http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-ne ... 6435179155
Dempster, 28, admitted the side hadn't always been so willing to share.
"In the past we probably haven't been that good at being a whole group and everyone being confident to talk as a group," he said.
"It's come to a point where seniority doesn't matter any more. You need the younger blokes to be able to come out and tell you how they're feeling for the club to grow."
At last week's session, the players agreed that approaching a teammate could be awkward.
Captain Nick Riewoldt pondered the results-driven nature of the AFL - how if you can't fix something, you think you can't really help.
Nick Dal Santo said with such a strong team focus, individuals could sometimes be overlooked.
Dempster said the players were learning.
"It's a great program because blokes don't talk about it, you don't talk about your feelings, about mental health and stuff like that," he said.
"We do spend a lot of time together, so to be able to first notice the changes in someone and learn the skills how to handle that is pretty beneficial.
"You can see subtle signs if you look hard enough and do show that genuine care.
"I suppose that's what the program's about, being able to see those subtle changes and having the confidence to be able to go up to them and genuinely ask, 'How you feeling? How you going?', and help them out."
Dempster said it took courage.
"Sometimes it can be a bit confronting ... because you know that it's going to be hard for someone to come up to you, you don't want to do it to someone else and make them feel uncomfortable," he said.
"Hopefully this program enables us to individually be able to come out and say, 'Maybe I do have a problem', and also be able to see that someone else is struggling and be able to help them out."
The players talk about the effect of being dropped from the senior team.
Dempster spoke from experience when he said it was a lonely place.
"You feel like you've been left behind a little bit. So to be able to go up to a player post being dropped and see how they're going can make a massive difference," he said.
"I've been dropped plenty of times. For a player to come up to me and ask how I'm feeling, not just a 'how you going?', legitimate care in how you're going, is a massive help to moving on."
and despise the Pies, the Blues, and the Injectors.
