If you are leaning into this podcast, my short answer to the question “How do we get guys in male-dominated industries to reach out?” is: to earn their trust.
Connect with a shared vision of how investing in their mental health is congruent with their masculine ideals.
Connect mental health to their mission.
Show them how the time and money they might need to spend to get mentally healthy will have a demonstrable impact on their vision for themselves.
In this podcast, I speak with Dr. Zach Gerdes, a psychologist, Veteran, and police psychologist, and we cover these two main takeaways:
1) Leveraging mental health is consistent with a healthy vision of masculine strength.
2) Connect mental health to mission.
About Zach Gerdes, Ph.D.
Dr. Gerdes is a Clinical/Counseling/Military/Police Psychologist
The psychologist for the Washington State Patrol in Washington State. He is a veteran of the Armed Forces and a former Captain in the United States Air Force. Previously he was the Director of Psychological Health for the 42nd Operational Medical Readiness Squadron and Chief of the Disaster Mental Health Team for the 42nd Air Base Wing on Maxwell Air Force Base. He was also a guest lecturer at Air University, which is the intellectual and leadership development center of the Air Force. His previous duty station prior was with the 88th Medical Group at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Prior to serving as an officer in the Air Force, Dr. Gerdes held various clinical, teaching, and research positions in Ohio and Washington. He has a Ph.D. and master’s degree from the University of Akron and a bachelor’s degree from Seattle University. He was previously with the VA in both research and clinical roles, first at the VA Puget Sound in Seattle and then at the Cleveland VA in Ohio. He has taught at the University of Akron, Northeast Ohio Medical University, and Cleveland State University. He was also previously with the Seattle Police Department doing domestic violence response work. He got his research start at John Gottman’s Relationship Research Institute in Seattle. He regularly publishes and presents research nationally. His book, Man Kind, is out now from Johns Hopkins University Press.
Show Notes
About his book “Man Kind: Tools for Mental Health, Well-being, and Modernizing Masculinit”y
Here is the Amazon link to Man Kind: https://a.co/d/fwD2QHk
About Zach Gerdes, Ph.D.
Website: http://www.zacharygerdes.org/
Twitter: @zacharygerdes
Additional Resources
ADA guidelines for medical evaluations: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/enforcement-guidance-disability-related-inquiries-and-medical-examinations-employees
Guidelines from the International Association of Chiefs of Police regarding fitness for duty evaluations: https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/Fitness%20for%20Duty%20Evaluation%20Guidelines%202018.pdf
Disclaimer: The conclusions and opinions expressed here by Zachary Gerdes are his alone and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense, Federal Government of the United States, State of Washington, or the Washington State Patrol.