A Two-Day Workplace Mental Health and Brain Wellness Workshop

Pocket watch photo: Isabelle Grosjean ZA, CC BY-SA 3.0, background removed.

A message arrives asking whether we can “cover mental health” on a Thursday afternoon. The sender is usually considerate. They have a slot between other training, a room already booked, and a sincere wish not to leave the topic untouched.

I understand the request. It rests on a common belief among management and HR: that workplace mental health is mainly a matter of awareness, and that one good talk can carry it. I also know what an afternoon can and cannot hold. Awareness can be planted in a few hours. Practice needs more room than that.

Our signature programme at New Mind is a two-day, 14-hour Workplace Mental Health & Brain Wellness workshop. It is designed for burnout prevention, recovery and supportive working relationships. When HR or management ask what a workplace mental health workshop in Malaysia can look like if it is not a talk, this is the shape I describe.

WHO THE ROOM IS FOR

The programme is prepared for Malaysian HR professionals, management, employee wellbeing committees and employees who want practical ways to understand stress, manage energy and relate more supportively at work. The mix of participants is something we discuss with each organisation, and workshop cohort size is agreed separately.

I mention that early because numbers are easy to confuse. Booking the full two-day workshop includes a complimentary Mental & Brain Wellness Booth for up to 50 employees. That 50 refers to booth access, not to how many people may sit in the training room. Booth appointments are arranged in advance, outside the training sessions. I will write about the booth itself tomorrow.

DAY ONE, THEN DAY TWO

The two days are not two copies of the same morning.

Day 1, Brain Wellness, Stress & Energy Recovery, runs as a three-hour morning and a four-hour afternoon. Its theme is how stress, attention and recovery show up in an ordinary working week. Each participant leaves with a Personal Energy Crafting Plan.

Day 2, Brain Wellness, Connection & Communication, follows the same rhythm of a three-hour morning and a four-hour afternoon. Its theme is the working relationships around us: support, expectations and the conversations that are often postponed. Participants leave with an Integrated Brain Wellness Action Plan covering energy, recovery, communication and relationships.

Across both days the learning is interactive and practical, rather than a long lecture with a short question period at the end. The fuller outline is something I share directly with organisations when we plan together.

WHAT THE HOURS ARE FOR

I am often asked why we ask for fourteen hours when a shorter briefing would be easier to approve.

The honest answer comes from industrial and organisational psychology: skills need repetition close to the moment they are first named. A person can understand, by mid-morning, that their attention narrows under strain. They still need time to try something different, notice what gets in the way, and write a plan that belongs to their actual working day rather than to an ideal one.

The same is true of conversation. Many Malaysian workplaces are skilled at being polite. Politeness can sit beside unspoken overload. Practising how to name a workload concern, or how to ask for help without apology piled on apology, takes more than a demonstration from the front of the room.

The workshop is educational and developmental. It does not diagnose or treat mental health conditions. Employee skills work alongside suitable workload, clear expectations and organisational support, and training does not replace an employer’s psychosocial-risk duties. Where an organisation wants to understand those working conditions first, a psychosocial risk assessment followed by a tailored organisational intervention is often the better starting point. The programme describes intended learning benefits; it does not promise changes in attendance, productivity, recovery or costs.

Neuroscience-informed practice, in this setting, means we take seriously how stress shows up in attention, sleep, emotion and recovery. It does not mean we claim to remodel anyone in two days. I lead this work as an Industrial & Organizational Psychologist (PSIMA Reg. No. 91090), Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer, HRV Biofeedback (BCIA), HRD Corp Accredited Trainer (6871) and DOSH Psychosocial Trained Person (PTP-167/25), drawing on 15 years of work with Malaysian organisations.

AFTER THE ROOM EMPTIES

When organisations later ask what people “got” from the workshop, I hope the answer is more concrete than a feeling that the topic was addressed.

I hope someone has a clearer sense of what drains them and what restores them. I hope a manager has language for a priority conversation that used to be postponed. I hope a team has practised asking for assistance in a way that does not sound like failure.

