About Brittany Schank
Brittany is Schank a licensed clinical social worker, owner of Solace Counseling, a group counseling practice with two locations in North Dakota, and Founder of the Solace Co Directory, a directory for therapist supervisors, supervisees, and consultants to find one another.
She is a firm believer that we need less fixing and more loving, less perfection and more appreciation for who we are, and less criticism and more encouragement around us.
Brittany can be found in her spare time with her husband chasing around their four young children, working at her therapy private practice, or all geared up for her part-time military career. Brittany is an audiobook narrator and author of “Narrating Audiobooks: Everything You Need To Know To Get Started”.
Brittany identifies herself as a time management guru, lover of all things coffee, and takes pride in her competitive but humorous nature.
Q&A With Brittany Schank
Q: From a counselor’s perspective, what truly makes a workplace a “great place to work” beyond pay and benefits?
A: A great workplace is one where people feel psychologically safe. When employees believe they can speak up, be human, make mistakes, and bring their full selves to work without fear of punishment, judgment, or exclusion, everything changes.
People stay where they feel seen, valued, and supported, not just compensated. A healthy workplace is one where relationships matter, leadership is approachable, and there’s genuine care for the whole person, not just their productivity.
Q: What are the most common workplace issues you see affecting employee morale and mental health today?
A: Three themes show up again and again:
- Lack of communication or unclear expectations. As a new business, this one can be so tricky!
- Feeling unappreciated or unseen, or feeling like a number.
- Unmanaged stress or chronic understaffing
When people don’t know what success looks like, or they feel like they’re constantly behind, morale drops quickly. The emotional load employees carry today, both at work and at home, is heavier than ever!
Q: How can leaders create psychological safety so employees feel heard, respected, and valued?
A: Psychological safety starts with how leaders respond to vulnerability. Do they listen or become defensive? Do they make space for concerns, or do they shut them down?
Leaders build safety when they: ask questions before giving answers, acknowledge their own humanity and imperfections, follow through on what they say, and invite feedback instead of fearing it. Safety is not the absence of conflict; it’s the presence of trust.
Q: What role does communication play in workplace well-being, and where do organizations most often get it wrong?
A: Communication is everything. It prevents assumptions, decreases anxiety, and increases connection. Sometimes I misstep in assuming silence equals understanding; however, sometimes it can mean people don’t agree and don’t feel safe stating so. It can also mean they don’t understand and are scared to ask questions. Clear communication is the glue of a healthy culture.
Q: How can companies support employee mental health in meaningful ways without being intrusive?
A: The key is offering resources, not pressure. Healthy support can look like providing access to therapy or EAP services—even having a sign for a therapy clinic or two in your breakroom shows care for their mental health.
- Encouraging time off
- Normalizing mental health conversations •
- Training leaders to recognize burnout signs
- Creating policies that prioritize well-being
Some simple yet fun things you can do to show you care about mental health are provide some fun stress balls/fidgets, send your team a great YouTube video about self-care, praise your team when they are caring for themselves, and support their time off by asking how you can help so they don’t come back to a full plate.
Q: What does healthy accountability look like in a workplace culture?
A: Health accountability is clarity + support. It cannot be punitive, and it cannot be shame based.
It could sound like “I want you to be successful, and here’s what that looks like. Let’s work together to get there.”
Q: What are some small, practical changes businesses can make that have a big impact on employee satisfaction?
A: There are so many simple things you can do that are rooted in truly caring about your people.
Send out specific and genuine praise. “Jonny had a beautiful baby boy! Mom and baby are doing great! Here’s the deets!” or “Cindy graduated with her Bachelor’s in Business Administration today! Here’s a photo!” Small things can be celebrated too. “Thank you Jonathan, for organizing the breakroom! We are so grateful for you!”
Celebrate small wins! Write a handwritten note or Post-it note and place it on someone’s desk saying, “You presented so confidently at the meeting! Great work!”
Celebrate life events! Currently, we have two staff members who are pregnant. In our breakroom, each week there are signs updated for each of them to let the staff know what week in pregnancy they are and the size of the baby. For example, this week’s says “Katrina’s 33 weeks pregnant and her baby is the size of a Ferret,” with an adorable picture of a ferret! These are fun ways to truly celebrate people!
