When most people think of the military, they think of soldiers, sailors and airmen and airwomen but the team is far more than Hollywood might have us believe. What many people don't know is that there is a team of psychologists who work with the troops to help them handle the stress of operations and cope with difficult situations to perform at their best when under pressure. 

In this episode of Frontline to Boardroom, I chat with Melissa Harries, a military psychologist for 6 years and \now working with high-risk employment categories. Melissa is also in private practice helping individuals experiencing difficulties with anxiety, trauma, emotion regulation and stress tolerance. 

Melissa discusses some of the lessons learnt from working with the military as a psychologist and shares her insights on mental health of service men and women.  She also discusses how these lessons can be applied to the business world and the role psychology plays in helping you achieve better results in the workplace.

WHAT YOU’LL DISCOVER IN THIS EPISODE:

• The role of a psychologist in the army (03:24)
• Leadership influences in Melissa’s life (04:59)
• Psychology as a black art (10:04)
• How does the military respond to challenging tasks? (14:30)
• Melissa’s experience at Kapooka (16:29)
• The biggest leadership challenges Melissa tackled? (21:19)
• Why you need to be part of a community (27:01)
• How to build resilience in the workplace (30:40)
• What the military didn’t teach Melissa (37:40)
• Melissa’s best advice to leaders (39:38)
• Rapid-fire questions with Melissa (44:36)
  
  

Quotes

• “The only way you learn how to deal with stress is by being stressed.” -Melissa Harries (18:35)
• “You can only be resilient if you have the opportunity to practice being resilient.” -Melissa Harries (18:35)
• “People have to fail first before they can be successful in an environment.” -Martin Brooker (19:52)
  
  

RESOURCES

• Safe Work Australia 
• The Happiness Advantage
  
  

WHERE TO FIND MELISSA HARRIES

• Connect with Melissa on LinkedIn.
• Check out Melissa’s website here.  
  
  
  

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ABOUT MELISSA HARRIES

Melissa Harries has served in the Australian Army as a psychologist for 6 years with operational service on multiple rotations to the Middle East and East Timor. 

Since leaving the Army, Melissa has worked with organisations with high-risk employment categories that include the NSW fire and rescue service, electricity line workers, special forces units and criminal prosecutors. 

Melissa’s psychology practice is focused on helping individuals and workplaces to perform at their optimum through proactive skills-based training and counselling. She also maintains a private practice assisting individuals experiencing difficulties with anxiety, trauma, emotion regulation and stress tolerance.