Tag: new beginnings

The workplace is arguably the most cross-cutting system in suicide prevention. Just about everyone who dies by suicide or attempts suicide was working, was recently working, or has a close friend or family member who is working. Thus, just like we promote CPR training at our job sites to save lives, we should also consider on-going, skill developing suicide prevention training programs. In this presentation I interview Gabriela Malafaia, a leader in People’s Management in the oil and gas industry. We discuss the many reasons why workplace suicide prevention training is the right thing to do and list several best practices to leverage a tiered approach. Sharing a number of case studies, we conclude that successful training initiatives not only improve the confidence and competence of a workforce dedicated to making suicide prevention a health and safety priority, impactful training actually helps drive a caring culture.

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About Gabriela Malafaia
Gabriela Malafaia is a psychologist who has been working in the oil and gas industry for the past 9 years. Her main field of activity is workers health, especially focused in mental health in the workplace. She has a postgraduate degree in an expert in Workers’ Health (UFF, Brazil) and she is a mental health advocate with great expertise in employee assistance programs, workplace training, organizational psychology, mental health promotion and suicide prevention, intervention and postvention activities. For more information on this episode go to sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/65

Suicide Prevention from a Social Justice Perspective
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A new social movement is emerging, and it’s gaining momentum: it’s time we position suicide prevention as a social justice issue. If we only view suicide through the mental health lens, we will be very limited in our ability to create systematic change. When we look at suicide prevention through this lens, the change agents are the mental health service providers, who work with individuals – at least those who make it into their services; one-on-one, one at a time.

In order to take a more “upstream” approach to this, we need to think more broadly and conceptualize suicide prevention as a public health issue. When we view suicide through this lens, we can plainly see that many systems are involved in creating change – schools, workplaces, healthcare systems, justice, faith communities and more. Everyone can play a role in suicide prevention. But, I would argue, even this perspective falls short. Because if you haven’t been touched by suicide directly, you are usually unaware of its widespread and devastating impact and therefore, less inclined to allocate your energy toward targeting this particular health issue over others.

When we take a human rights perspective we consider new aspects of psycho-social injustice we need to fight against? For one, we have a grave imbalance in the way we treat mental health conditions and the way we treat other physical disorders. Because of this imbalance, people with mental health conditions often have a terrible time accessing adequate care. There are too few mental health treatment options and most of them are too costly for the average person. As my colleague Dr. Doug Johnson once said to me, “We have a psycho-social injustice problem. We have Americanized mental illness – by looking for quick fixes and ignoring the emotional impact of marginalization.”

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In this episode, Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren and I talk about a human rights approach to mental health promotion. She shares her insights from the bench of the Mental Health Court she oversees. Come take a listen to her story of her journey as she worked to develop a dignified, trauma-informed and humanistic approach for people who have been criminalized due to their serious mental health condition.

About Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren
Judge Ginger Lerner-Wren was elected Broward County Court Judge in 1997. Judge Lerner-Wren pioneered the first problem solving Mental Health Court in the United States, dedicated to the decriminalization and treatment of persons arrested with mental illness and co-occurring disorders. The Court is a national and international model. Judge Lerner-Wren speaks nationally and internationally and is an adjunct Professor for Nova Southeastern University, College of Psychology and Neuroscience. Judge Lerner-Wren is also an author, A Court of Refuge: Stories from the Bench of America’s First Mental Health Court. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/64

There are many stories we tell that hold men back from living their best lives. Here are a few that create barriers for men to reach out when they are distressed (Solomon):

“No sissy stuff” — in other words, if it is what women do, then it’s not for “real men.”

“Be a big wheel” — you are what you do for a living; achievement and your paycheck define your worth.

“Sturdy oak” — you are the one people lean on for help; you don’t lean on others.

“Give ‘em hell” — when all else fails, come out swinging; better to intimidate than to look weak.

In this episode, I speak with the internationally acclaimed “fact checking” journalist Josh Levs who has been busting myths about fatherhood for years. We examine the faulty scripts, how they contribute to the suffering of families, and we challenge listeners to adopt a new mindset on developing an “All In Life.”

