Caseworkers, case managers, support specialists, foster care personnel, first responders, and social services employees at government agencies are people, too.
Day in and day out they guide individuals and families through tough situations–most of them are rarely easily resolved, have multiple moving parts (e.g., addiction, housing, poverty, historical trauma), and some questions have no answers.
To be able to support those they serve, they need support, too.
So when I visited Person County, NC, in person (😊) to speak to this workplace on mental health, I thought about what they deal with daily. For ten years, I was a board member and then ED of a youth mental health organization.
I was the liaison between county government caseworkers and the nonprofit that provided gap funding for services to youth 21 and under. These were hard stories that had no easy fixes and they affected our most vulnerable population.
I also co-owned a business. My family was going through chaos regarding my younger son’s mental illness and substance misuse and I still had to go to work. After my son killed himself, I returned after a week a mere shell of a human who moved like a sloth through Vaseline.
The circumstances might be different but it’s not unusual that people are dealing with crisis-level issues, either with themselves or a loved one, but still have to show up, be there, be productive when it’s the last thing someone wants to do. Yet they do.
How do you balance that? What coping strategies do you use? How does that play into burnout? How do you have the conversation with your manager or with an employee?
These were just some of the topics we touched on.
Mental Health Speakers for Workplace Presentation Topic
The Mask We Wear to Work: Fighting the Stigma of Mental Health in the Workplace
Time: One hour
Audience: Case managers, EMS, law enforcement, and social service plus other government employees
Description:
Emotionally healthy employees perform better, are absent less, and are more likely to stay. This upstream commitment of workplace wellness is the foundation of a prevention culture emphasizing connection and belonging.
Part of this initiative is building resilience and defining self-care strategies so employees have the tools and resources to manage anxiety, adversity, change, and future leadership positions. Crisis response always costs more and uses up more resources and time. Any effort to avoid that is a plus for any company HR team, DEI, or safety leader.
Takeaways:
- Coping strategies and DBT skills for managing adversity, avoiding conflict, and burnout
- Small, creative, and doable strategies for big changes in workplace wellness
- How to create a culture of connection so employees don’t want to leave
- How to allow others to feel heard and therefore feel valued
- Life events that make people more vulnerable to despair
- How to be a leader, not just a boss
- Learn the most important skill for managing your emotional well-being
See Mental Health Awareness Education Mental Health Speaker for Workplace Topics
The “I Struggle with…” Activity
There were many post-its for the “I struggle with….”Activity but there were some definite themes of anxiety and self-care.
AnneMoss Rogers is a leading wellness and suicide education expert and one of the top mental health speakers and suicide prevention speakers. Known for her powerful, motivational keynotes, AnneMoss combines her personal story of loss with proven strategies to help organizations build a wellness culture that drives results and saves lives. She speaks at conferences, workplaces, K-12 schools, and universities, delivering impactful presentations that inspire change and promote mental health awareness.
AnneMoss does this work in memory of her son, Charles, who struggled with anxiety, depression, and addiction, and died by suicide at age 20 in 2015.