Those are modest hopes, and I prefer them that way. Corporate mental health support earns trust more readily when it does not overstate what two days can do, and when it leaves room for the organisation to keep working on the conditions around the people who attended.

If you have been trying to fit this subject into a late Thursday, it may help to picture a different kind of calendar: two days in which people are allowed to practise, and a booth arranged quietly beside that learning rather than instead of it.

Warmly,
Dr Hiro Koo

Industrial & Organizational Psychologist · Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer · HRV Biofeedback (BCIA) · New Mind

If you would like to see how the two days could fit your organisation, you are welcome to write to me on WhatsApp at +60 16-715 4419. You can also read the Workplace Mental Health & Brain Wellness workshop page and our corporate wellbeing training in Malaysia.

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有时会有一则讯息问：这个星期四下午，能不能“把心理健康讲一讲”。写信的人通常是体贴的。他们已经在其他培训之间挤出一个时段，房间也订好了，真心希望这个主题不要完全被略过。

我理解这样的请求。它背后是管理层和人力资源常有的一个想法：职场心理健康主要是“意识”的问题，一场好的讲座就能承担。我也清楚一个下午能装下什么，装不下什么。觉察可以在几小时里被种下；练习需要更大的空间。

New Mind 的主要课程，是为期两天、共 14 小时的 Workplace Mental Health & Brain Wellness 工作坊。它围绕倦怠预防、恢复，以及彼此支持的工作关系而设计。当人力资源或管理层问：如果不是一场讲座，马来西亚的职场心理健康工作坊可以是什么样子，我描述的就是这个形状。

WHO THE ROOM IS FOR

课程是为马来西亚的人力资源专员、管理层、员工福利委员会，以及希望更切实地理解压力、管理能量、并在工作中彼此支持的员工而准备的。参与者如何组合，会和每一家机构一起讨论；工作坊人数另行约定。

我之所以先提这一点，是因为数字很容易被弄混。预订完整的两天工作坊，会配套一个可供最多 50 名员工使用的心理与脑健康摊位（Mental & Brain Wellness Booth）。这 50 人指的是摊位名额，不是培训室可以坐多少人。摊位预约会提前安排，放在培训时段之外。明天我会专门写这个摊位。

DAY ONE, THEN DAY TWO

这两天，并不是同一个上午的两个副本。

第一天的主题是脑健康、压力与能量恢复，分为三小时的上午与四小时的下午，关注压力、注意力与恢复如何出现在平常的一周工作里。每位学员会带走一份个人能量塑造计划（Personal Energy Crafting Plan）。

第二天的主题是脑健康、连结与沟通，同样是三小时上午与四小时下午，关注我们身边的工作关系：支持、期望，以及那些常被推迟的对话。学员会带走一份整合的脑健康行动计划（Integrated Brain Wellness Action Plan），涵盖能量、恢复、沟通与关系。

这两天的学习都是互动而实用的，而不是一场很长的演讲，只在结尾留一点提问时间。更完整的课程安排，我会在和机构一起规划时直接分享。

WHAT THE HOURS ARE FOR

常有人问，为什么我们需要十四个小时；一段更短的说明会比较容易获批。

老实的回答来自工商与组织心理学：技能需要在它第一次被说出之后不久，就被反复练习。一个人可以在上午中段就明白，自己的注意力会在紧绷时变窄。他仍然需要时间去试一试不同的做法，看看哪里会被卡住，并写出一份属于自己真实工作日、而不是理想工作日的计划。

对话也是如此。许多马来西亚职场很擅长保持礼貌。礼貌旁边，也可以坐着没有说出口的超载。练习如何说出对工作量的担心，或如何在请求协助时不必一层层道歉，需要的时间比讲台前的一次示范更多。

这场工作坊是教育性与发展性的，它不诊断、也不治疗心理健康状况。员工的技能，需要和合适的工作量、清晰的期望、组织的支持放在一起；培训不能取代雇主在心理社会风险上的责任。若机构想先了解这些工作条件，先做心理社会风险评估，再进行量身的组织介入，往往是更好的起点。课程描述的是预期的学习帮助，并不承诺出勤、生产力、恢复或成本上的改变。

