Johari Life Solutions

24/10/2025

Promoting Mental Health Awareness in the Workplace
It is beyond doubt that we spend a significant portion of our lives—nearly a third of each day—at the workplace. Given this reality, it is reasonable to assert that the work environment plays a critical role in shaping our mental health, either positively or negatively. This is precisely why I remain committed to consistently advocating for mental health awareness in professional settings.
Leadership as a Catalyst for Change
The approaches we adopt must be tailored to the specific work environment, organizational culture, and communication structures in place. First and foremost, I advocate for organizational leadership to take the lead in openly discussing mental health. When leaders model vulnerability and normalize conversations around psychological well-being, they create a culture of openness and trust.
This can be achieved through targeted sensitization of management teams and sustained awareness efforts during staff meetings, workshops, and training sessions. These platforms empower employees to recognize when they need rest or mental health leave—especially when experiencing symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, emotional overwhelm, or depression. Topics such as emotional regulation, stress management, burnout prevention, and self-care should be central to these sensitizations. Over time, such efforts help reduce both self-stigma and organizational stigma around mental health.
Peer Support and Relational Dynamics
Human beings are inherently relational, and the quality of interpersonal interactions at work significantly influences mental well-being. Often, a colleague may notice signs of distress before a human resource manager does. For this reason, I strongly encourage the establishment of peer support systems within teams.
Such systems thrive when staff are equipped with skills in active listening, empathy, and unconditional positive regard. These relational competencies foster a culture of mutual care and early intervention, allowing employees to support one another meaningfully.
Creating Safe Spaces for Dialogue
Another effective approach is the creation of safe spaces within the workplace. This begins with designating a private, comfortable room where confidential and sensitive conversations can take place—whether between colleagues or with the organizational psychologist. Such spaces signal institutional commitment to mental health and provide a refuge for those seeking support.
The writer is a Licensed Psychologist and an author.

25/11/2024

Today marks the beginning of 16 days of activism against Gender Based Violence, a heightened awareness creation and advocacy against GBV beginning with ourselves, communities as we extend to the ends of world is key in creating lasting impact and ensuring that scalable gains are sustained 365 days cycle.

14/12/2023

The selflessness of a mum

12/12/2023

We organise revitalising outdoor team building activities that are fun, educative, refreshing and replenishing

12/12/2023

It Gift time, we love our clients and they never leave empty handed

12/12/2023

Team CARE-MTRH Participating in Jeopardy game, the team are focus, consulting in order to emerge winners

12/12/2023

Psychology of Sports. Engaging Kenya Rugby Union... the Shujaa

28/11/2023

Team CARE MTRH during team building and debriefing exercise. We help build resilience within the team

07/06/2023

Psychologist have studied Envy as a human emotion worth noticing because of the manner in which it impacts on interpersonal relationships-be it at home or at work. It is described as a feeling of discontentment or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, status or position, qualities or luck. Some researchers have considered it as an opposite of love as it seeks to destroy the other in order to benefit oneself. In a nut shell, it is a desire for what others have. This is basically how some people interact with their environment by begrudging others’ success, or brilliance or happiness or good fortune. This emotion is mostly driven to excesses of paranoia and guilt and fear that subside only after self punishment. Envy is forever looking upwards and never looks sideways. It is brought about by the realization of some luck, deficiency or inadequacy in oneself. It is the result of unfavourably comparing oneself to others; to their success, reputation, their possessions, their luck and their qualities.
Studies have indicated that Envy is caused by low self esteem or rather low opinion of self, own fears and worries, greed and pride, paranoia, anger, obsession, comparison of oneself to others, fear of losing praise or love from the object of one’s affection and individual longing for significance and security.

The effort to break the padded walls of this self-visited purgatory often leads to attack on the perceived sources of frustrations. This is because the envious always think that their lacking, inadequacy, lack of luck is a result of others success.

There is a deep close relationship between envy and self love also known as (Narcissism). Some Narcissists seek to imitate or even emulate their ever changing role models. It is as if by imitating the object of this envy, the Narcissists become that object. So Narcissists are likely to adopt their typical gesture, the vocabulary of a successful politician, the view of an esteemed tycoon or even the countenance and actions of the fictitious hero of a movie or a novel.

Other Narcissists ‘choose’ to destroy the object that gives them so much grief by provoking in them feelings of inadequacy and frustration. Consequently, these people display obsessive, blind animosity and engage in a compulsive acts of rivalry often at the cost of self destruction and self isolation. In the process of dealing with these unpleasant feelings , individuals harbouring envy may project these negative feelings thus making others their main scapegoats. This may lead to poisoned joy of depriving the other that which one cannot have.

In the extreme cases, in an effort to justify the agonising disparities between themselves and others, Narcissists may humble themselves as they elevate the others. They reduce and diminish their own gifts, disparage their own achievements, degrade their own possessions and look with disdain and contempt upon their nearest and dearest, whom are unable to discern their fundamental shortcomings. They feel worthy only of abasement and punishment.

