
- •Overcoming Your Workplace Stress
- •Overcoming Your Workplace Stress
- •Martin r. Bamber
- •About the author
- •Preface
- •Acknowledgements
- •The ‘fight or flight’ response
- •Harmful stress
- •The consequences of harmful stress on the individual
- •The consequences of harmful stress for the organization
- •Conceptualizing stress
- •The ‘camera analogy’
- •The emergency response
- •Changes in thinking
- •Changes in motivation
- •Changes in emotion
- •Changes in behaviour
- •The development of stress syndromes
- •Dispelling some myths about stress
- •Answers for the stress quiz (Table 1.1) Statement 1
- •Statement 2
- •Statement 3
- •Statement 4
- •Statement 5
- •Statement 6
- •Statement 7
- •Statement 8
- •Statement 9
- •Statement 10
- •Statement 11
- •Statement 12
- •Statement 13
- •Statement 14
- •Statement 15
- •Statement 16
- •How well did you do in the quiz?
- •How stressed are you?
- •A stress checklist
- •Scoring and interpreting the checklist (Table 1.2)
- •Summary
- •Chapter 2
- •Identifying the causes of your occupational stress
- •Introduction
- •An overview of the causes of occupational stress
- •Individual factors
- •Genetic/inherited factors
- •Acquired/learned factors
- •Personality/trait factors
- •Factors in the work environment
- •Job demands
- •Physical working conditions
- •Control
- •Supports
- •Relationships
- •Pay and career prospects
- •The home–work interface
- •The employer’s ‘duty of care’ to provide a healthy working environment Case study: Schmidt
- •The impact of employment legislation
- •Demands
- •Control
- •Support
- •Relationships
- •Further developments in management standards
- •Identifying the main causes of stress in your own working environment
- •Interpreting the results of your questionnaire (Table 2.1)
- •Interpreting individual items
- •Interpretation of subscales
- •Summary and main learning points from Part I
- •About Part II of this book
- •Primary level interventions
- •Secondary level interventions
- •Tertiary level interventions
- •Doing a job analysis
- •Case study: Tony
- •The benefits of doing a job analysis
- •Interventions aimed at reducing the demands of your job Reducing the volume of work
- •Enlarging your job
- •Enriching your job
- •Improving your physical working environment
- •Interventions aimed at increasing the control you have over your job
- •Interventions aimed at increasing the supports you have at work
- •Interventions aimed at improving working relationships
- •Gather evidence
- •Find allies to support you
- •Stand up to the bully
- •Present the bully with the evidence
- •Be prepared for the backlash
- •Take things further if necessary
- •Interventions aimed at clarifying your role at work
- •Interventions aimed at improving the way that change is managed in your workplace
- •Interventions aimed at improving the home–work interface
- •Some tips for negotiating with your employer
- •What to do if your line manager is not receptive to your plight
- •What to do if you do not get the problem resolved within your workplace organization
- •Chapter 4 Living a healthy lifestyle
- •Introduction
- •Living a healthy lifestyle
- •Regular exercise
- •Some tips for doing more exercise
- •A healthy diet
- •Some tips for eating more healthily
- •Monitoring food intake
- •Medication and other drugs
- •Alcohol
- •Some tips for reducing your alcohol intake
- •Caffeine
- •Nicotine
- •Some tips for stopping smoking
- •Sleep and rest
- •Some tips to help you sleep better
- •Summary
- •An exercise
- •Developing your own ‘Healthy Lifestyle Plan’
- •Chapter 5 Developing effective time management skills
- •Introduction
- •Case study: John
- •Case study: Peter
- •What can we learn from the case studies of John and Peter?
- •Developing effective time management skills Plan ahead
- •Be clear about what your goals are
- •Manage your diary effectively
- •Create some ‘prime time’ for yourself
- •Prepare for meetings
- •Choose the best time to tackle difficult tasks
- •Overcome procrastination
- •Case study: Jenny
- •What can we learn from the case study of Jenny?
- •Learn to delegate
- •Stay focused
- •Prioritize tasks
- •Be organized
- •Developing an action plan to manage your time more effectively
- •Chapter 6 Developing assertiveness skills What is assertiveness?
- •Why are some people unassertive?
- •What are the consequences of being unassertive?
- •Case study: Caroline
- •Case study: Rosie
- •How can you become more assertive?
