Stories x Science =

Where Mental Health Communication Finds Its Chemistry

The Lending Language Lab is a mental health communication consultancy that transforms how organizations talk about mental health.

Spearheaded by award-winning mental health advocate, researcher, and entrepreneur Steph Ng, we provide expert-led strategy and impactful speaking services to replace hollow awareness with actionable change.

Our mission is to equip businesses, nonprofits, and schools with evidence-backed frameworks and practical strategies — because we believe that good intentions deserve communication that actually connects and creates change.

Show me how

HI!

I’M STEPH.

Mental health struggles have shaped my entire life — as someone who’s lived through it, advocated against mental health stigma, and researched what makes advocacy actually work.

That’s why I created The Lending Language Lab. My mission is to equip schools, businesses, and nonprofits with research-backed storytelling strategies that help create mental health initiatives that are refreshing, relatable, and realistic to act on.

With the academic acumen honed from a PhD in health communication and the empathy fostered from lived experience with mental illness, my speaking and consulting services don’t just inspire change — they demand it.

“The “just breathe” posters that I saw around my school/office cured me of depression”

…said literally no one, ever. 

I’m sure I’m not the only one…

who has participated in countless mental health initiatives that focus entirely on spewing hollow inspirational slogans (ahem, “just keep going”, “manifest your happier self”).

Nor do I think I’m the only one who feels incredibly frustrated by the lack of emphasis on how we can actually encourage more meaningful conversations about mental health issues in our communities.

Accessing practical tools for effective mental health communication shouldn’t be hard.

This belief stands at the core of my mission with founding the Lending Language Lab - I am committed to ensuring that businesses, nonprofits, and schools working on addressing mental health issues should have easy access to relevant research and expertise that help them achieve their goals, with high efficiency and effectiveness.

Here at the Lab,

I am dedicated to taking an assertive and accessible approach to helping my clients create mental health initiatives that are not just inspirational, but also refreshing, relatable, and realistic to act on. 

What is Lending Language?

Many of us see conversation as a simple exchange: one person speaks, the other listens, and then they switch.

But through years of advocacy and research, I’ve learned that real conversation is something far more dynamic—a collaborative process where meaning is co-created. Participants don’t just exchange ideas; they build on them, together, in real time.

This is what I call “lending language”:

It’s the practice of not just sharing words, but building a shared vocabulary — a practice that is particularly essential when we are navigating sensitive or taboo topics. Through engaging in conversation, we help each other find the words and the ways to shed light on experiences we previously viewed as ‘unspeakable’.

How I can help

  • I’ve been both the snoring audience member and the speaker putting crowds to sleep. Since then, I’ve made it my mission to deliver refreshingly relatable talks packed with practical tools. Book me to energize your next school assembly, staff meeting, or mental health event. 

    Choose from:

    • Standardized talks on topics within my realms of expertise, including mental health advocacy, body image, and storytelling for social change.  

    • Bespoke keynotes and talks tailored to your community’s needs.

  • Too often, we are encouraged to “just speak up!” about mental health issues without actually being given the tools to do so.

    My workshops move beyond promoting awareness to empowering your community with practical skills to navigate the “how” and not just the “why” of mental health conversations:

    • Interactive workshops teaching how to start (and sustain) meaningful conversations about mental health issues, in both professional and personal settings. 

    • Leadership storytelling workshops that train leaders to share personal mental health experiences in advocacy settings, empowering them with strategies for impactful and authentic communication while protecting against oversharing. 

    • Custom workshop and training offerings on topics within my realms of expertise, including mental health advocacy, body image, and storytelling for social change. 

  • Wish you had an in-house mental health communication expert, but don’t have the budget? I’m the next best thing.

    Hire me for:

    • Research Dissection: I’ll help you break down the latest studies on mental health advocacy, health communication, and body image — and give you a practical and powerful ways to apply it to your work.

    • Message Autopsy: Send over your campaigns, internal comms, or resources. I’ll dissect every line for harmful clichés, cultural blind spots, and missed opportunities—then rebuild them for clarity, impact, and connection.

    • On-Call Lab Hours: Book me by the hour to think through challenges in real-time as you build or refine a mental health initiative.

Tell me more

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Ready to reach out?

The Lending Language Lab is based in Hong Kong but welcomes clients from around the world.

Book a free 15-minute consultation call with me to explore how we can work together, or reach out to me directly at steph@thelendinglanguagelab.com

*Bonus points if you can share a cringy mental health slogan that you love to hate on (and we’ll destroy it together!)