Occupational Health Psychology Services

Employers have a 'duty of care' to their staff. This means they must do all they reasonably can to support their employees' health, safety and wellbeing. This includes:

making sure the working environment is safe
protecting staff from discrimination
carrying out risk assessment

Employers must treat mental and physical health as equally important.

UK Business and Mental Health

17.1 million working days were lost in the UK in 2022/23 due to poor mental health, according to a recent report by The Health and Safety Executive, with the average employee taking 19.6 days of sick leave for stress, depression or anxiety.

Evidence suggests that 12.7% of all sickness absence days in the UK can be attributed to mental health conditions.

Women in full-time employment are nearly twice as likely to have a common mental health problem as full-time employed men (19.8% vs 10.9%).

A recent survey, conducted by XpertHR in partnership with Executive Networks, revealed that the main reason for staff turnover was stress and burnout (20 per cent). Understanding the reasons for someone being stressed in their role and addressing those reasons is vitally important in managing staff welfare, providing a safe and nurturing environment for employees and ensuring previously productive staff once again excell in their role.

It is estimated that to replace a salaried employee it can cost, on average, between 6-9 months’ salary. This covers recruitment costs, training expenses relating to the new employee, and salary.

For high-turnover, low-paying jobs, expect to pay around 16% of the employees salary to replace them.
For mid-range positions, expect to pay around 20% of the employee’s salary to replace them.
For executive positions, expect to pay up to 213% of the employee’s salary to replace them.

Businesses should also expect costs due to downtime between employees, and whilst the new employee gets up to speed.

What I do

Most of us go through difficulties at times and providing the right targeted support at the right time can enable us to manage and overcome our problems. As an employee, we want to find a job pleasurable and fulfilling. As an employer, we want our staff to enjoy their work and perform to the best of their ability. I can help you and your staff achieve your aims.

I work with organisations and their employees to understand if and how work has affected an employee and what steps can be taken to resolve this. I provide a range of options including assessment, therapy and coaching.

Psychological Reports

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I can help inform your decisions about how best to support a member of staff. You provide me with questions you would like me to answer with regards to your employee. For example, you may want to know if the employee has a mental health diagnosis and how this can best be managed. Additionally, you might want to know when they are likely to return to work and what support they might need.

I will generally meet the employee for a discussion and ask them to complete some questionnaires. On the basis of this discussion, I will provide a comprehensive report that details my findings including history, diagnosis, conclusions and recommendations.

Psychological Therapy

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I provide psychological therapy to target the specific issues the employee is having difficulties with. If the employee is off work, I address the reasons for their absence and set realistic goals for their return.

If an employee is currently working, I help to keep them at work through helping them better manage their current difficulties. This may include liaising with Occupational Health to allow for reasonable adjustments while the employee is in therapy.

I can also continue to provide therapy and/or coaching to employees after their return to work in order to reduce the risk of relapse.

Return To Work

I work alongside Occupational Health, Human Resources and management to help employees make a safe return to work after time off with a psychological issue. I will advise on best practice with regards to easing an employee back into the workplace including providing reasonable temporary or permanent adjustments.

You have an EAP - why come to me ?

As a Chartered Counselling Psychologist and a Chartered Coaching Psychologist, I am both a therapist and a qualified coach.

Mainly I work with senior staff who are underperforming and/or off work due to stress related issues. By the time I get to see staff, they are often very depressed and see themselves as failures. My job is to pick them up, bring up their mood, reduce their anxiety and stress levels and support their return to work.

Then I go one step further. I coach them so that they don't go through the experience again. We help them consider the workplace situations that led to their stress and help them make significant changes to their working style. This benefits them and their employers. The company has a strong leader back at the helm. The leader now has a sustainable way of working. That means they are highly unlikely to experience the same levels of stress at work again.

The Benefits

As a psychologist, I evidence-base my work. The following figures refer to the Occupational Health Therapy Services I provide to one of our clients:

88% staff off sick with stress or similar issues at point of referral successfully returned to work and are doing well in their role.
Outcome studies show that over 96% of staff referred showed an improvement in their mental health at the end of therapy/coaching. The levels of stress, anxiety and mood of 85% of staff was within the “normal” range.

What type of therapy referrals do I take?

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The majority of staff I see are in senior positions in your organisation. The types of problems I help staff manage are:

Workload issues. Where a member of staff has become overloaded, taking work home with them, never switching off, becoming increasingly stressed. Ultimately displaying a dramatic fall in their performance. Consequences are potential burn-out with severe impact on the ability of the directorate to deliver services where affected staff are in senior or other key positions.
A combination of work pressures and home circumstances leading to a drop in mood and significant stress.
Management of mental health issues such as anxiety disorder or obsessional compulsive disorder that regularly impact on staff’s ability to work effectively in their role.
Staff going through or who have gone through a disciplinary process. Particularly where the disciplinary has led to a demotion or redeployment. Also, other staff involved in the disciplinary, e.g. those who have been asked to make statements.
Employees going through a grievance process, particularly those who are continuing to work with colleagues involved in the grievance.
Personnel affected by the suicide of a colleague.
Staff at risk of suicide or self harm or who have tried to kill or otherwise harm themselves.
Conflict management and performance management.

Who I do not see

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I do not provide a 6 session intervention counselling service such as might be provided by your EAP service. For example I tend not to see people who need someone to talk to about a relatively non-complex situation.
I would generally not offer support for staff affected by multiple traumas. I would, however, support staff affected by single trauma situations such as an unexpected death in the workplace
Staff with drug or alcohol issues where this is the primary issue of concern
Staff who require mediation services.

I would still, however, be happy to talk through with you any staff issues, and help you signpost your staff to the best resources.

What else can I help with ?

I also provide consultative support for managers with regards to any issues with staff and will provide a psychological assessment of staff for Occupational Health purposes.

Any other requirements, simply ask me and I will see what I can do.