Supporting your colleagues
Our workplace plays an important role in our mental health and wellbeing. When we create a healthy workspace for ourselves and our colleagues, we can develop an environment that can improve job performance, make our team more resilient toward stress, and improve our wellbeing.
Concerned for a colleague and unsure of how to support them? You may want to encourage them to access free, confidential counselling from Monash counselling or the external Employee Assistance Program (EAP) to get advice from a qualified mental health professional. They can receive support for a range of problems including work-related or personal stress, career issues or relationship and family matters.
Alternatively, recommending your colleague to speak with a GP can be an important first step to connect them with a suitable mental health professional. They can do this through the University Health Services.
MyCoach for Peoples Leaders is a non-Monash affiliated free and confidential phone service offered through EAP. It is provided by qualified mental health professionals with expertise in organisational psychology, and is available to all Monash supervisors and managers.
To access MyCoach, call 1300 360 364 to book a session or ask for immediate help in urgent situations.
You can get advice from Monash staff members who are Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Ambassadors trained in Mental Health First Aid. They may be able to recommend other services or mental health programs that can help you or your colleagues. Take a look at our MHFA Ambassadors.
You can reach out to the Safer Community Unit (SCU) too – they offer advocacy for Monash staff. If you’re concerned about any discrimination, harassment, or violence at your workplace, call SCU on +61 3 9905 1599 or send an email to safercommunity@monash.edu.
Mental health literacy and awareness reduces stigma around mental health challenges, improves our own help seeking behaviours and early uptake of support, and equips us to help others better. Monash offers a wide range of resources to help you learn more about mental health. For a full list, check out the Mental Health Toolkit.