Vitals Proactive Stress Management Register
About Vitals©
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Vitals© - improving organisational productivity, creativity and morale by building employee resilience. Vitals© has been created by medical doctors & business executives to raise awareness about the personal & organisational benefits of proactive stress management. Modern urban life is complex, fast-paced & places increasing demands on our limited energy. If we don’t recognise & address the physical, cognitive, emotional & behavioural symptoms of stress, in all areas of our lives, our functioning will be impaired. Leave those symptoms unchecked & chronic or severe physical and/or mental illness is likely. Vitals© offers a simple yet effective solution to raising stress awareness & providing practical advice to help individuals become more self-aware & build their personal resilience.

Individual Benefits

Individual benefits
Assesses your current state, providing a benchmark against which to measure progress. Personalised & practical resilience building recommendations (incl. company and country-specific helpline details).

Organisational Benefits

Organisational benefits
Improved employee resilience =
 productivity  creativity
 operational & reputational risk
 absenteeism  morale
 customer centricity

The Vitals© Team

Dr Colinda Linde

Clinical Psychologist

Colinda obtained an M.A. (cum laude) in Clinical Psychology in 1993, and a D. Litt et Phil in 2000, from the Rand Afrikaans University in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was the resident psychologist at a Place of Safety until she commenced full-time private practice in 1995, focusing mostly on the anxiety disorders (panic, social phobia, agoraphobia), and with an interest in stress, health and pre-surgery intervention. Colinda works mainly from the cognitive-behavioural (CBT) paradigm.

In addition to private practice, in 1999 Colinda was elected to the Scientific and Advisory Board of the South African Depression and Anxiety Support Group, where she is currently the Chairperson. Her responsibilities include selection, training, supervision and debriefing of counsellors, as well as being a media spokesperson. She also trains colleagues in the use of cognitive behaviour therapy, and co-runs a group for psychologists wishing to continue their education. Colinda has a keen interest in research and continued education, and to this end has attended several international congresses as well as received additional CBT training at the Barlow Centre for Anxiety Disorders in Boston, USA.

In addition to authoring ‘Get the balance right- coping strategies for working mothers’ (Metz Press, 2005) and a guest chapter in the CALE leadership handbook (2009), Colinda is often quoted as a psychology expert in the media: print - Longevity, Femina, Cosmopolitan, The Star; radio - A word on Psychology, radio 702; and television - 3 Talk, Great Expectations.

She has recently released an audio book on decision making (‘Butterfly Wisdom’) and a CD which includes a guided imagery for relaxation (‘Relax to Optimal Functioning’). Colinda also has a keen interest in meditation and mindfulness, and incorporates both of these in her practise.

Dr Monica Mercer

General Practitioner

Monica obtained her MBBCh from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. In addition she holds a MSc in Microbiology and Biochemistry. Her experience includes family and community medicine with a special interest in immunology and occupational health.

For the last five years she has been involved in educating healthcare providers on immunology, facilitating their understanding of the intricate role that the innate and adaptive immune systems play in maintaining health and how to identify and manage problems when these systems break down. More recently she has been involved in educating individuals, corporate entities and allied healthcare providers on the effects of unmanaged stress on the immune system.

Her philosophy is preventative healthcare based on current research and evidence-based medicine to promote patient well-being and long-term health consequences.

Richard Hawkey

equilibriumsolutions Founder

Richard holds an MSc in Applied Psychology, post-graduate business qualifications from two business schools and has over 12 years senior management experience in various multi-national companies, spanning several industries. He has worked as business consultant and analyst as well as project and product manager in both South Africa and the UK.

He now combines these hard skills with the profound lessons he learnt from his 2010 burn out and clinical depression, which he documented in the award-winning book Life Less Lived. His focus is on educating individuals and companies about the devastating effects of unmanaged stress; not only how low resilience is crippling people and the organisations they work in, but also what personal and organisational strategies can be implemented to break out of the negative spiral and emerge vigorously successful.

Vitals© is the culmination of a year’s work and the result of a powerful collaboration between medical and business professionals. Investing in the physical and mental health of your most important assets just makes good business sense.

Vitals© has been endorsed by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group, Africa’s largest mental health support and advocacy group.

Contact SADAG at www.sadag.org for more information.