Healing Through Human Connection

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Silvia Causo and Adrianne Arendse, co-founders of Lead and Belong, to explore how healing happens through human connection—and what that means for workplaces.

They share the personal roots of their work: Silvia’s experience supporting a mentally ill family member and her path into trauma-aware coaching, and Adrianne’s lived experience of mixed heritage and growing up in South Africa under apartheid’s legacy. From these stories, the conversation moves into how trauma shows up in everyday work life: disconnection, fear responses, and the ways people “leave parts of themselves at the door” to get through the day.

Together they unpack the difference between inclusion and belonging, and why belonging can’t be prescribed, performed, or forced—it emerges as a felt, embodied state. They discuss empathy as more than information, the importance of nervous-system awareness, and how leaders can create space without acting as therapists. The episode also challenges compliance-first organisational approaches and makes the case for rehumanising work so people can contribute with greater safety, connection, and creativity.