'I listen': How Thresa Vaughn shows up for coworkers in crisis

By Kim Mathie, Human Resources
Monday
Thresa Vaughn

Thresa Vaughn, human resources assistant, says her training and personal experience have combined to give her the skills she needs to connect employees to the mental health resources they need with care and compassion.

When employees call Human Resources Life and Work Connections for counseling services, Human Resources assistant Thresa Vaughn answers. The circumstances of the call might change – a non-urgent need for a therapist or an employee having what they might describe as the worst day of their life – but her response doesn't.

She doesn't pry or ask intrusive questions. When someone calls clearly upset, she doesn't rush.

"I listen," said Vaughn. And she keeps listening until they're done. 

Then she asks two important questions: Are you safe? Are you having suicidal thoughts? 

"And that's a hard question to ask them," said Vaughn. 

Knowing what to ask and how to respond

She learned how to ask these hard questions through the QPR Gatekeeper training, which teaches participants how to recognize the warning signs of a suicide crisis and how to respond. The training is open to any interested employees or students, and departments can request a group training. Vaughn now helps facilitate those sessions.

QPR Institute logo with the words 'Question. Persuade. Refer.' over an image of a person.

QPR Gatekeeper training is open to any interested employees or students, and departments can request a group training

"My QPR training kicks in, almost like I'm on autopilot," she said. "I want to make sure they're safe and have resources they may need."

Once she knows the employee is safe, Vaughn explains how the ComPsych employee assistance program works: they'll talk to a master's-level clinician who will ask brief intake questions and connect them with a counselor.

Finally, she calls ComPsych directly and stays on the line until someone answers.

When she connects, it may be a simple hand-off where she provides the employee's first name and disconnects; in other cases, she may tell ComPsych the caller immediate support, and that she confirmed the employee is safe and not having suicidal thoughts.

If the employee wants, Vaughn sends a follow-up email with additional community resources, like information on ComPsych, a flyer explaining when to use 988 versus 911, and information on the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Training helped Vaughn build the skills to ask the hard questions and point employees toward the right resource, and she has sharpened thos skills call by call. 

"The more I learn about mental illness, the more confident I feel in how I can help employees when they call looking for mental health support," Vaughn explained.

A personal passion

For Vaughn, the desire to help others with mental health challenges goes well beyond her job with the university. Her own experiences with mental illness in her family have helped shape her compassion and desire to help others.

"My grandpa died by suicide two years before I was born," Vaughn said. "I didn't know him, but I heard what a good person he was, and I wondered, how could he leave my grandma and nine kids?"

Her oldest son struggles with traumatic brain injury from cancer, which produces symptoms that mirror mental illness. At one point, Vaughn called 988 for him because he expressed suicidal thoughts.

"When it hits close to home, when you've experienced it, and you’re a people person like I am, it was just kind of a no-brainer," said Vaughn. “I like to help people.”

Building on her expertise

Vaughn is currently working on training to facilitate NAMI's eight-week Family-to-Family education program, with her supervisor's encouragement. 

"I'm not a counselor, but I'm a mom," Vaughn said. "If I can help one person understand or have one person reach for help that didn't before, or one person to be more educated that passes it along to somebody else, then that's the goal.

"There should be no shame in reaching out for help."

Employees who want to learn more about supporting their own mental health or help someone else can explore these free university and community resources: