Episodes

  • Creating a Tipping Point for Change in Workplace Mental Health and the Manager Multiplier Effect with Laura Putnam

    Creating a Tipping Point for Change in Workplace Mental Health and the Manager Multiplier Effect with Laura Putnam
    Mar 19 2026
    In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I sit down with workplace wellbeing expert Laura Putnam to explore one of the most overlooked drivers of mental health at work: managers.We move beyond traditional mental health approaches—like EAPs and awareness training—and focus on what actually shifts culture: how leaders show up every day. Laura shares why workplace wellbeing is less about fixing individuals and more about improving “the water” employees are swimming in.Together, we unpack two powerful and practical strategies leaders can implement immediately:
    • Creating a “safe harbor” within teams
    • Understanding how leadership style directly impacts mental wellbeing
    This conversation is essential for leaders, HR professionals, and organizations committed to building psychologically safe, high-performing workplaces. For more information in this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/90
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    21 mins
  • Responding to Critical Incidents at Work -- Crisis Confirms Culture with Jeff Gorter

    Responding to Critical Incidents at Work -- Crisis Confirms Culture with Jeff Gorter
    Mar 11 2026
    When a critical incident strikes a workplace — whether a natural disaster, an act of violence, a sudden death, or a large-scale social disruption — leaders are thrust into decisions that carry enormous human and organizational consequences.In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I speak with Jeff Gorter, Vice President of Clinical Crisis Response at R3 Continuum, about what effective crisis response actually looks like on the ground.Drawing from more than three decades of frontline crisis response, including responses to the September 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Las Vegas mass shooting, and other major disasters, Jeff shares practical insights on what helps people stabilize in the immediate aftermath of trauma and what organizations can do to support recovery over time. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/89
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    19 mins
  • Human Doings and How We Interrupt A Void Dance at Work with Baruch HaLevi

    Human Doings and How We Interrupt A Void Dance at Work with Baruch HaLevi
    Feb 20 2026
    We say we are human beings, but most days at work, we live like human doings.Meeting to meeting.
    Task to task.
    Crisis to crisis.In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I sit down with “Dr. B,” a meaning-centered psychotherapist and logotherapist, to explore “A Void Dance,” the subtle but powerful ways individuals and organizations stay busy to avoid the uncomfortable truths at the center of our lives.When we suppress authenticity, avoid hard conversations, or stay focused only on productivity, the cost shows up as burnout, disengagement, moral injury, and psychological unsafety.This conversation invites workplace leaders to pause, reflect, and recenter work around meaning, not just motion. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/88
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    19 mins
  • Building a Defensive Line at Work with Chris & Martha Thomas

    Building a Defensive Line at Work with Chris & Martha Thomas
    Feb 7 2026
    With the Super Bowl lighting up screens this weekend, football metaphors are everywhere. But beneath the bright lights and highlight reels is a quieter truth every great team understands: games are won in the trenches, by a defensive line that protects, communicates, and does its job together.In this timely episode of Headspace for the Workplace, Chris and Martha Thomas — parents, advocates, and founders of The Defensive Line — share how this metaphor was forged through both professional football and profound personal loss. Their son Solomon is an NFL defensive lineman, and their family also knows the devastating impact of suicide through the loss of their precious daughter and sister, Ella, who died at age 24.Drawing from life on and off the field, Chris and Martha offer a powerful and practical framework for workplace suicide prevention and mental health leadership. This conversation is about game plans, getting reps in, and shared responsibility, because when pressure is high and the stakes are real, protection doesn’t happen by accident; it happens by design. f=For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/87
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    17 mins
  • The Evolution of the EAP: What Good Support Really Looks Like with David Nix

    The Evolution of the EAP: What Good Support Really Looks Like with David Nix
    Feb 3 2026
    Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are among the most common workplace mental health benefits and among the most misunderstood.In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I am joined by David Nix, a nationally respected EAP leader with more than two decades of experience supporting the oil & gas industry, working on military bases in Iraq, and supporting remote oil fields in Alaska.Together, we explore the evolution of the EAP from quiet crisis hotlines for alcoholism into proactive, culture-shaping systems that support people, leaders, and whole organizations.Drawing on emerging research, including recent findings on modern EAP models and their effectiveness, this conversation challenges leaders to rethink what “good” EAP support actually looks like and how to ensure it truly serves their people. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/86
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    21 mins
  • SPECIAL EPISODE: How Traveling Workforces Can Prevent Suicide Through Lived-Experience Leadership with Fran Valenzuela

    SPECIAL EPISODE: How Traveling Workforces Can Prevent Suicide Through Lived-Experience Leadership with Fran Valenzuela
    Jan 23 2026
    Fly-In Fly-Out (FIFO) work can quietly erode mental health, strain families, and elevate suicide risk if workplaces aren’t designed with human realities in mind.In this special episode of Headspace for the Workplace, we relaunch a powerful conversation from the IASP Work-Related Suicide Series featuring Francisco “Fran” Valenzuela, CRSP, a safety leader, lived-experience advocate, and systems-level change agent in the oil and gas sector.Fran shares how FIFO environments create a high-risk ecosystem shaped by isolation, long rotations, masculine norms, fatigue, and limited access to care—and how those same systems can be redesigned to protect lives, strengthen culture, and improve the bottom line. For more information on this episode go to sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace
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    1 hr and 1 min
  • Year in Review: Workplace Mental Health, Leadership, and Hope

    Year in Review: Workplace Mental Health, Leadership, and Hope
    Dec 30 2025
    In this special year-in-review episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I reflect on a year of advancing workplace mental health and suicide prevention across high-risk industries, global conferences, and organizational systems. The episode blends practical insights for leaders with candid reflections on burnout, leadership pressure, and what it takes to stay human while building cultures of care at work. for more infoemation on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/83
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    19 mins
  • The Neuropsychology of Absence -- Why True Time Off Is a Strategic Advantage at Work with Daniel Oates

    The Neuropsychology of Absence -- Why True Time Off Is a Strategic Advantage at Work with Daniel Oates
    Dec 26 2025
    What if paid time off (PTO) isn’t a perk but essential health infrastructure?In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I sit down with Daniel Oates, a longtime construction leader at Flintco, to unpack the psychological, neurobiological, and organizational benefits of structured, work-free time away from work.Drawing from more than two decades in the construction industry and grounded in a robust body of mental health and neuroscience research, this conversation reframes time off as a strategic investment in worker resilience, safety, creativity, and long-term performance.Together, Daniel and I explore why simply offering PTO isn’t enough, why psychological detachment is the missing ingredient, and how leaders can design systems that allow people to recover truly, without guilt, fear, or career penalty. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/82
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    17 mins