Headspace for the Workplace with Dr. Sally: Helping Leaders Build Human-Centered Workplaces

Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas
  • 4.9 (14)
  • MENTAL HEALTH
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Headspace for the Workplace – A Podcast on How to Cultivate a Vibrant and Psychologically Safe and Healthy Workforce with your host Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas In our brain-based economy, we depend on fully engaged, mentally healthy teams. Organizations that have figured this out not only have a competitive advantage, they are awesome places to work. Take a listen to the lessons learned and actionable take-aways to promote mental health and wellbeing and support people through tough times – at work.

  1. FEB 7

    Building a Defensive Line at Work with Chris & Martha Thomas

    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

    17 min

  2. FEB 3

    The Evolution of the EAP: What Good Support Really Looks Like with David Nix

    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

    21 min

  3. JAN 23

    SPECIAL EPISODE: How Traveling Workforces Can Prevent Suicide Through Lived-Experience Leadership with Fran Valenzuela

    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

    1h 1m

  4. 12/30/2025

    Year in Review: Workplace Mental Health, Leadership, and Hope

    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

    19 min

  5. 12/26/2025

    The Neuropsychology of Absence -- Why True Time Off Is a Strategic Advantage at Work with Daniel Oates

    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

    17 min

  6. 12/10/2025

    The High Cost of Silence: The Business Case for Workplace Suicide Prevention

    Silence around suicide and mental health in the workplace carries a steep price -- measured not only in human suffering, but also in productivity loss, legal exposure, reputational harm, and missed opportunities for early intervention.In this episode of Headspace for the Workplace, I sit down with Canadian guest Tara Adams, a leading voice in workplace suicide prevention, to unpack the business case for proactive, skills-based suicide prevention at work. Drawing on research, lived experience, and real-world implementation, Tara explains why organizations that invest in connection, competence, and care build stronger, more resilient workplaces.This conversation moves beyond awareness to action, exploring how everyday workplace relationships can become protective bridges to help -- earlier, more often, and with less fear. for more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/81

    16 min

  7. 12/02/2025

    SPECIAL EPISODE: He Carries the Business, We Both Carry the Weight: How Job Strain Impacts Families and Fuels Work-Related Suicide Risk

    In this emotionally resonant episode of Headspace for the Workplace, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas talks with Dr. Colleen Saringer, a former organizational health leader, speaker, and spouse of a construction business owner, about one of the most overlooked realities of workplace mental health: the spillover of job stress into family life. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/80

    34 min

  8. 11/25/2025

    Beyond Zero Injuries: How Positive Reinforcement Creates Psychologically Safer, Mentally Healthier Workplaces with Bill Sims Jr.

    Most workplaces measure safety by one number: injuries. But what if some of the real drivers of safety are invisible?In this episode, I sit down with Bill Sims Jr., one of the National Safety Council’s “Top 10 Global Keynote Speakers” and the author of the widely acclaimed book Green Beans & Ice Cream: The Remarkable Power of Positive Reinforcement. Bill has spent more than 30 years designing more than 1,000 behavior-based positive reinforcement systems for companies like Coca-Cola, Disney, DuPont, Siemens, Orkin, and many others. Together, they explore how “Zero Injuries” is the wrong target and how shifting to Zero At-Risk Behaviors can transform both physical safety and psychological wellbeing in high-risk industries.This conversation connects the dots between behavioral science, recognition, culture change, and mental health, offering leaders a roadmap for building workplaces where both bodies and minds are safe. For more information on this episode go to https://www.sallyspencerthomas.com/headspace/79

    23 min
See All (87)

4.9
out of 5
14 Ratings

About

Headspace for the Workplace – A Podcast on How to Cultivate a Vibrant and Psychologically Safe and Healthy Workforce with your host Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas In our brain-based economy, we depend on fully engaged, mentally healthy teams. Organizations that have figured this out not only have a competitive advantage, they are awesome places to work. Take a listen to the lessons learned and actionable take-aways to promote mental health and wellbeing and support people through tough times – at work.

Information