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About Josh Levs
Josh Levs is a dad to three children.

He is also a truth seeker, an entrepreneur, a business consultant, and a former CNN and NPR journalist. He won six Peabody Awards and the designation of “Journalist of the Year” from the Atlanta Press Club.

He’s best known for his unstoppable advocacy and activism for gender equality. His book “All In: How Our Work-First Culture Fails Dads, Families, and Businesses—And How We Can Fix It Together” won the Nautilus Gold award, and the United Nations named him a Global Champion of Gender Equality.

He took legal action against Time Warner (CNN’s parent company) for fair parental leave after his daughter was born prematurely. Subsequently, Time Warner stepped up, radically changed its policy and blazed a path for other companies large and small to do the same. for more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/62

Ambiguity is tolerated by some better than others. Small experiences of uncertainty can be exhilarating and bring us the joy of surprise. Large and prolonged periods of uncertainty can cause debilitating anxiety, leaving people paralyzed. In this interview, Hugh Ingalls and I discuss nine tactics people can use when living in uncertainty to help stay present and reduce anxiety:

Draw a circle. Draw a second circle inside the first circle. Write down the things you can control in the inner circle and things you can’t control in the outer circle. Keep your focus on what you can control.

Ask yourself an empowering question (e.g., “How can I do this right?”) and let the brain do its job.

Put yourself in the mindset of contribution (rather than competition).

Name it and tame it. Recognize the areas of stress, acknowledge them and thank them for what they are teaching you.

Break free from the negative voices in your head by choosing to direct your attention by anchor in your body (e.g., notice the energy in your hand).

Smile, improve your posture, and — if you can — dance! Raise your hands quickly above your head to shoot your anxiety out the top. These things are incompatible with anxiety.

Imagine yourself “flipping the switch” to let go of the outcome and embrace the challenge of uncertainty.

Put a rubber band around your wrist, when you go into anxious thoughts, snap the rubber band and come back to the present.

Focus your mind on life design.

About Hugh Ingalls
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Hugh S. Ingalls is a high-energy connector of people and ideas. Co-founder and co-owner, with his brother Ned, of the film & video production company Ingalls Pictures in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which has developed a series of films on mental health. Serves part-time as the Business Development Manager of Pressure Free Living, a comprehensive performance coaching program that reduces stress, anger, and anxiety both live and online. Currently he is also a public servant with the City of Grand Rapids, MI as Chair of the Mayor’s Next Gen Advisory Board and co-host of the podcast, Living at 100! For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/61

About Dr. Nathaan Demers
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Nathaan is passionate about people. This passion has led him to an enriching career as a clinical psychologist, filled with a number of twists and turns working across a variety of settings. Nathaan is an active traveler and athlete – these aspects of his life have inspired him to think beyond the traditional confines of mental health care. He strives to find innovative ways to expand the reach of mental health services to improve the lives of others. While Nathaan is fascinated by all areas of psychology, his passion lies within the positive psychology movement working specifically in preventative behavioral health. You can tell he has grit because he’s always ready for an adventure. It might be starting a spur of the moment soccer game in the office, striking up a meaningful conversation with a stranger in the elevator, or leading a backpacking trip; regardless, there’s rarely an adventure he turns down. Nathaan is continually inspired by his wife, son, family and friends. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/60

Overview
What are the steps leaders need to take in cultivating a mindset of psychological well-being and a caring community? In this podcast, Cal Beyer and I analyze the steps many leaders have taken to make suicide prevention and mental health promotion health and safety priorities at work.

About Cal Beyer
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Cal is Vice President of Workforce Risk and Mental Wellbeing at Cobb Strecker Dunphy Zimmerman (CSDZ). For 100 years, CSDZ has specialized in construction insurance, surety and risk management. CSDZ, along with parent company Holmes Murphy & Associates, serve construction clients nationally with 16 offices in 11 states. Prior to joining CSDZ, Cal was the director of risk management for Lakeside Industries in Issaquah, WA.