- •Education
- •Aggressive behaviour
- •Submissive behaviour
- •Manipulative behaviour
- •Assertive behaviour
- •Knowing your rights
- •A ‘Bill of Rights’
- •What can we learn from the case study of Caroline?
- •Developing assertive attitudes
- •Developing assertive behaviours
- •Other useful assertiveness techniques to help you
- •Use the ‘broken record’ technique
- •Use fogging
- •Be concise
- •Be specific
- •Clarify
- •Use ‘I’ statements
- •Active listening
- •Aim for a workable compromise
- •Negative assertion
- •Empathic confrontation
- •Self-disclosure
- •How assertive are you?
- •Table 6.1 scores and interpretation Scoring of individual items
- •Interpreting the total scores for the questionnaire
- •Developing an action plan to become more assertive
- •Chapter 7 Developing effective interpersonal skills
- •Introduction
- •What are interpersonal communication skills?
- •Why are some people interpersonally less skilled than others?
- •What are the consequences of being interpersonally unskilled?
- •Developing your own interpersonal skills
- •Body posture and gestures
- •Facial expressions
- •Eye contact
- •Voice projection
- •Personal space
- •Personal appearance and presentation
- •Verbal skills
- •Paraphrasing
- •Reflecting feelings
- •Summarizing
- •Minimal encouragers
- •Asking open questions
- •Immediacy
- •Concreteness
- •The use of small talk
- •Higher level interpersonal skills
- •Developing cognitive skills
- •How interpersonally skilled are you?
- •Developing an action plan aimed at becoming more interpersonally skilled
- •Chapter 8 Developing relaxation skills
- •Introduction
- •Informal relaxation techniques
- •Semi-formal relaxation techniques
- •Massage
- •Releasing your shoulder tension
- •Soothing your scalp
- •Relaxing your eyes
- •Formal relaxation techniques
- •Deep breathing exercises
- •A deep breathing exercise
- •Progressive muscular relaxation
- •A progressive muscular relaxation exercise
- •A brief relaxation exercise for the neck and shoulders
- •Mental relaxation techniques
- •Meditation
- •Mindfulness
- •Mental refocusing
- •Visual imagery
- •Summary and main learning points
- •Chapter 9 Changing the way you relate to your work
- •Introduction
- •Understanding the links between thoughts, feelings, behaviours and bodily reactions
- •The cat vignette exercise
- •Identifying unhelpful patterns of thinking
- •Labelling dysfunctional thinking styles
- •Catastrophic thinking
- •Jumping to conclusions and mind reading
- •Overgeneralization
- •Magnification
- •Minimization
- •Personalization
- •Black and white thinking
- •‘Should’ and ‘must’ statements
- •Challenging dysfunctional patterns of thinking
- •Examining the evidence
- •Exploring the alternatives
- •Identifying advantages and disadvantages
- •The friend technique
- •Checking it out
- •Estimating probabilities
- •Reattributing meaning
- •Conducting behavioural experiments
- •Case study: Sarah
- •Challenging work dysfunctions
- •Challenging patterns of over-commitment Modifying perfectionism
- •Modifying workaholism
- •Challenging patterns of under-commitment Modifying underachievement
- •Modifying procrastination
- •Summary
- •Chapter 10 Overcoming stress syndromes
- •Introduction
- •Treating anxiety syndromes
- •Performance anxiety
- •Case study: Philip
- •Treating Philip’s performance anxiety
- •What can we learn from the case study of Philip?
- •Panic attacks
- •Case study: Andrew
- •Treating Andrew’s panic attacks
- •Phobic avoidance
- •Treating phobic avoidance
- •Case study: Maxine
- •Treating the depression syndrome
- •Challenging depressive thinking
- •Challenging unhelpful behaviours
- •Activity scheduling
- •Conducting behavioural experiments
- •A note on the burnout syndrome
- •Treating burnout syndrome
- •Treating the hostility syndrome
- •Summary
- •The eight stages of a self-help plan
- •Make a problem list
- •Prioritize your problems
- •Set your goals
- •Establish the criteria of success
- •Plan your interventions
- •Develop a self-help treatment plan
- •Monitor and review your progress
- •Prevent relapse
- •Case study: Helen
- •Making a problem list and prioritizing the problems
- •Setting the goals and establishing the criteria of success
- •Comfort eating and weight gain
- •Avoidance
- •Procrastination
- •Unassertiveness
- •Anxiety
- •Poor self-image
- •Planning the interventions
- •Interventions for comfort eating and weight gain
- •Interventions for avoidance
- •Interventions for procrastination
- •Interventions for unassertiveness
- •Interventions for anxiety
- •Interventions for poor self-image
- •Developing a self-help treatment plan
- •Monitoring and reviewing progress
- •Summary
- •Chapter 12 Summary and conclusions
- •Appendix Useful books and contacts
Overcoming Your Workplace Stress
Occupational stress affects millions of people every year and is not only costly to the individual – in terms of their mental and physical health – but also results in major costs for organizations due to workplace absence and loss of productivity. This cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) based self-help guide will equip the user with the necessary tools and techniques to manage work related stress more effectively.
