Creating Mental Health Standards – Dr Ferron Gray

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Learn more about Dr Ferron Gray’s Work: Grae Matta Foundation

This episode of Accessible Disruption features Dr. Ferron Gray, a highly specialized forensic psychologist and President of the Grae Matta Foundation. The non-profit organization helps businesses, institutions, and organizations develop mental health standards, policies, and campaigns that are specific to their industry. The foundation’s mission is to improve mental health in both the workplace and higher education. Dr. Gray was inspired to start the foundation after his goddaughter and her father both committed suicide following long waits for mental health services. He realized the core issue was a lack of sufficient policy, and sought to create industry-specific standards to ensure mental health services are fit for purpose.

Dr. Gray is currently working to create a mental health standard for the events industry, which he notes is one of the most stressful in the world. He explains that event professionals, often seen as “dream makers,” face unique stress due to a lack of boundaries with clients, who may not respect their off-hours. He believes a cultural shift is needed, and this can be achieved through policy and targeted public advertising, which would help clients understand and respect these boundaries. In addition to policy, Dr. Gray also discusses the importance of rest and sleep, suggesting that dedicated time off after an event should be built into the event plan to combat the habitual cycle of constantly moving from one project to the next.

When discussing how to create change, Dr. Gray advises that industries should not wait for governments, which are slow to act, but should instead take action themselves by creating their own policies and standards. He says that if enough businesses join a call to action, they can collectively create policies that will affect the entire industry. He also contrasts his work with academia and the events industry, noting that academia can be more daunting to work with because, despite being highly educated, they have mental health services that are “not fit for purpose” and staff who are severely stressed from helping students. He praises the IMEX group as an example of an organization doing well in supporting its staff and guests. For individuals and organizations looking to begin their mental health journey, he suggests small changes such as offering mental health days and encouraging structured breaks throughout the day. Dr. Gray’s final call to action is for organizations to “design resilience into their cultures” because the workforce of today and tomorrow demands it.