Episode #23: Indirect Sandwich: Speaking to a team of instructors abt how to create a safe place to ask for help

Mental health, social emotional regulation and addiction seems to be on the top of everyone's list these days and yet, many people do not know how to talk about the subject. I got to speak to a group of instructors at a local community college about how to create a safe environment for students to ask for help. A tool I've been using for years has been, what I call, an indirect sandwich. Instead of using a direct question like "do you have an addiction or mental health issue"? I use indirect statements like "if you know someone struggling with mental health or addiction issues, let them know we have a free list of resources for them". The reason this technique has been so successful is, indirect statements help to keep peoples defenses down so I can get my message to through. I sandwich this statement between a separate topic to disguise my real intention, to give them permission to ask for help. About halfway through this podcast I give some examples of what this could sound like. If you have any direct questions or would like to ask me a question, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or write me a comment.