Cal has 30 years of work experience. He is a past National Secretary for the Construction Financial Management Association (CFMA). It was Cal’s leadership that led to the formation of the Construction Industry Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Engineering News-Record magazine, the global voice of construction industry, named Cal a Top 25 Newsmaker for 2016 for his work launching suicide prevention in the construction. He is currently serving as the “peer editor” for a third annual series of articles for Construction Executive magazine on mental health, suicide prevention, addiction recovery and wellbeing.

For more information on this and every episode go to sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/57

“Never trust a man who doesn’t drink,” John Wayne

From the Rat Pack to Animal House to Ernest Hemingway to John Wayne, many cultural icons of masculinity have glamorized the idea that booze puts hair on your chest.

The Tough Guy Culture and Addiction
Traditional American messages of masculinity teach boys to be lone wolves and to stuff down emotions. Feelings (except anger) then become taboo. This messaging creates a problem for boys and men who feel fear, grief, shame and more and don’t have role models on how to express these emotions openly. Instead, men often learn to take action when feeling these feelings by numbing emotions or distracting themselves with many forms of addictive behavior.

Traditional norms of masculinity also endorse ideals of self-control. Thus, despite high levels of substance use triggered by conflict, pain, and uncomfortable feelings, many men believe they can control their substance use well past the point of significant consequences in relationships, work and health. Because of this, they often wait until their use is causing catastrophic outcomes before they reach out to, or more typically accept others’ help.

Add to this dynamic the need for young people to experience “coming of age” rituals to make a shift from child to adult. For many young men and teens risky behavior around substances often fit the bill. Competition, fearlessness and invulnerability fuel increasingly dangerous pathways to addiction, especially for young adults who are genetically predisposed to have vulnerability to substance use disorders. In this podcast Rourke Weaver and I talk about how cultures of masculinity can fuel problems in addiction — and how they can also be leveraged powerfully when groups of men come together in recovery.

About Rourke Weaver
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Rourke Weaver is the current Director of Operations at Spero Recovery. Before joining Spero Rourke spent the previous three years at Red Rock Recovery Center as the Director of Business Development. While at Red Rock Recovery, he was instrumental in transforming a newly created and underinformed program into one of the most trusted programs in Colorado. The eight years before that Rourke worked in the Recovery Support Services field with The Phoenix, where he ran programing, opened chapters in Colorado and nationally, lead events and started his advocacy work. This experience led him to form a deep passion for the power of community and the necessity for greater focus on building stronger bridges into recovery. Taking the love he has for recovery, finding a sense of belonging and the previous decade working in the field of Recovery, he joined the team at Spero to build a program that was affordable for Colorado families and operated as a place of community and connection first rather than what insurance will pay or clinical modalities. This is by no means to say these are not necessary programs Rourke simply believes that diversity in programs and accessibility are very important.

Being an advocate for Treatment, Recovery and Recovery Support Services he has, and continues to, engage in the discussion around substance use disorder, recently passing legislation and organizing stakeholders to fight for better regulation and better funding for both Treatment and Recovery. Rourke is the Attorney General Appointed Co-Chair of the Recover Ready Colorado work group, tasked with presenting the Recovery Strategic plan for Colorado. He is the Vice President of Colorado Recovery Residencies, Colorado Professional Liaison Association – Leadership committee, and member with the Colorado Providers Association.

Rourke continues to have a deep passion for programming and working with those in or seeking recovery. Truly enjoying the process of building strong teams, meaningful programming and honest connections that becomes a lasting pillar for long-term recovery.

In his free time Rourke is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, mountain biking and enjoys time with his wonderful Family and Friends.

Show Notes
Rourke’s Story
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Rourke’s story is featured in the Guts, Grit & The Grind book: https://www.amazon.com/Guts-Grit-Grind-MENtal-Mechanics/dp/0578658135/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=guts+grit+and+the+grind&qid=1584486371&sr=8-1

More on Rourke’s story: https://www.thesputnik.ca/rourke-weavers-story-of-triumph-over-addiction-turning-severe-alcoholism-into-an-athletic-passion/

Resources for Men Seeking Recovery for more information on this episode got to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/hope-illuminated-podcast/56