Therapy at Work

The success of any company lies with it’s work force, and so it stands to reason that looking after your employees mental health and well-being is essential for continual growth and success. Providing therapy at work is a smart move.

More than a smart move, it’s an employers duty of care. By law, an employer is under a duty to ensure the health, safety and welfare of their workforce, so far as is reasonably practicable, including their mental wellbeing. (source: https://www.davidsonmorris.com/employers-duty-of-care-stress/)

Thankfully, we are beginning to see workplace therapy offered to employees at most every major employer across the country, seen as a vital service to enhance productivity and support mental health in the workplace. The reason companies are acknowledging and embracing therapy at work is directly related to the lifestyle and needs of todays employees.

Technology is accelerating to such a degree that our work lives are no longer confined to office hours. Work travels home with us, we take calls, answer messages and emails around the clock. Work can show up at the dinner table, at the weekend, on holiday or in bed at night when we’re trying to get to sleep.

While the ability and opportunity to work from home, or anywhere for that matter, can be a good thing, it can also blur the line between work life and home life causing stress, burnout and depression.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to wait until you have a problem to go into therapy, therapy is also preventative care. In the same way as you would visit the dentist, have an annual health check, keep an eye on your diet or your weight, go to the gym, and eat well to stay healthy all to prevent illness or disease.

Many companies and most corporations offer health insurance as part of an employees package. A good insurance policy will provide at least some type of therapeutic or mental health cover…. after the event. As the old saying goes; “Prevention is better than cure.” Preventing and pre-empting mental health problems is the smart approach to stopping problems from developing or getting worse.

Regardless of the type of work you do, the health of your mind is vital. Whether your jog requires physical or mental labour, your brain will be putting in some overtime, making decisions, following instruction

or protocol, and thinking about the next move, the future, and the next days work. Surely it makes sense for employers to offer preventive care for mental wellness too.

Savvy businesses know they need to respond to the strain modern life puts on high-performing employees and that providing therapy at work can completely transform the face of your business. And it makes financial sense.

According to the HSE 822,000 workers suffered from work-related stress, depression or anxiety (new or long-standing) in 2020/21. It was bad enough before the pandemic where stats show 526,000 workers suffered work-related stress, depression or anxiety in 2016/17 with 12.5 million working days lost as a direct result.

Stress and anxiety are areas where Clinical Hypnotherapy is extremely effective.

In hypnotherapy we use breathing techniques to activate the parasympathetic nervous system – our ‘Rest and Digest’ response, we use guided imagery to help re-frame and redirect negative thoughts, beliefs and expectations transforming fears and vulnerabilities into powerful tools.

Hypnosis allows you to focus intently on a specific problem and its resolution while maintaining a comfortable state of physical relaxation. In this state of deep relaxation, you can regain control over the body’s physical response to stress rather than the body going into its default mode of high alert. Clients find their new stress response enables them to think clearly, deal with situations calmly and effectively and make precise and defined decisions.

I have been working in Corporate Stress Management for over 20 years, providing in-house therapy, out of office therapy at my clinic in Harley Street and online therapy for individuals and groups.