在这里，所谓以神经科学为依据（neuroscience-informed），是认真看待压力如何出现在注意力、睡眠、情绪与恢复之中，并不表示我们声称能在两天内改造任何人。我以工商与组织心理学家（PSIMA Reg. No. 91090）、Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer、HRV Biofeedback (BCIA)、HRD Corp Accredited Trainer (6871) 以及 DOSH Psychosocial Trained Person（PTP-167/25）的身份带领这项工作，背后是 15 年与马来西亚机构共事的经验。

AFTER THE ROOM EMPTIES

当机构后来问，人们从工作坊“得到了什么”，我希望答案比“这个主题有被处理到”更具体一点。

我希望有人更清楚什么在消耗自己、什么能让自己回来。我希望一位主管拥有一套话，去进行那场过去一直被推迟的优先级对话。我希望一个团队练习过，用一种听起来不像失败的方式请求协助。

这些希望是克制的，我也比较喜欢它们如此。企业心理健康支持若不夸大两天能做的事，又为组织继续处理学员周围的工作条件留出空间，会比较容易获得信任。

如果你一直想把这个主题塞进某个星期四下午，也许可以换一种行事历来想象：两天让人好好练习，旁边再安静安排一个摊位，作为学习的配套，而不是学习的替代。

Warmly,
Dr Hiro Koo

Industrial & Organizational Psychologist · Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer · HRV Biofeedback (BCIA) · New Mind

若想看看这两天如何配合你的机构，欢迎通过 WhatsApp +60 16-715 4419 写信给我。也可以阅读职场心理健康与脑健康工作坊页面，以及我们的马来西亚企业健康培训。

Burnout, Stress & Mental Health: Honda SHE Month 2026 Talk

SHE Month 2026 online talk, 11 November 2026

Really happy and honoured to be invited by Honda’s SHE Month 2026 organising team as a speaker for their Corporate Wellness Initiative, sharing about Burnout, Stress & Mental Health: The Hidden Workplace Hazard (online talk, 11 November 2026).

What makes me especially happy is seeing a company like Honda taking the initiative to care for its employees’ wellbeing and helping them better understand their own mental health.

I really enjoyed the session, especially the engagement and positive feedback from the participants!

Burnout does not always look the same

One interesting thing I noticed from the feedback was that many people didn’t realise burnout can present in different patterns, with different features that we may easily overlook.

Sometimes, we assume an employee is simply tired, unmotivated, or even lazy. But when we look deeper, there may be much more happening beneath the surface.

Not every challenge needs therapy

One important message I shared was that not every workplace mental health challenge necessarily requires therapy.

Sometimes, coaching can help employees regain clarity and motivation. Sometimes, organisational support, adjustments to job demands, or even small changes in everyday work practices can make a meaningful difference.

This is something I strongly believe in as an Industrial & Organisational Psychologist. Workplace mental health should not focus only on changing the individual. We also need to look at what organisations can do to better support their people.

Beyond one awareness talk

I’m truly grateful for the wonderful participation and feedback, and I hope there will be more opportunities to continue supporting Honda’s employees.

After all, employee wellbeing shouldn’t end with just one awareness talk. I hope we can gradually build more sustainable support through education, coaching and organisational interventions.

I’m also happy to welcome more organisations to collaborate with us on Corporate Wellness Initiatives, whether through online talks or face-to-face workshops.

If your organisation is interested in Burnout Prevention, Workplace Mental Health or Employee Wellbeing programmes, feel free to reach out to me or New Mind Academy at contact@brainhealthspecialist.com, or visit brainhealthspecialist.com.

