As part of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast’s “Best of 2023” coverage, we highlight Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, noted psychologist, program trainer and speaker, who joined the show on Sept. 11 as part of Suicide Prevention Week and Mental Health Awareness Month. Dr. Sally spoke about improving mental health awareness in the building trades and improving a Local Union’s ability to provide resources to those in need.
A psychologist, Dr. Sally moved into the field of suicide prevention and mental health awareness after her brother took his life. She was motivated to help others through a feeling that she could have helped her brother if there was more education and less bias against men’s mental health. Dr. Sally works daily to improve the narrative around men’s mental health. In her research, she found that the best way to make the most impact was to seek out men at work, starting with the construction industry and first responders.
Her focus was not limited to finding the industries where workers suffer the most occurrences of suicide and mental health issues, it was about providing answers to help those in need. Dr. Sally described the challenges faced when looking to provide answers to workers who experienced traumatic events in their lives and have been unable to get help in the past. There is already value in unions, as members look out for their Brothers and Sisters in the trades, and they can be more valuable as unions improve their efforts in mental health awareness.
She explained how Local Unions can help improve mental health awareness. One way is to build formal peer support programs, which have proven to be the most impactful way to improve awareness. Everyone is on equal footing among their peers and shared experiences can provide an emotional support frame for the Brothers and Sisters of the Local. Dr. Sally and her program will train Local leaders to establish and recruit members to ensure the peer programs work to the best of their ability. To learn more about the work being done by Dr. Sally, please visit sallyspencerthomas.com/.
Hear more from Dr. Sally by listening to the episode above.