Clare Davis

A role model for positivity

Her personal experience of grief and loss, coupled with years of professional experience, has informed Clare Davis' new book to support mental health and wellbeing.

The UK-based UNE alumna has published Emotional Fitness: A-Z for Positive Mental Health to serve as a practical guide in good times and bad.

"Positive mental health is like a muscle, which we can work on," says Clare, who graduated from UNE with a Bachelor of Financial Administration and Diploma of Education in 1989. "Having positive mental health helps us to cope with difficulties and improves our performance, relationships and physical health."

After working as a teacher in Australia and then corporate trainer in the United Kingdom for the likes of Coca-Cola and Deloittes, Clare became a Mental Health First Aid Instructor. In 2010 she established her own firm in Bristol, Nova Associates, to help middle management and schools better support the wellbeing of their teams. She now offers free Mental Health Chats on YouTube and delivers a regular podcast series to raise awareness about challenging topics such as anxiety, suicide and sexual assault.

It was a UNE friendship with fellow former St Albert's College resident Peter (Benny) Dundon that actually inspired Clare to launch her YouTube conversations. The pair reconnected at a UNE reunion in 2019. Then Peter started a Facebook challenge during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. He'd undertaken to do 25 push-ups per day in 25 days to raise awareness of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression. As well as the hard yards physically, he also shared information and anecdotes with online supporters about mental health.

"I contacted Benny and told him about the work I was doing in the UK and we decided to start opening up the conversation to help stop mental health being a taboo subject for many people," Clare says. "That's when Mental Health Chats was born."

And Clare's no stranger to heartache herself.

In the space of just over a year in 2007 and 2008, her brother died, her house burnt down, her young son went missing and she was diagnosed with skin cancer. Her father then died suddenly, in 2010. Having lived a "blessed life" until then, her world was turned on its head.

"These events tested my resilience to its core," Clare says. "I hadn’t understood the pain and loss of grief until my brother died, which was heart-breaking. I learned then that we can experience grief for many things – the loss of a loved one, sentimental items, a home or a way of life. I don’t take good times for granted anymore.

"These events were a wake-up call about what really matters in life, and that included looking after my own emotional wellbeing so I could better face future challenges.”

It's been quite the learning curve.

“I’ve learned that some things are out of our control - but we do have a choice over how we respond to them," Clare says. "I believe it has made me stronger and more empathetic towards others.”

Clare's book is available on Amazon and her podcast is available on all main platforms including Spotify and iTunes, as well as YouTube. Just search for Mental Health Chats.

Photo captions:

1. Clare Davis, a Mental Health First Aid Instructor.
2. Clare with her brothers, Chris (left) and Nick, as children.
3. Clare with her late brother, Chris.
4. Clare and her late father, Dr Joseph Gangemi, on her wedding day.
5. The remains of the burnt-out house.