Dr Hiro Koo (Dr Koo Kian Yong)
Industrial & Organizational Psychologist, New Mind Academy, Kuala Lumpur

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中文

11月11日很开心，也很荣幸受到 Honda 和 SHE Month 2026 筹委团队的邀请，担任这次 Corporate Wellness Initiative 的分享嘉宾，和大家聊聊 Burnout、Stress & Mental Health。

其实，看到 Honda 愿意花时间和资源去关注员工的心理健康，让员工有机会更了解自己的身心状态，我觉得这是一件很有意义的事情。

这次分享让我特别开心的是，大家的反应真的很好！

从大家的反馈中，我发现原来很多人并不知道，Burnout 其实有不同的表现模式，也有很多平时容易被忽略的特征。

有时候，我们以为一个员工只是累了、没有动力，甚至觉得他是不是变懒了。但当我们真正去了解背后的原因，才会发现事情可能没有那么简单。

我在分享中特别强调了一点：不是每一个职场心理健康问题，都一定需要透过 Therapy 来解决。

有时候，Coaching 可以帮助员工重新找到方向和动力。有时候，组织给予适当的支持，调整一些工作安排，甚至只是改善一些日常工作中的小细节，都可能带来很大的改变。

这也是为什么我一直相信，Workplace Mental Health 不应该只是关注员工个人，也需要从组织的角度一起着手。

很感谢大家的参与和积极反馈，也很希望未来有机会继续支持 Honda 的员工。毕竟，员工的心理健康不应该只停留在一场分享，而是可以慢慢发展成长期的支持。

也借这个机会欢迎更多企业邀请我们进行 Corporate Wellness Sharing。不管是 Online Talk 还是 Face-to-Face Workshop，我们都很乐意一起探讨如何让职场变得更健康。

如果你的企业也正在关注 Burnout Prevention、Workplace Mental Health 或 Employee Wellbeing，欢迎联络我或 New Mind Academy：contact@brainhealthspecialist.com。

Why Assessment Needs Tailored Organisational Intervention

I have sat with leadership teams while a carefully prepared report is turned to the last page. The colours are clear. A few headings have been underlined. Someone says that the findings are not surprising, which is often another way of saying they are true.

Then the meeting ends, and the report finds a folder.

Six months later, the same organisation writes again. The complaints sound familiar: people are tired, conversations are careful, good staff are becoming quieter. The assessment did its job. The weeks after the assessment did not.

THE STEP THAT GETS SKIPPED

The step I watch for is a simple one, and it is the one most easily postponed. After the picture becomes visible, someone has to decide what will change in the work, and what kind of learning people actually need.

It is tempting to treat the report as the achievement. The survey has been completed. Participation was decent. Management has a document that looks responsible. In a busy quarter, that can feel like enough.

A report, though, only tells you where to look. It does not yet tell a supervisor how to renegotiate priorities on a Tuesday morning. It does not repair a role that has two owners and no authority. It does not give a team the words for asking for help before resentment sets in.

This is why, at New Mind, psychosocial risk assessment is designed as the opening stage of a longer piece of work: a tailored one-year training and intervention plan, shaped around the organisation’s own goals.

NOT EVERY FINDING IS A TRAINING NEED

The most useful hour in our facilitated management session is often the hour that separates capability gaps from system problems.

Some findings do point toward learning. Leaders may need more practice in holding difficult conversations. A team may need clearer ways to give feedback or to resolve friction before it hardens. Managers may want help recognising early signs of strain and responding in a grounded way. Mental health literacy and the ability to make a workplace feel safer to speak in can also be trained.

Other findings will not move if you only add a workshop. A workload that is structurally unsustainable remains unsustainable after a seminar on resilience. Unclear roles, overlapping accountabilities, or missing decision rights are design problems. A change process that leaves people without information or input will not be repaired by a talk on positivity. Recognition and fairness, when they have worn thin, ask for organisational attention.

I say this without drama. It is simply how work behaves. If people lack conflict-resolution skills, training can help. If the job itself cannot be done in the hours allotted to it, the job has to be looked at.

TAILORED, BECAUSE ORGANISATIONS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE

A company managing rapid growth needs a different sequence from one that is restructuring. A workplace with high turnover is not facing the same questions as a workplace where people stay but feel worn down. Safety-critical work asks for a different kind of care than a fast-moving commercial team.

