feel comfortable to contribute, ask questions, and learn without fear of judgement, is at the heart of every session I deliver. That’s where the most meaningful learning happens.

Thank you to everyone who puts their trust in me. It is a privilege to create spaces where people feel safe, supported, and empowered to grow.