Executive Mental Health & Wellbeing: Integrated and Structured Strategies 

This forum will focus on practical applications of the Integrated Approach to mentally healthy organisations as outlined by WHOs Healthy Workplace Global Model for Action (2010) and Beyond Blue’s Heads Up Integrated Approach Model (2019).

In 2018 Gabriel noticed increasing incidences of mental health issues – predominantly, anxiety, depression and burnout – amongst her Executive Leadership clients. With a background in Counselling and Organisation Development she knew she had to act and established a counselling practice exclusively for CEOs and Executives. In 2020 she launched EXECSupport, a unique 12 month ‘wrap-around’ mental health and wellbeing program for CEOs and their Executive Teams, to support Executive Leadership Teams – and ultimately their organisations – in essential services organisations who were navigating the unprecedented Covid crisis.

Gabriel will unpack the principles underpinning programs to support leaders’ mental health & wellbeing so they can support others and create mentally healthy workplaces. 

As a leader in the field of workplace mental health and wellbeing and a Subject Matter Expert for Mental Health & Wellbeing regulatory compliance audits for large organisations, Gabriel will discuss her work designing workplace mental health & wellbeing strategies that ensure compliance with new and emerging psychosocial safety legislation in Australia. She will unpack the principles underpinning programs to support leaders’ mental health & wellbeing so they can support others and create mentally healthy workplaces. 

This is a case-study of a program that supported the CEO and Executive Team of a large public hospital through transition from a private to a public hospital and then through the Covid crisis. Delivering tailored services and resources, qualified mental health support and structured learning opportunities to raise awareness of personal and organisational mental health & wellbeing, this program achieved unprecedented outcomes. Utilisation of opt-in support services was over 95% (compared with average EAP utilisation rates by Executives of 1%), and 100% Executive retention rate was achieved over an extended period of high stress and unprecedented change. 

From her experience supporting a sector with the highest levels of occupational burnout globally, Gabriel will share further outcomes of this program and her unique perspectives on the impacts of integrated and structured Executive wellbeing efforts on Leaders’ careers and private lives, and the wider benefits for whole organisations.

Target Audience  

Senior HR Leader Community of Practice and Certified Practitioners

Speaker: Gabriel Edwards – Managing Director – Engaging People Pty Ltd

Gabriel Edwards is an experienced People Strategy Advisor, Executive Leadership Coach and a trained Counsellor with a track record for supporting Leaders to tackle complex business issues and deliver major business transformation in Australia and Europe.

For the past 20 years, as Managing Director of Engaging People, Gabriel has coached CEOs and CPOs and designed People Strategies for successful mergers and acquisitions, business culture change, leadership change and global restructures for large organisations across all industry sectors. She tailors Employee Experience frameworks to address sector conditions, strategic goals, workplace demographics and unique workforce engagement triggers.

Prior to establishing Engaging People, Gabriel was a Youth Worker, a Teacher, an Executive in the Public and Private sector, and Vice Chair of Victoria’s largest Migrant Resource Centre Board. 

Gabriel is also an experienced Counsellor for CEOs and Executives. She established an exclusive Executive Counselling Practice in 2018 and a groundbreaking mental health & wellbeing service called EXECSupport in 2020, to address the growing need for tailored mental health support for Executive Leaders across Australia. Due to her career background as a Board Director, Executive and CEO Advisor, Gabriel has a deep understanding of the complexities, day-to-day and long-term pressures faced by CEOs and their Executive Teams today, as well as the impacts this is having on leaders’ health and wellbeing and on their organisations.

During the Covid Crisis, Gabriel and her team delivered EXECSupport services to CEOs and Executive teams in Essential Services organisations across Australia, supporting leaders to balance sustained high pressure with wellbeing and mitigating or treating Occupational Burnout. The EXECSupport team continues to provide confidential mental health & wellbeing support services to leaders across Australia, especially those navigating major sector transformation.

Other Event Information 

You will obtain 1.75 CPD points for this forum.

Registration Information 

Registration close: Wednesday 2nd of April 2025

Having trouble registering? Contact Us or phone 1300 811 880.

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