Human beings are called upon to be on the outlook in order not to let envy get toll on them. They are obvious effects of this emotion such as developing contempt toward others, being malicious and crafting of evil deed on others leading to destruction of others. Since envious individuals will always feel that others have deprived them of opportunities to prosper they may develop resentment towards others, this if not checked it can degenerate into paranoia where envious persons are always overly suspicious of others leading them develop contempt towards others even if these others include their significant others. In the long run people harbouring envy will always have tendencies or intense feelings of wanting to destroy others. For this reason, most people isolate envious individuals due to their toxicity. On the other hand, these individuals may also isolate themselves since they always feel threatened by the success, growth or luck of people around them. This feeling of inadequacy can be so unbearable to them hence they may employ withdrawal as an ego defence mechanism.

Finally it important to take note that envious people may phenomenologically over achieve in many fronts of their life facets because of unnecessary competition, however, this may lead to lack of contentment which throws them back to a feeling of inadequacy. This is a joy killer and may always see these people struggling with feelings of sadness and hopeless despite what others may perceive as success. To them they remain with avoid that they keep on deepening by constant comparison with others and measuring their success not with their own set targets but of course with others achievements who they know very less about their story and motivation. Because of these, these individuals may be prone to suffer from depression.

The writer is a Psychologist, a mentor, life coach, trainer and an author
DanielMaria Shikuku

06/06/2023

Psychologist have studied Envy as a human emotion worth noticing because of the manner in which it impacts on interpersonal relationships-be it at home or at work. It is described as a feeling of discontentment or resentful longing aroused by someone else’s possessions, status or position, qualities or luck. Some researchers have considered it as an opposite of love as it seeks to destroy the other in order to benefit oneself. In a nut shell, it is a desire for what others have. This is basically how some people interact with their environment by begrudging others’ success, or brilliance or happiness or good fortune. This emotion is mostly driven to excesses of paranoia and guilt and fear that subside only after self punishment. Envy is forever looking upwards and never looks sideways. It is brought about by the realization of some luck, deficiency or inadequacy in oneself. It is the result of unfavourably comparing oneself to others; to their success, reputation, their possessions, their luck and their qualities.
Studies have indicated that Envy is caused by low self esteem or rather low opinion of self, own fears and worries, greed and pride, paranoia, anger, obsession, comparison of oneself to others, fear of losing praise or love from the object of one’s affection and individual longing for significance and security.

The effort to break the padded walls of this self-visited purgatory often leads to attack on the perceived sources of frustrations. This is because the envious always think that their lacking, inadequacy, lack of luck is a result of others success.

There is a deep close relationship between envy and self love also known as (Narcissism). Some Narcissists seek to imitate or even emulate their ever changing role models. It is as if by imitating the object of this envy, the Narcissists become that object. So Narcissists are likely to adopt their typical gesture, the vocabulary of a successful politician, the view of an esteemed tycoon or even the countenance and actions of the fictitious hero of a movie or a novel.

Other Narcissists ‘choose’ to destroy the object that gives them so much grief by provoking in them feelings of inadequacy and frustration. Consequently, these people display obsessive, blind animosity and engage in a compulsive acts of rivalry often at the cost of self destruction and self isolation. In the process of dealing with these unpleasant feelings , individuals harbouring envy may project these negative feelings thus making others their main scapegoats. This may lead to poisoned joy of depriving the other that which one cannot have.

In the extreme cases, in an effort to justify the agonising disparities between themselves and others, Narcissists may humble themselves as they elevate the others. They reduce and diminish their own gifts, disparage their own achievements, degrade their own possessions and look with disdain and contempt upon their nearest and dearest, whom are unable to discern their fundamental shortcomings. They feel worthy only of abasement and punishment.

Human beings are called upon to be on the outlook in order not to let envy get toll on them. They are obvious effects of this emotion such as developing contempt toward others, being malicious and crafting of evil deed on others leading to destruction of others. Since envious individuals will always feel that others have deprived them of opportunities to prosper they may develop resentment towards others, this if not checked it can degenerate into paranoia where envious persons are always overly suspicious of others leading them develop contempt towards others even if these others include their significant others. In the long run people harbouring envy will always have tendencies or intense feelings of wanting to destroy others. For this reason, most people isolate envious individuals due to their toxicity. On the other hand, these individuals may also isolate themselves since they always feel threatened by the success, growth or luck of people around them. This feeling of inadequacy can be so unbearable to them hence they may employ withdrawal as an ego defence mechanism.

Finally it important to take note that envious people may phenomenologically over achieve in many fronts of their life facets because of unnecessary competition, however, this may lead to lack of contentment which throws them back to a feeling of inadequacy. This is a joy killer and may always see these people struggling with feelings of sadness and hopeless despite what others may perceive as success. To them they remain with avoid that they keep on deepening by constant comparison with others and measuring their success not with their own set targets but of course with others achievements who they know very less about their story and motivation. Because of these, these individuals may be prone to suffer from depression.

31/05/2023