This is why I am cautious about ready-made catalogues. A generic corporate wellness menu can be attractive because it is quick to approve. It may not match what the data has just shown.

The plan we build after assessment includes a prioritised list of training needs, recommendations for system improvements, and a twelve-month roadmap with owners, milestones and review points. The sequence matters. Earlier, achievable changes can sit ahead of structural work that genuinely takes longer, so leadership leaves with a path that can be lived with rather than a wish list that nobody can carry.

Where a priority calls for specialist input beyond our own team, we work with collaborators so the organisation does not have to manage several disconnected vendors. Programme content is scoped with you and confirmed before delivery. Clinical psychologists, occupational therapists and LKM-registered counsellors may be involved when the agreed scope asks for them. They are not added as decoration.

I lead this work as an Industrial & Organizational Psychologist (PSIMA Reg. No. 91090) and a DOSH Psychosocial Trained Person (PTP-167/25), drawing on 15 years of work with Malaysian organisations. My wider practice is neuroscience-informed: I am a Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer and hold HRV Biofeedback (BCIA), and that background shapes how we think about attention, stress and recovery across a working week. It informs the design of the plan; it does not replace a careful look at how the work itself is organised.

WHAT TRAINING CAN AND CANNOT HOLD

I will describe our two-day Workplace Mental Health & Brain Wellness workshop later in this series. It offers time to practise energy recovery, attention, communication and supportive working relationships. Those skills are real, and people often leave with a clearer personal plan.

Even then, I keep the same sentence nearby. Employee skills sit alongside suitable workload, clear expectations and organisational support. Training and coaching do not replace employer psychosocial-risk duties. They also do not promise that absenteeism will fall, that productivity will rise, or that recovery can be guaranteed. Those outcomes depend on more than a classroom.

An assessment without intervention can become a sophisticated way of naming a problem and then living with it. An intervention without assessment can become a well-meant activity that misses the point. The two belong together, and the joining has to be tailored.

If a report is sitting on your desk this month, you might not need another survey. You may only need a quieter meeting about which findings are teaching needs, which are design needs, and who will own the first twelve months of the response.

Warmly,
Dr Hiro Koo

Industrial & Organizational Psychologist · Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer · HRV Biofeedback (BCIA) · New Mind

If you would like to talk through what a report is asking of your organisation, you are welcome to write to me on WhatsApp at +60 16-715 4419. You can also read about psychosocial risk assessment and the intervention plan that follows, and about our corporate wellbeing training in Malaysia.

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我曾和管理层一起，把一份仔细准备过的报告翻到最后一页。颜色很清楚，有几个标题被划了线。有人说，这些发现并不令人意外——这句话常常是另一种说法：它们是真的。

然后会议结束，报告进了一个文件夹。

六个月后，同一家机构又写信来。抱怨听起来很熟悉：人们很累，对话很小心，好同事变得更安静。评估做了它该做的事。评估之后的那几周，却没有。

THE STEP THAT GETS SKIPPED

我特别留意的那一步其实很简单，却也最容易被往后放。当全貌已经看得见，必须有人决定：工作本身要改什么，人们真正需要的又是哪一种学习。

人们很容易把报告本身当成成果。问卷完成了，参与度也不差，管理层手里有一份看起来负责任的文件。在忙碌的季度里，这仿佛已经足够。

可是报告只告诉你该往哪里看。它还不能教一位主管，在星期二早上如何重新商量优先级。它修不好一个有两个主人、却没有权力的岗位。它也不能给团队一套话，好在怨气出现之前就开口求助。

正因如此，在 New Mind，心理社会风险评估被设计成一段更长工作的起点：一份围绕该组织自身目标而写的、为期一年的培训与介入计划。

NOT EVERY FINDING IS A TRAINING NEED

在我们引导的管理层会议里，最有用的一小时，常常是把能力缺口和系统问题分开的那一小时。

有些发现的确指向学习。领导者也许需要更多练习，去进行困难的对话。一个团队也许需要更清楚的方式给予回馈，或在摩擦变硬之前处理它。主管也许希望更能辨认紧绷的早期迹象，并以稳住的方式回应。心理健康素养，以及让职场变得更适合开口的能力，也可以被训练。

