World Mental Health Day 2026
Some messages from our team on mental health, recovery, connection and hope — sharing different perspectives on what it means to support mental wellbeing and create space for positive change.
Dr Anita Sattar-Jenkins
Clinical Director of Psychological Therapies and Consultant Psychologist
This World Mental Health Day, I want us to think beyond the idea of simply “being well.”
Mental health is about understanding ourselves, making sense of our experiences, and finding meaning even when life feels difficult.
At Cardinal Clinic, we believe therapy is not about changing who you are, but helping you understand yourself with greater clarity, compassion and curiosity.
It is about finding new ways to respond when old patterns no longer serve us.
It is about learning to tolerate difficult emotions without being defined by them.
It is about rebuilding relationships, rediscovering purpose and developing the confidence to imagine a different future.
Recovery is rarely linear; it is shaped by courage, connection, setbacks, insight and small moments of change.
Our work across Psychology and Psychotherapy is grounded in the belief that every person has the capacity for growth, even when they cannot yet see it themselves.
Mental health is not a destination we arrive at, it is an ongoing relationship with ourselves.
And perhaps the most important investment we can make is learning to treat that relationship with the same compassion we so readily offer to others.
Dr Brishna Shah
Medical Director and Consultant Psychiatrist
As a psychiatrist, I am continually reminded that mental health is not simply about the absence of illness; it is about the capacity to reconnect with ourselves, with others and with a sense of possibility.
At Cardinal Clinic, we meet people at very different points in their journeys some in acute distress, some beginning to understand their difficulties, and others rebuilding their lives after years of struggle. Whether inpatient, outpatient or attending as a day patient, every person brings a unique story, and recovery rarely follows a straight line.
World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to recognise the courage it takes to ask for help, the importance of compassionate and evidence-based care, and the profound difference that human connection can make.
Our role is not simply to treat symptoms, but to understand the person behind them, create the conditions for change and help each individual rediscover a future that feels meaningful and possible.
Nina Hyland
Senior Psychotherapist
It can be easier to take physical injuries seriously because you can see where the damage is done, and to show it to other people to be understood. However, the same can't be said about the injuries you receive mentally and emotionally.
It may seem "better" in the moment to avoid those emotions and memories, to sweep them under the rug and forget. But the pain resurfaces in unconscious ways through your behaviour, your health, and how you show up in your relationships. It can be hard to begin the healing journey, yet with support it is possible to embark on a transformative journey that offers a bandage to your mental and emotional wounds.
Here at Cardinal Clinic we believe in building a community that is able to understand your pain, and to offer a space where you can begin your healing from within. This World Mental Health Day, we hope you'll give yourself a chance to heal and to recover. A healthy mind can lead to a happy life.
Christopher Love
Registered Hospital Manager
The people who come through our doors are incredibly diverse, not only in their backgrounds and life experiences, but in the difficulties they are facing and what they need from us. We work with addiction, mental health and increasingly complex presentations, often where several different issues overlap. That complexity is important because it reminds us that there really is no one-size-fits-all approach to mental healthcare.
What I find particularly interesting is the number of different people who contribute to someone’s experience with us. Of course there are our psychiatrists, nurses and therapists, but also our case managers, assistant psychologists, psychological support workers and behavioural health coaches, each building different relationships and seeing different sides of the same person.
And then there are the interactions that are much harder to capture in a treatment plan. I’ve written before about the importance of “micro-connections” – the smile in the corridor, someone remembering how you take your coffee, a conversation over lunch or simply somebody noticing that you’re having a difficult day. Those moments can come from anywhere: our chefs, housekeeping and maintenance teams, or anyone else someone encounters during their time with us. They might seem small, but for someone who has felt isolated or disconnected, they can really matter.
Our challenge is to bring all of that together. To use the clinical expertise around the person, the relationships that develop around them and the wider experience and resources we have across Portobello Behavioural Health and Promis to create a genuine continuum of care. That also means being willing to be creative, embrace new approaches and recognise that what someone needs may change as they move through their recovery.
The ethical part of this is quite simple: the person has to remain at the centre of those decisions. We should be honest about what we can offer, open to doing things differently and equally prepared to recognise when somebody needs something that we cannot provide.
Mental healthcare is complex because people are complex. I don’t think we should try to simplify that. Our job is to bring the right people, relationships and resources together around the individual and give them the best opportunity to move forward.
Zoe Earle
Lead Assistant Psychologist
Every day at work I meet people on some of the hardest days of their lives; and every day I also see something that rarely makes the headlines: small moments of hope.
They don't come in a straight line, and they certainly don't come overnight. Usually they're small and unglamorous, like someone coming to group for the first time, sitting down to breakfast with others, or finally saying "actually, I'm not okay" out loud. That's what recovery mostly looks like: small things, done repeatedly, with people who don't give up on you.
One of the biggest things this work has taught me is that nobody is "the kind of person" who struggles with their mental health. It can be anyone: a colleague, a parent, a friend who always seems to have it together. That's exactly why it matters so much. When we remember that mental health affects all of us, it stops being something that happens to "other people" and becomes something we all have a part in looking after.
So this World Mental Health Day, I'm not going to advocate for everyone to just "reach out" as if it is that easy. I know it isn't. Instead, try one small thing. Text the friend who's gone quiet. Get ten minutes of fresh air. Answer honestly the next time someone asks how you are - and if someone answers you honestly, try not to rush to fix it. Sometimes just being heard is enough.
Please look after yourself too. Rest isn't something you earn by running yourself into the ground first.
And to everyone who works in mental health: thank you. The work is heavy and often invisible, and it matters more than we will ever see.
Mental health isn't a one-day conversation, but today is a good day to start one.