It is vital advisers are given time to talk following a harrowing call, according to Kathryn Knowles, managing director at Cura Financial Services.
Knowles (pictured) spoke to Health & Protection ahead of World Suicide Prevention Day which took place at the weekend.
Earlier this year, Knowles’ husband and co-managing director, Alan, told Health & Protection about a harrowing call he said he would remember for the rest of his life where the caller discussed her own internal struggles about ending her own life.
Thankfully, Kathryn was on hand to support her husband after the call.
“Knowing Alan as well as I do, I could tell that something had significantly unsettled him,” Knowles told Health & Protection. “With us both having quite a bit of experience supporting people with mental health, he fortunately did open up to me and let me know what had happened, so that I could be on hand to help him process everything.
“Alan is very much a person that needs time to think things through – not confront and deep dive into it straight away but have time to come to terms with what he has experienced and then chat about it.”
Knowles revealed she gave her husband a hug, reassured him that everything would be okay and told him she was there for a chat at any time.
“I kept an eye on him, made him cuppas, and just sat near him without pushing for him to chat to me about it.
“Later that day I asked him if he was okay, when we had some quiet time together, away from work and kids. He opened up about how he felt about what was going through his head. I stayed quiet, let him talk, I didn’t push forward lots of solutions or things for him to do to try and stop him thinking about it over and over again.
“I said to him that I couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like to have that call, that I was sure it would take him time to be okay, and that I would be there for him every step of the way.”
Time to talk
While the two managing directors are married, Knowles pointed out that the principles she applied in supporting her husband should apply to any colleague.
“Give them time to talk when they are ready, make sure that they know that you are there for them,” she added.
“Don’t try and solve the situation – what might work for you to process things, isn’t necessarily the right way for them. At some point they will need to process what has happened and all you can do is be there for them to talk to, and make sure that they know organisations that they can speak to if they need more of an anonymous chat to be able to open up.”