另一些发现，只加一场工作坊并不会移动。结构上已经难以持续的工作量，在一场关于韧性的讲座之后，仍然难以持续。职责不清、权责重叠，或缺少决策权，是设计问题。一个让人既没有资讯也没有参与的变革过程，不会因为一场关于正向思考的演讲而被修好。当肯定与公平已经变薄，需要的是组织层面的注意。

我这样说，并不是为了制造紧张。工作本来就是这样运作的。如果人们缺少处理冲突的技能，培训可以帮忙。如果一份工作在被给予的时间里根本做不完，要被拿起来看的是这份工作本身。

TAILORED, BECAUSE ORGANISATIONS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE

一家正在快速成长的公司，需要的顺序，和一家正在重组的公司并不一样。高流失的职场，面对的问题，也不同于人们留下来、却觉得被磨得很薄的职场。安全要求很高的工作，和步调很快的商业团队，所需要的照顾也不相同。

所以我对现成的目录会比较谨慎。通用的企业健康菜单之所以吸引人，是因为它容易获批。它却不一定符合数据刚刚显出来的东西。

评估之后我们整理的计划，会包括一份有优先级的培训需求、关于系统改善的建议，以及一份为期十二个月、有负责人、节点和回顾点的路线。顺序很重要。可以较早做到的改变，可以放在那些确实需要更长时间的结构调整前面，好让管理层带走一条可以过下去的路，而不是一张谁也拿不动的愿望清单。

若某一项优先事项需要我们团队以外的专业投入，我们会与合作方一起工作，让机构不必同时管理好几家互不相干的供应商。课程内容会先和你一起界定，并在执行前确认。当约定范围需要时，临床心理学家、职能治疗师和 LKM 注册辅导员也可能参与。他们不是被拿来当装饰的。

我以工商与组织心理学家（PSIMA Reg. No. 91090），以及 DOSH Psychosocial Trained Person（PTP-167/25）的身份带领这项工作，背后是 15 年与马来西亚机构共事的经验。我的整体实务以神经科学为依据（neuroscience-informed）；我是 Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer，并持有 HRV Biofeedback (BCIA)。这个背景影响我们如何思考一周工作里的注意力、压力与恢复。它帮助计划的设计，却不能取代认真检视工作本身是如何被安排的。

WHAT TRAINING CAN AND CANNOT HOLD

这一系列稍后，我会写到我们为期两天的 Workplace Mental Health & Brain Wellness 工作坊。它让人有时间练习能量恢复、注意力、沟通，以及彼此支持的工作关系。这些技能是具体的，人们也常常会带着一份更清楚的个人计划离开。

即使如此，我仍会把同一句话放在旁边。员工的技能，需要和合适的工作量、清晰的期望、组织的支持放在一起。培训与教练不能取代雇主在心理社会风险上的责任。它们也不能承诺缺勤会下降、生产力会上升，或恢复可以被保证。那些结果，取决于教室以外的许多条件。

只有评估、没有介入，可能变成一种很精致的命名问题、然后继续与它共处的方式。只有介入、没有评估，则可能变成一场用意很好、却没有对准要点的活动。这两件事属于彼此，而它们的衔接必须是量身的。

如果这个月有一份报告正放在你桌上，你也许并不需要再做一次问卷。你也许只需要一场更安静的会议，问清楚哪些发现是教学需求，哪些是设计需求，以及接下来的十二个月，谁来接住这个回应。

Warmly,
Dr Hiro Koo

Industrial & Organizational Psychologist · Neurofeedback SBCIA Master Trainer · HRV Biofeedback (BCIA) · New Mind

若想一起看看一份报告正在向你的机构提出什么要求，欢迎通过 WhatsApp +60 16-715 4419 写信给我。也可以阅读心理社会风险评估以及随后的介入计划，以及我们的马来西亚企业健康培训。