Speaker 1: Hey there. In this video you're about to watch, Donna Marshall and I talk about the mental health challenges that are taking place right now and how leaders can be responding. This is really one you're going to want to watch to the end and please take a moment to share. There are a lot of people who could use this

Speaker 2: information at this time. Thank you. Hello and welcome to this edition of Reality Check Conversations. I'm Tanya

Speaker 1: Trevony. Today I'm really pleased to have Donna Marshall with us. She is the co-founder of Work Right, which is an organization that specializes in training in the areas of mental health, compliance, soft skills, and harassment, all of which are areas of expertise for Donna as well. And you can read all about Donna's background in the link below this video. And I've invited Donna to be here to talk about the important topic of mental health and well-being given the times that we're living today. Donna, thank you so much for being a part of this conversation. Thanks, Tanya. So at the time that we're talking here today, we're a couple months into this pandemic and there's talks of transitioning back to work, but so many employees are still dealing with a tremendous amount of stress, perhaps grief, for a variety of reasons. I'd be really curious to understand what are some of the the mental health issues that you're seeing

Speaker 3: in your practice right now? So what we do, I'll just give a little bit of background here to help you understand, I'm part of a clinical practice as well as doing a lot of corporate work and and have a lot of corporate experience. So what I'm going to share with you is happening not only in the clinical practice that I'm seeing it, but also when I'm speaking to leaders and others and organizations right now. So as you would imagine, people are experiencing anxiety and depression, also adjustment issues, because how do we adjust to something that none of us have experienced before? So we're really trying to put our heads around that. And then of course relationship stressors come out as a result of being at home, working at home, being in close contact with with our families most of the time. So there's something else interesting that is happening, and to put it in a broader context, a pandemic can actually be experienced as a critical incident. So I know a lot of leaders here who are joining us today probably have their critical incident response plans, but but none of us planned for this, how could we? So critical incidents, as many of you know, lead to an experience of trauma. So another diagnosis that we're seeing very frequently actually is post-traumatic stress disorder. Depending on the person's personal background, their own mental health issues, it could go along that spectrum from mild anxiety and depression to a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. So there's a very broad range. So that's

Speaker 1: really important to understand, so thank you for that context. So I guess for those of us who are not mental health specialists, those of us who are leaders in particular, how should we be addressing these concerns? So I think

Speaker 3: you've brought up an important point. You're trained to be leaders, not mental health professionals, but as leaders this falls onto you just in your role. So I want you to remember you don't have to be a counsellor, you don't have to be someone who specializes in this area, and also know that because of privacy and confidentiality issues that we all know about, you cannot ask questions around a person's mental health directly, even if you suspect it or you see it. So I just want you to be cautious about that. The other thing is that you can't diagnose, but what you can do as a manager or a leader is to make observations on the person's behavior, because whatever mental health issues any of us have, they show themselves through behavioral changes. So look at the behavior that's happening. Let's say you have someone you suspect is experiencing a lot of anxiety, depression, or some kind of stress. You could use an example to say you're usually really detailed and organized, and I've noticed over the last couple of weeks that you're not meeting deadlines, your reports aren't as thorough as usual. Is everything okay? So you can see there I haven't inferred a mental health issue at all, but that kind of statement plus the question, is everything okay, and the way you say it, your tone is really important to show that empathy, and just listen and not jump in. So that allows the employee to share any stressors that they may want to share. Now if they don't, they don't, and you need to deal with it as a performance issue, and offer, of course, resources, whatever resources you may have in your organization, and we'll touch on that in a second, that you can offer to people. But if they do open up, it's really important that you don't diagnose. So you can't say, it sounds like you're suffering from anxiety and depression. The only people who can diagnose are licensed medical professionals and licensed psychologists. So it's very important that you don't put a label on the person, a mental health label, that person can feel stigmatized by that, but instead just reframe what you've heard. So using that last example, you could say, it sounds like you're feeling overwhelmed right now. So overwhelmed doesn't say anxiety, it doesn't say depression, it doesn't say PTSD, it just says you sound overwhelmed. And then you can say, is there something that we can do to take the pressure off? And then again, you pause and you listen very carefully to what might help that

Speaker 1: individual. Thank you for that. I think that's a really critical distinction, because I think, you know, and we're trained to listen, and listen with empathy, and we want to mirror back what we heard, and you can easily go through that sort of slippery slope of going from, you know, paraphrasing to then labeling what you think you're hearing. So thank you for, you know, making that distinction, because we do want people to feel safe and not labeled. I wonder if you could share a few more strategies, you hinted at one around sharing resources, but talking about some strategies that leaders can be employing to just support employees in their mental health and well-being overall

Speaker 3: right now. So one, I'll go back to the resources. So if your organization has EAP, if they have extended health coverage for psychological services, many therapists right now, myself included, are doing all of our therapy on Zoom. So therapists are very accessible right now. So be sure and just let people know that sometimes they forget that that's even unavailable. So maybe just send out a notice and let people know a number of resources, not just mental health, maybe well-being, other resources that are available to them. And then giving them access to, let's say, white papers or online courses that are by trusted providers. So that means by psychologists or mental health professionals who are licensed. You don't want to get the wrong information out to people, and that can actually be worse than giving them no information at all. So find some really good resources that you can provide for them. And the other thing is just be in touch, you know, every so often get in touch with all of your employees and, you know, just checking in, seeing how you're doing, is there anything that we need to adjust just in terms of, you know, your workday, your flexibility, anything like that. Like just a short quick check-ins around that so that people know you're accessible and you're available and you're a listening ear. I think

Speaker 1: that's really good and I think putting that on the table, you know, not waiting for an employee to raise their hand and say, you know, I need some accommodation because I'm managing my kids and I'm taking care of people or whatever, really helps create the safety so that people know, okay, this is an okay thing to request and it's just part of the reality that we're living. And to your point around sharing resources, I would imagine that it might be a good idea to do that sort of at the team level so nobody feels that, you know, why are you sending this to me? Do you think I have a problem kind of thing? So things to make everyone feel, I guess, more safe to talk about it. Yeah, that's a really good point. Yeah, those are really great. So I'm wondering, as we wrap up our short video here, if you had any final thoughts, words of wisdom from, you know, what you're

Speaker 3: seeing right now? Well, I would say we can't take people where we haven't been ourselves. And leaders are not exempt, I'm not exempt, from experiencing all kinds of emotional feelings around what's happening right now. It's a different day. And so I think we need to acknowledge, first of all, our own vulnerabilities to mental health issues ourselves and really reach out and, you know, get some assistance yourself if you find that you're struggling. And pretty much everybody is struggling. I haven't talked to anybody who isn't struggling in some way around this. So just recognize it, acknowledge it, don't beat yourself up for it, but really focus on getting some help for that and then you're going to be stronger to help other people. And then the other part is educate yourself as well. This interview is an example of that, of finding some strategies and to understand better what's happening in terms of mental health, playing out in the workplace, especially during this pandemic. And these are essential for you to lead others through the crisis. Thank you for

Speaker 1: adding that piece because we talk a lot about, you know, how leaders can support employees, but obviously leaders are employees as well. So how can we strengthen ourselves? So thank you so much for that and for taking the time to share these strategies with us. Really, really appreciate it, Donna. Thank you, Tonya. And this wraps up this edition of Reality Check Conversations. If you got something of value, please take a moment to share this with others who can benefit from this information and take a moment to subscribe to our channel. Thank

Speaker 2: you for watching. Enjoy the rest of your day.