About ProActive Healthcare Group
Transforming how care and education professionals understand behaviour
Our goal is to enhance quality of life for everyone with a compelling emphasis on the benefits of healthy, therapeutic relationships. We do this by delivering trauma and research-informed, attachment aware education with a strong focus on reducing restrictive practices & restraint (#AimingForZero).
What we stand for
Our approach
Trauma-informed
We understand that behaviour is communication. Every programme is grounded in trauma theory and attachment awareness, helping professionals respond rather than react.
Evidence-based
Our curriculum is built on peer-reviewed research, published works, and decades of front-line experience across residential care, education, and healthcare settings.
#AimingForZero
We have a documented track record of achieving up to 80% reductions in restraint use. Our goal is a future where restrictive practices are unnecessary.
Our team
The people behind ProActive Healthcare Group
Simon Gower
CEO & Founder
A leading UK voice on trauma-responsive care and restraint reduction. Author of The Empathy Gap and creator of the #AimingForZero philosophy for psychologically safe teams.
Maria Marques-Neves
Chief Operating Officer
13 years in social care. Previously led a successful management training and consultancy business, with experience at Director and Managing Director level.
Helen Knowling
Development Lead & Senior Trainer
19 years in residential and specialist care settings. Implemented the Secure Base Model of Care in 2014.
Gary Collins
Senior Trainer
Clinical Practice Development Nurse for a large General Hospital. Physical intervention instructor since 2002 with extensive NHS and Secure Estate experience.
Phil Cairns
Senior Trainer
Delivering behaviour support training since 2009, with a focus on residential and specialist care settings. Lead coordinator for 9 in-house trainers.
Lucy Pearce
Senior Trainer
A decade of leadership experience and creator of the bespoke BILD-certified trauma-informed programme RiiSE. Advanced Diploma in Therapeutic Life Story Work.
Upcoming book
Grounded in published research and practice
#AimingForZero
How Psychological Safety Eliminates Restraint
The research-backed leadership guide to restraint-free healthcare
Why do care teams with excellent training still resort to restraint? After 30 years working across hundreds of care organisations, Simon Gower has seen a disturbing pattern: well-meaning teams, comprehensive training programmes, clear policies, yet restraint incidents persist. The problem isn't lack of knowledge or poor intentions. It's something far more fundamental.
Drawing on Amy Edmondson's Harvard research on psychological safety, Google's Project Aristotle, and the University of Leeds REsTRAIN YOURSELF programme, #AimingForZero reveals an uncomfortable truth: restraint isn't a patient problem. It's a team safety problem. When teams feel psychologically safe, they innovate under pressure, find alternatives in crisis, speak up before incidents escalate, and stay in their jobs instead of burning out.
Who it's for
Ward managers, senior healthcare executives, clinical leads, matrons, and anyone responsible for creating safe care environments who believes restraint-free care is achievable, not just aspirational.
Inside the book
- The Four Stages of Team Safety adapted for healthcare settings
- Assessment tools grounded in Amy Edmondson's psychological safety research
- The Nine Rs of Trauma-Informed Leadership framework
- Practical implementation strategies for real healthcare constraints
- Case studies from organisations that achieved sustainable restraint reduction
- The business case: 40% lower staff turnover, 35% fewer workplace conflicts
Ready to work with us?
Whether you need in-house training, open courses, or consultancy, we're ready to help your team make lasting change.