Perspectives on workplace counselling

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Perspectives on workplace counselling Dr Anne
Tracey, C. Psychol. School of Psychology, Magee
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The Workplace in the 21st Century
Absences physical ill-health -gt
psychological problems Pressurised environment
higher-tech -gt higher productivity Telecommunicat
ions mobile phones -gt continuous
demand Changing workforce immigrants,
older workers -gt coping Assessment
psychological effects of long hours,
job demands? Early
intervention G.P use of employee
assistance programme (Royal College
of Physicians Conference in Ireland, October 2006)
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Occupational ill-health

• Stress contributes to
• 
  Absences,
• Lack of mental well-being,
• 
  alcoholism and other related problems.
• (Cooper and
  Payne, 1984 Cartwright and Cooper, 1994, Cooper,
  2005)

Absences at work 80,000,000 working days -
mental illness - CBI
Confederation of British Industry
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Costs of occupational ill-health
Economic implications of Workplace stress
3 billion (Mental Health Foundation) Sickness
Absence 10-12 billion (C.B.I) Compensation
pay-outs 300 million
(T.U.C.)
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Problems that companies encounter

• Teams overstretched / lacking resources to get
  job done
• Staff lacking leadership and direction
• Loss of morale/resentment from other employees
• Problems managing tasks of the job
• Financial problems / paying for temporary cover
• Source Health of the Workplace
  Report, June 2006 Norwich Union

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Reasons why employees are seeking help through
counselling in the workplace
Grievances Relocation Alcohol
abuse Debt Retirement Goal-setting Bereavement
Induction Sexual harassment Career
development Job training Smoking Illness Redund
ancy Stress (work-related) Demotion Legal
matters Disability Literacy/education Substance
abuse Marital problems Dismissal Mental
health Verbal abuse Divorce Performance Gamblin
g Lay-off Career break (from
Berridge Cooper, 1994)
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Reasons why employees are seeking help through
counselling in the workplace
Most common reasons include Health General
emotional disturbance Anxiety Debt
Other reasons Alcohol / drug dependency
Financial and legal worries General personal
distress Job Pressure Mental illness
Marriage/family conflict
(Cooper Highly, 1996)
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Nature of workplace counselling
.the organisation pays for counselling
provision for its employees. By doing so, it
creates a dynamic between three participants
organisation, client/employee and counsellor.
(Carroll, 1996, p16)
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Types of Counselling Provision

• Internal
• Counsellors part of the organisation
• One counsellor or team
• Part-time/full-time provision

• External
• External body Employees Assistance Programme
  Provider
• employed by the company to provide
  counselling for employees

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The Role of E.A.P. Counsellors

• Short-term counselling average 8 sessions
• Skills solution-focused work, problem
  solving
• Assessment What type
  of counselling does client need?
• Can problem be dealt with through the
  companys service?
• Need for referral to specialist
  services?
• Ethical Issues Am I
  competent to deal with this issue?
• 
  Is it time to end counselling?
• Supervision critical
  feature of all counselling work
• (Cooper Highly, 1996)

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Strengths and Weaknesses of external provision

• Strengths
• counselling service separate
• clear boundaries/confidentiality
• counsellors with different skills
• offer training counselling

• Weaknesses
• counselling service expensive/profit-
• making
• counsellor seen as an outsider
• little experience of workplace counselling
• little understanding of the company

(Carroll, 1997)
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Strengths and Weaknesses of internal provision

• Strengths
• visible, human face
• in touch with culture of company
• build up credibility of service
• feedback into system
• can provide mediation

• Weaknesses
• more subjective in assessments
• may get pulled into taking sides
• can feel isolated
• lack of trust by workers
• difficult to maintain confidentiality

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Does workplace counselling work?
Post Office Sheffield Postal Service Assessed
impact of stress counselling among postal
workers Shop floor to senior management
Pre-counselling anxiety, depression, somatic
symptoms Post-counselling significant
improvement in each area No change in job
satisfaction but Sickness absences / days off
reduced

Cooper and Sadri, 1991
ESTIMATED SAVINGS TO POST OFFICE 102,000 over 6
month period

Tehrani,
1997
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Does workplace counselling work?
Independent Review of work related counselling
services Professor John McLeod 1954 -
2000 10,000 clients
M A I N C O N C L U S I O N S 90 highly
satisfied Interventions effective Symptoms of
anxiety, stress and depression alleviated 50
work-related symptoms and stress lowered Sickness
absence rates reduced
Workplace counselling was not found to be harmful
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Problems workplace counsellors might encounter

• gossip over coffee about client employee
• charming manager is the one harassing client
• managers ringing to check progress
• client wants letter to support leave of absence
  
• Carroll, 1995

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Support from company

• The EAP needs to..
• gain support and endorsement
• from all levels of
• Management, including the Board of Directors
• Employee Assistance
  Professionals Association Standards, 1993, p 37

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Thank you