Thrive Month is an opportunity to reflect on how UBC fosters psychological and social support, a key psychosocial factor identified by the Canadian National Standard for a Psychological Healthy and Safe Workplace.
This article was written as part of an ongoing series to highlight the 13 factors of a Psychologically Healthy and Safe workplace: Psychological and social support.
Psychological and social supports help create a workplace where colleagues and leaders are responsive to mental health concerns and are equipped to refer to appropriate support. Drawing on evidence-based actions from Workplace Strategies for Mental Health, we’re highlighting four strategies that individuals, leaders, and teams can use to foster psychological and social support across UBC: Building mental health literacy; strengthening leadership support; reducing stigma through respectful engagement; and providing effective support for personal and health-related challenges.
Building mental health literacy
Providing mental health resources is one aspect of a psychologically healthy and safe workplace. If leaders, faculty and staff are unaware of the supports available, do not know where to locate them, and fail to utilize these resources, then it’s difficult to cultivate a workplace culture that helps individuals and teams to reach their full potential. While it is a year-long endeavour to promote mental health literacy, UBC dedicates the month of November to amplify and promote improving mental health literacy through the Thrive campaign.
Throughout November, the community comes together to learn about, talk about, and explore ways to support mental health. This is done through community events, signature events, and sharing resources to support employee mental health and advance psychological health and safety within workplaces and across the institution.
Support starts with leadership
Leaders play an important role in shaping psychological health and safety in the workplace. Managers and supervisors are key to guiding faculty and staff to psychological and social supports, and when they can respond to stress, conflict, or return-to-work situations with empathy and clarity, they build trust and foster inclusion.
In addition to required training, such as Supporting Mental Health in the Workplace for Managers and Supervisors, UBC also invests in a range of leadership programs that foster professional and personal growth among faculty and staff in our community. Creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace is a responsibility shared by everyone, and one role that leaders can play is sharing psychological and social supports to empower teams to increase their mental health literacy.
Reducing stigma and promoting respect
Creating a respectful workplace means addressing stigma and encouraging open dialogue. The Workplace Wellbeing team offers many self-paced courses and in-person workshops, and events on psychologically safe interactions and inclusive behaviours throughout the year.
An evidence-based approach that is gaining momentum in workplaces to help reduce stigma, prevent harm, and promote respect is taking a trauma-informed approach. Launched in 2025, Building a trauma-informed workplace is a free, 90-minute self-paced course, developed by the HR’s Health, Wellbeing and Benefits team in collaboration with the Sexual Violence Prevention and Response Office. Research shows that trauma-informed practices contribute to more inclusive, accessible, and psychologically safe environments and are places where everyone can thrive. Grounded in current research, the training features UBC faculty and staff with both subject matter expertise and real-life experience implementing trauma-informed approaches across the UBC Vancouver and Okanagan campuses.
The course is open to everyone—enrol in the Trauma-informed Practice course today
Providing effective support for employees with personal or health issues
UBC supports faculty and staff facing personal or health challenges by fostering a culture of care and offering comprehensive resources through our benefit plans. Support begins with confidential, short-term and issue-focused counselling and guidance through the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP). EFAP helps individuals navigate personal, family, and workplace concerns. In addition, a wide range of benefits, including extended health, dental, insurance, and paid leave options, promote health and wellbeing for employees and their eligible dependents, providing peace of mind and security.
Accessibility is a key psychological and social support, and the Centre for Workplace Accessibility (CWA) is a key partner for faculty, staff and leaders across our campuses to seek guidance for providing accessibility support. For those managing medical conditions, disabilities, or chronic illnesses, accommodations are available that can augment and support the needs of faculty and staff who also need personalized return-to-work plans (For UBCO support, see WraP) that support their recovery while balancing professional responsibilities.
UBC reaffirms commitment to wellbeing
UBC has reaffirmed its commitment to wellbeing by including “Nurture a Strong and Vibrant UBC Community” as a strategic priority in the Strategic Directions 2025-30. As part of this ongoing effort, UBC will continue advancing a psychologically healthy and safe place to learn, teach, research, and work. For faculty and staff, UBC will continue to offer supportive resources that foster wellbeing as an individual, broaden opportunities to champion healthy workplace initiatives, and provide services to support a healthy work environment.
As part of our commitment to improving mental health literacy, Healthy UBC will feature stories that focus on creating a psychologically healthy and safe workplace at UBC. Take a look at our recent features for more insights:
Organizational culture
We spoke with Dr. Carrie Kollias, Co-Director of Mentorship & Wellness for the Department of Orthopaedics to understand how changing the culture and centering wellbeing can lead to sustainable excellence for organizations, individuals, teams, and those they serve.
Workload management
Effective workload management isn’t just a productivity concern; it’s a matter of psychological health and safety. When you feel supported in meeting your responsibilities—and have a clear understanding of what those responsibilities are—you’re more likely to thrive, collaborate, and contribute meaningfully to UBC’s mission.
We invite you to stay connected to this work, explore resources and events, and find ways to contribute to a healthier, more sustainable UBC. Subscribe to our newsletter, Healthy UBC, and join us on the journey.
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