Dr Jan Smith

Collaboration and innovation have always been the main driving principles for Jan (she/her).  This can be seen throughout her career, from setting up programmes to help homeless people in Liverpool, creating a service dedicated to birth trauma, right up to present where the focus is on developing new methods of making the lives of clients and colleagues better.  Working with and drawing together people to push the boundaries of good practice and create something unique, has culminated in the creation of Healthy You.  As CEO, Jan is at the forefront of both developing services further and supporting staff to flourish. 

Jan has over 15 years of experience in supporting clients, staff and organisations.  Her expertise and skills are particularly in the field of trauma.  She offers therapy to individual clients, consults with organisations to minimise the impact of trauma for their users and staff, and is an advisor to government bodies.  Jan has spent most of her career to date campaigning to improve safety in maternity, for families and staff. She is the clinical lead for the national Make Birth Better campaign, as well as expert advisor on a number of national and government committees providing input into maternity. Jan provides consultancy services to a range of industries including health, aviation, nuclear and litigation. 

Developing others is at the heart of what Jan loves to do.  Through her coaching and leadership work she develops individuals to become dynamic, compassionate and diverse leaders. Jan believes that people are the biggest resource in any organisation and as such is an advisor, consultant and writer on how to nourish staff, create positive working environments and cultures of psychological safety, to help workforces thrive.  Jan has written two influential books in these areas, ‘Nurturing Maternity Staff: How to Tackle trauma, stress and burnout to create a positive working culture in the NHS’ and ‘Managing PTSD for Health and Social Care Professionals: Help for the Helpers’.

Jan has an extensive research career, spanning improving access and experiences for users of maternity services and birth, as well as developing novel resources through animation, film and media. She is currently a Research Associate at Sheffield Hallam University.