This Chamber-hosted workshop is designed for employers, supervisors and managers to better help them support their employees through difficult times. The speakers will talk about a tool they developed for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse that helps identify when employees are struggling. We will also talk about the new nationwide 988 mental health crisis hotline.

The speaker, Dr. Sally Spencer-Thomas, sees issues of suicide prevention and mental health promotion from a host of perspectives. Clinical psychologist. Mental health advocate. Faculty member. Researcher. Suicide loss survivor.

She has earned an international reputation as an entrepreneur and innovator in social change. Along the way, she’s helped establish many large-scale, gap-filling mental health efforts, including Man Therapy (www.ManTherapy.org) and National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention.

She has held leadership roles with the International Association of Suicide Prevention, the American Association of Suicidology, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, United Suicide Survivors International, and the Carson J Spencer Foundation. In 2016, she was invited to speak at the White House on men’s mental health.

We will also get the local perspective on how Oklahoma is meeting the mental health needs of residents from Jeff Dismukes, director of communications for Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Dismukes has distinguished himself as an authority on matters related to mental illness and addiction. He has worked to help transform not only the department’s public image, but also the broader public perception of treatment and recovery. His words and actions have played a significant role in the transformation of Oklahoma’s statewide behavioral health system. His work has fostered a sense of hope for countless Oklahomans and their families, and an expectation of recovery for those seeking care.