MentalHealthResources - Northeast HR Association

THE IMPORTANCE OF

Supporting Mental Wellbeing in the Workplace

Message from NEHRA's CEO:

For as long as I can remember, we’ve kept the topic of mental health “off the table” as it relates to conversations in the workplace. Employees who were struggling were advised to call the EAP or talk to their healthcare provider. Even as we embraced employee wellbeing, there was still a stigma around providing access to mental health resources. As with many things, the pandemic has changed the way to approach mental health in the workplace. I, for one, am grateful.

At NEHRA we’ve been working with a team of thought leaders to determine the best approach to providing mental health resources to our HR community. Our goal is not only to offer tools and resources for HR leaders to take back to their organizations, but also to encourage our members to use the tools to support their own mental wellbeing. Professionals in our space are much like caregivers, in that they are inclined to focus on helping others, sometimes in lieu of helping themselves.

Our hope is that NEHRA becomes the place that HR professionals feel safe to share both their personal and professional challenges, in an effort to breakdown stigma, role model for other leaders and find connection with others who may be facing similar challenges.

Tracy Burns, CEO

NEHRA

OUR GOAL:

Enable People Leaders to influence and support mental wellbeing that is inclusive of all in the workplace

OUR STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

Provide access to tools/resources designed to create more inclusive workplaces
Intentionally educate leaders on the impact of social differences, cultural, and ethnic norms
Create a safe spaces for people to connect on topics of mental health
Engage with NEHRA community to share and evolve best practices in addressing mental health needs in the work

PROGRAMMING & THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Our programming will take various shapes as we strive to provide the community with opportunities to learn from industry experts and peers. We held a panel discussion at the Annual Conference in 2021, that included a CHRO, a researcher and an entrepreneur who all spoke of ways their organizations are working to bring resources to bare. We continued the conversation in December with a virtual community forum, featuring Melissa Doman, author of the recently released book titled “ Y es You Can Talk About Mental Health At Work: And Here Is How To Do It Well ”.

We partnered with LEAD at our 2021 DE&I Symposium to host a session on Intersection of Mental Health and DE&I. Check out more of LEAD's resources here . These efforts will continue, as we work to imbed a component of mental health into all of NEHRA's programming.

COMMUNITY

As you may know, we already have an active online community . We will continue to encourage people to use this to engage in ways that they feel most productive. We will also continue to hold Community Forums , that will at times focus solely on the topic of mental health, and are always free for NEHRA members.

TOOLS & RESOURCES

Below you’ll find a list of resources we’ve gathered, including links to organizations that provide support for various types of mental health challenges. We’ve also included our favorite books and apps. Please continue to visit this page for updated information.