Mental Health Conversations at Work: Tools, Training & Role-Based Strategies

In this month’s Vita Talks episode, host Gianna Ricciardi sits down with My-Linh Diep, founder of Santé Continuum and a Mental Health Commission of Canada facilitator, to discuss a training program that made a real impact—starting from the top down.

Through the lens of a case study in a large unionized workplace, My-Linh shares how she designed layered training, adapted by role, to help executives, managers, and team leads confidently recognize and respond to early signs of mental health decline.

You can’t just throw mental health training at people and hope it sticks—it needs to be relevant to their role, their responsibilities, and their realities.”

From legal and ROI insights for executives to empathetic listening techniques for team leads, this approach empowered leaders at every level to support their teams with structure, clarity, and confidence.

She calls it learning the “dance steps”—a flexible, human-centred method that encourages authenticity while guiding tough conversations.

“We’re not asking managers to be psychologists. We’re teaching them how to detect, support, and refer—without overstepping their role.”

Whether you’re in a large corporate setting or running a smaller team, this episode will inspire you to rethink how your organization talks about—and acts on—mental health.

Listen to the full conversation on Apple Podcasts or Spotify

Thanks for being part of our Vita Assure community.
Until next month,

— Gianna Ricciardi
Host, Vita Assure Podcast

Listen to the Podcast!

More About Our Guest

My-Linh Diep

My-Linh Diep is the founder of Gestion santé Continuum and serves as its principal trainer. She is a consultant in organizational health and a rehabilitation advisor, having worked in the field of health and well-being for over 15 years.

My-Linh possesses extensive experience in consulting organizations on their absence/disability management processes and develops strategies to minimize the associated costs. She also supports individuals in rehabilitation and provides coaching toward achieving personal goals.

She is distinguished by her solid expertise in mental health training and holds the designation of Mental Health First Aid Trainer from the Mental Health Commission of Canada. My-Linh is also a speaker and trainer on subjects related to mental health and contributed to the 2009 book À la santé de votre retour au travail.

Visit the Santé Continuum website.

Connect to My-Linh on LinkedIn

Gianna Ricciardi

Gianna Ricciardi has been an Advisor in Group Insurance and Group Annuity Plans for the past 20 years. She is the co-founder of Vita Assure, a full service brokerage firm specializing in employee benefits. Today’s workplace is dramatically different than even just a decade ago and Gianna helps employers adapt their group insurance, group retirement and wellness programs to evolving needs of their workplaces.