Divided into three parts, this book will help you to:
• understand occupational stress
• learn about a range of methods to reduce stress levels
• develop your own self-help plan.
Overcoming Your Workplace Stress is written in a straightforward, easy-to-follow style, allowing the reader to develop the necessary skills to become their own therapist.
Martin R. Bamber is a consultant clinical psychologist, Professional Head of Psychological Therapies for North Yorkshire and York NHS Primary Care Trust and Director of MRB Clinical Psychology Services Ltd, a private practice based in York, UK. He is also author of CBT for Occupational Stress in Health Professionals (Routledge).
Overcoming Your Workplace Stress
A CBT-based self-help guide
Martin r. Bamber
First published 2011 by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
© 2011 Martin R. Bamber
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bamber, Martin R. Overcoming your workplace stress : a CBT-based self-help guide / Martin R. Bamber. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 978-0-415-55661-3 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-415-67178-1 (pbk.) 1. Stress (Psychology) 2. Job stress. 3. Stress management— Handbook, manuals, etc. 4. Cognitive therapy—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Title. BF575.S75B295 2011 158.7′2—dc22 2010050493
ISBN: 978–0–415–55661–3 (hbk)
ISBN: 978–0–415–67178–1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978–0–203–81422–2 (ebk)
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall Paperback cover design by Andrew Ward
This book is dedicated to my sister Jackie, who tragically lost a four year battle against cancer on 13 September 2010. You were a wonderful sister, Jackie, and you are missed so much by us all. May you rest in peace. It is also dedicated to my mother Barbara and her partner Gordon, who devoted much of their time to caring for Jackie during her illness.
Also to my brother Paul and my other sister Shirley, who have always shown their love and support for me over the years, and good old ‘Uncle Peter’, who has been an admirable role model for me throughout my formative years and provided the illustrations in Chapter 6 of this book.
Contents
List of Figures and tables About the author Preface Acknowledgements PART I. Understanding occupational stress 1.Occupational stress and its consequences 2.Identifying the causes of your occupational stress PART II. Interventions for occupational stress 3.Primary level interventions aimed at improving your work environment 4.Living a healthy lifestyle 5.Developing effective time management skills 6.Developing assertiveness skills 7.Developing effective interpersonal skills 8.Developing relaxation skills 9.Changing the way you relate to your work 10.Overcoming stress syndromes PART III. Pulling it all together 11.Developing a self-help plan 12.Summary and conclusions Appendix. Useful books and contacts Index Figures and tables
Figures
1.1The stress–performance curve. 1.2Diagrammatic representation of the structure and function of the autonomic nervous system. 2.1The transactional model of occupational stress 4.1Calorie equation 6.1The submissiveness–aggressiveness continuum 6.2An aggressive interaction 6.3A submissive interaction 6.4A manipulative interaction 6.5An assertive interaction 8.1The stress–relaxation continuum 10.1The panic cycle 11.1A decision making tree Tables
1.1A stress quiz* 1.2A stress checklist* 2.1Questionnaire to identify the main sources of stress in your work environment* 2.2Key to questionnaire 2.3Mean ratings for each subscale 4.1A sample taken from a food diary 4.2Checklist of lifestyle habits* 5.1Grid for prioritizing tasks 5.2John’s action plan for managing his time more effectively 6.1An assertiveness questionnaire* 7.1Checklist of interpersonal skills* 9.1Example of a typical thoughts diary* 9.2The two column technique for examining the evidence* 9.3The two column technique for identifying advantages and disadvantages* 9.4An example of Sarah’s thoughts diary 10.1A systematic desensitization hierarchy for Maxine 11.1A ‘self-help’ treatment plan* 11.2Helen’s treatment plan
* Tables 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, 4.2, 6.1, 7.1, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 and 11.1 are available to view and print from the following website: www.routledgementalhealth.com/9780415671781