Reduce unnecessary meetings. Time is so valuable. Consider what meetings are truly needed and which ones are taking up time, energy, and space.
Offer flexibility when possible. In this day and age, people value time and flexibility. When possible, allow flexibility. This might be making up hours during a non-traditional time when something big arose. This might be flexibility in making decisions. This could even be the flexibility of decorating their office space or cubicle.
Check in, not just on work, but on how the person is doing. Your one-on-ones should start with the person, then the tasks.
Show genuine care for people— this is really getting to know your employees in the workplace. You can show you know them by simple gestures like writing down a quote that reminded you of them or sending them a meme that made you think of them. One thing we do here is we stock the breakroom with employees’ favorite drinks and snacks. They love having drinks and snacks on hand, but absolutely light up when their favorite arrives!
Q: How should organizations approach burnout prevention, especially in high-pressure or understaffed environments?
A: I firmly believe burnout prevention has two parts: structural protections and cultural protections. A person can burn out in either of these two categories or both.
- Structural protections:
Reasonable workloads, protected time off, staffing support, and clear boundaries around what success and failure look like.
- Cultural protections:
Leaders modeling balance, normalizing asking for help, redirecting guilt or pressure, and celebrating effort, not just output.
Employees burn out when they care deeply, but feel chronically unsupported.
Q: What does a healthy workplace response look like when employees are struggling personally?
A: A well-supported response looks like, “I’m here. I care. How can I support you while you navigate this?”
It does not require fixing, prying, or overstepping. Simply offer empathy, flexibility, and structure while maintaining boundaries. People will remember forever how their workplace treated them during a hard season of life.
Q: What are the signs that a workplace culture is becoming unhealthy—and how can leaders course-correct?
A: A few tell-tale signs to look out for would be increased gossip, high turnover, silent meetings, low morale, irritability and low work performance.
Course correction starts by naming the problem, inviting honest feedback, and rebuilding transparency. Cultures shift when leaders shift.
Q: From your experience, what can employees do to set themselves up for a healthier relationship with work?
A: It is important for people to truly find how to make their occupation fit their life, instead of their life fit their occupation. Part of having a healthy work relationship is finding love in both what you do and where you do it. If the work is not fulfilling or the environment is draining you, it’s time to look deeper and consider a change.
Employees can:
- Get clear on what energizes them vs drains them
- Share with your supervisor what goals and dreams you have, so they can assist working towards them
- Communicate needs before they become stifling
- Build rituals of rest
- Separate self-worth from productivity
A healthy relationship with work is intentional, not accidental.
Q: What boundaries should employees consider setting to protect their mental health at work?
A: Some helpful boundaries could include:
- “I don’t check emails after ____ time.”
- Blocking time for uninterrupted work
- Protecting lunch breaks
- Saying “I need clarification” when expectations feel unclear.
Q: How can individuals manage stress when they love their job but feel overwhelmed?
A: Loving your job does not mean you are immune to overwhelm. In fact, I imagine 100% of people who love their job have felt overwhelmed. Some things that can be done are:
- Asking for help before a crisis
- Bringing forward ideas of what would create less overwhelm
- I try to remind myself that the tasks I hate, someone else loves. Let’s talk about if there are tasks someone else would prefer to take on
- Taking actual breaks
- Using grounding strategies daily and even more during busy seasons
- Reminding yourself you are one person, and you’re doing your best!
Q: How can employees navigate difficult managers or coworkers in a healthy way?
A: Start with curiosity, not assumptions. Many conflicts come from unmet expectations or communication gaps.
Healthy navigation looks like:
- “I” statements
- Asking clarifying questions
- Documenting concerns
- Involving leadership when patterns emerge
- The goal isn’t to win, it’s to work together without losing yourself
Q: What misconceptions do people often have about workplace happiness or work-life balance?
A: The biggest misconception is that balance is a destination. It is not. It’s something you adjust daily.
Another misconception is that “happiness at work” means loving every moment. That’s not true. It actually means feeling safe, valued, connected, and able to be human. People don’t need a perfect workplace. They need a workplace that genuinely cares.
For more tips, visit:
solacecounselingfargo.com
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