Past Abuse
Working with women and men who have experienced abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) is a special area of clinical and academic interest for me. Counselling can be helpful for survivors of interpersonal violence in order to;
- Understand and acknowledge how abuse experiences have affected them and their relationships
- Transform the difficult emotions that can accompany abuse (e.g. shame, self-blame)
- Develop new and more adaptive strategies for coping with the effects of abuse
- Integrate their experience such that the abuse experience does not fully define them
- Recognize and enhance personal resilience
Occupational Stress & Burnout
Job related stress to a large degree is unavoidable. All occupations come with their own unique stressors that may challenge an individual's ability to cope. Many studies have shown that there is a relationship between adverse work environments and physical and emotional health problems. Sources of job stress may include; physical demands of the work, workplace injuries, relationships with your employees/supervisors/co-workers, time pressures, the level of control you have over your workload and environment, job dissatisfaction and job insecurity.
- More than 6 in 10 Canadians report that they are experiencing a 'great deal of stress' on the job (Statistics Canada)
- Canadians who say they are experiencing a great deal of stress at work are 5 times more likely to say they've been ill as a result of workplace stress (Statistics Canada)
- Chronic job strain (challenging work with conflicting demands coupled with little control over the pace or way in which the work is conducted) has been associated with depression and anxiety (Statistics Canada)
- Job stress is a major factor in employee absenteeism - in Canada, the annual cost of work time lost to stress is estimated to be $12 million (Statistics Canada)
There can be special challenges for individuals whose work primarily involves helping or interacting with others. Individuals in helping professions (health care, emergency services, education, social work etc.) can be at particular risk for experiencing professional burnout. The term "burnout" refers to an experience of emotional fatigue, reduced sensitivity/empathy for those you work for/with and a reduced sense of personal accomplishment relating to ones work. Unaddressed, burnout for many professionals can negatively impact their ability to carry out their job duties and can result in an exit from their current profession.
- Common signs of burnout include; feeling irritable, apathetic and unmotivated, feeling physically and emotionally exhausted, increases in absenteeism, dreading going to work and having "Sunday night anxiety" about the upcoming work week
- In Canada there are approximately 800,000 health care workers who are reporting increased workload pressures and burn out (Health Council of Canada)
- People who work in health care were one-and-a-half times more likely to miss work because of illness and disability than workers in other sectors in 2000 (Canadian Institute for Health Information)
How Counselling Can Help
Counselling can help offset the impact of job stress/burnout by helping you to understand the personal, environmental and interpersonal dynamics that may be contributing to your experience of stress and learn new coping skills to help lessen the impact of work-related stress. For those experiencing workplace injuries, counselling can help address psychological issues that impact and/or result from chronic pain/injury and address emotional issues relating to returning to work.
Special Areas of Interest
Tel: (780) 660 - 3765