Resilience, leadership, and mental health in action
By Dr. Katy Kamkar and Wendel Clark
Resilience is not about avoiding adversity. It is about adapting, recovering, and rising through it. In sport, public safety, and leadership, strength is built through connection, emotional awareness, and trust. This article combines NHL icon Wendel Clark’s lived experience and clinical psychologist Dr. Katy Kamkar’s expertise to offer health and safety leaders practical tools grounded in trauma-informed principles to strengthen mental well-being across teams and communities.
Lessons from the ice: Adaptability, purpose, and leadership
Wendel Clark’s memoir, Bleeding Blue (Clark & Brunt, 2017), captures the mental toll of elite sport, injury, pressure, setbacks, and the resilience required to return again and again with purpose, meaning, and hope. Like public safety and frontline personnel, Wendel led through both performance and pain. His story reminds us that resilience is not rigid strength. It is adaptability, emotional openness, and the courage to stay grounded in what matters most.
You matter: Mattering as mental armour
Resilience begins with one truth: you matter. Dr. Gordon Flett’s research on the psychology of mattering (Flett, 2018; 2025) confirms that people who feel seen and valued by others are more resilient to trauma, anxiety, and stress. Public safety and high-performance environments can diminish this sense of worth. Leaders are encouraged to intentionally reinforce mattering, not only for results, but for effort, integrity, and presence.
Trauma-informed leadership: Creating safe systems
Trauma-informed leadership acknowledges the invisible burdens that individuals often carry, especially in high-stress environments. It centers psychological safety, compassion, trust, empowerment, and flexibility as essential pillars of effective leadership. By fostering environments that support emotional regulation, recognize cumulative stress, and reduce the risk of re-traumatization, organizations can promote resilience and sustainable performance. This approach is reflected in consistent routines, clear and fair expectations, meaningful autonomy, and genuine check-ins that strengthen connection and trust.
Emotional awareness: Strength through expression
Emotional awareness is a cornerstone of resilience. Suppressing emotions such as fear, shame, grief, or anger can undermine psychological well-being, impair performance, and contribute to long-term stress. From a clinical perspective, acknowledging and processing emotions, rather than avoiding them, supports healthier coping, clearer decision-making, and stronger interpersonal relationships. Trauma-informed leadership normalizes emotional fluctuations and fosters environments where emotional expression is met with empathy rather than judgment. Wendel Clark notes that naming frustration or pain, whether in a locker room or a fire hall, can open the door to healing, trust, and connection. When individuals are given space to speak and be heard, emotional expression becomes a strength, not a vulnerability.
Routine and grounding: Stability in the storm
In high-pressure and unpredictable environments, consistent routines and grounding practices provide psychological stability. Evidence supports the use of rituals, such as mindful breathing, grounding techniques, structured transitions, or quiet moments before or after shifts, as effective tools to regulate stress responses and enhance focus. Wendel Clark highlights how pre-game routines helped anchor him in the face of uncertainty, reinforcing the value of predictability under pressure. In high-risk operational contexts, including public safety and healthcare, similar approaches promote emotional readiness and reduce the cumulative impact of operational stress.
Connection and peer support: Resilience in relationship
Resilience is reinforced through meaningful connection. Peer support environments, whether in locker rooms, briefing rooms, or debrief circles, offer critical space for validation and shared experience. Simple, authentic check-ins such as “How are you really doing?” can interrupt isolation and foster psychological safety. When team members are encouraged to engage in open dialogue, mutual reflection, and emotional support, trust is strengthened, and collective well-being is enhanced. These peer-based strategies are integral to trauma-informed systems of care.
Agency and self-efficacy: Building inner strength
A strong sense of agency and self-efficacy contributes significantly to resilience and long-term motivation. Research indicates that individuals who believe their actions have impact are better equipped to manage stress and maintain performance under pressure. Strategies such as setting SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goals and reflecting on past accomplishments can build a sustained sense of personal control. Wendel Clark’s lived experience reinforces this principle: “I’ve done hard things before. I can do them again.” This mindset helps prevent burnout and supports recovery in both sport and service sectors, including health and safety.
Conclusion: Resilience is adaptive, emotional, and collective
Resilience is not a solo pursuit. It is cultivated through trust, compassion, and trauma-informed leadership. In high-pressure professions, where the emotional toll is often unseen, fostering psychological safety and connection becomes essential. Health and safety leaders are uniquely positioned to create systems where individuals feel valued, supported, and empowered to adapt and grow through adversity.
By embedding practices that prioritize emotional awareness, mattering, and self-efficacy, we do more than support performance. We sustain well-being and build a culture of care.
And through courageous, compassionate leadership, we build teams that endure, heal, and thrive.
References
Clark, W., & Brunt, S. (2017). Bleeding blue: Giving my all for the game. Simon & Schuster Canada.
Flett, G. L. (2018). The psychology of mattering: Understanding the human need to be significant (1st ed.). Academic Press.
Flett, G. L. (2025). Mattering as a core need in children and adolescents: Theoretical, clinical, and research perspectives. American Psychological Association.
