1st Edition

CBT for Occupational Stress in Health Professionals Introducing a Schema-Focused Approach

By Martin R. Bamber Copyright 2006
    280 Pages 23 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    280 Pages 23 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The costs of occupational stress in terms of sickness absence, ill-health-related retirement, litigation and lost productivity are increasing, putting strain on economies across the world. The fact that health care work is inherently more stressful than many other occupations makes it vital that the problem of occupational stress among health professionals is addressed.

    CBT for Occupational Stress in Health Professionals goes beyond simply defining the problem and fills a gap in the current literature by providing clear and concise individual treatment interventions. In three parts, the book covers:

    • an overview of stress in the occupational context
    • the standard CBT approach to assessment, formulation and treatment
    • a new schema-focused approach to treating occupational stress.

    The schema-focused approach presented here provides powerful tools for treating a range of work-related problems for which standard CBT approaches are ineffective. Case studies are presented throughout the book to illustrate the therapeutic approaches described.

    This book will be of huge benefit to clinical and organizational psychologists, psychiatrists, mental health workers, counsellors and anyone else involved in treating occupational stress. It will also have much to offer those who manage people suffering from stress, human resource workers and those who are experiencing work-related stress.

    Part I: Introduction. Defining and Conceptualizing Stress. A Cognitive Behavioural Model of Occupational Stress. Part II: Standard Interventions for Occupational Stress. Assessment and Treatment Strategies for Occupational Stress. Organizational Strategies for Managing Stress at Work. Secondary Level Cognitive and Behavioural Interventions for Normative Levels of Stress. Tertiary Level Cognitive Behavioural Interventions for Work-related Anxiety. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Other Work-related Anxiety Syndromes. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Work-related Depression and Other Stress Syndromes. Theresa: A Case of Performance Anxiety. Patrick: A Case of Depression Linked to Perfectionism. Colin: A Case of Health Anxiety. Part III: A Schema-focused Approach to Occupational Stress. A Schema-focused Model of Occupational Stress. Work Dysfunctions and Their Associated Early Maladaptive Schemata and Coping Styles. A Schema-focused Approach to Treating Work Dysfunctions. Conceptualizing and Treating a Case of Workaholism and Burnout Using the Schema-focused Approach. Occupation as Re-enactment: Adaptive or Maladaptive? Discussion and Conclusions.

    Biography

    Martin R. Bamber is a chartered consultant clinical psychologist. He presently holds the post of Head of the Primary Care and Adult Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Sections of Selby and York NHS Primary Care Trust Psychological Therapies Department. He is also a teaching fellow at the University of York and is founder and Director of MRB Clinical Psychology Services, a private practice based in York.

    "In this ground-breaking book... Martin Bamber provides a concise account of individual treatment interventions using cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)."

    "This text will be a valuable resource to occupational health nurses and anyone involved in treating occupational stress. It will also be an informative read for those researcher and senior managers who continue to support the use of clinical supervision as a means of reducing occupational stress in nurses." - Nursing Standard

    "...a useful volume that deminstrates the essential role of health psychology in the workplace." - APA Review of Books, PsycCRITIQUES, Contemporary Psychology