National law firm Clayton Utz has hired a consultant psychologist to help “refine and improve” how the firm approaches and delivers mental health initiatives.

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Emma Howard, who has served as a corporate services manager and senior consultant psychologist for the Centre for Corporate Health and its sister company, Resilia, has been appointed to the newly created role of national health manager at Clayton Utz.

The hire forms part of the firm’s “continued investment in supporting its people to maintain good mental health”, CU said in a statement.

Reflecting on her appointment, Ms Howard said that she saw an opportunity to bring her experience in both clinical practice and in mental health training and education to help Clayton Utz continue to build on its health and wellbeing initiatives.

“I have worked with clients in a range of industries including banking, law and media, and fundamentally the challenges are the same. We need to keep people talking about mental health and give people the reassurance that they’re not alone and that there is support available,” she said.

CU deputy chief executive partner of people and development Kate Jordan added that the legal profession is generally getting better at encouraging people to be more open in having conversations about mental health but that it is “important to keep mental health front of mind, every day”.

“The legal industry is known for having higher rates of people who are experiencing challenges with mental health, such as depression and anxiety. That’s why we’ve really invested in building an integrated health approach around promoting positive mental wellbeing and methods of early prevention and intervention," she said.

“Recruiting Emma as our national mental health manager shows that we take our people’s mental health seriously and understand that we need to maintain the momentum around the work we’ve done to date in peer training and support and in de-stigmatising mental health in the workplace.”