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Press Release

Workplace counselling works!

A major new study by Professor John McLeod of the University of Abertay, Dundee, shows that counselling can reduce levels of stress in the workplace by more than 50 per cent. Professor McLeod says that after Workplace Counselling:

"Levels of work-related symptoms return to the normal range for more than half of all clients".
Levels of sickness and absence also fall by between 25-50% (in one 1998 study by Professor Cary Cooper of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, the rates of sickness/absence actually fell by an average of 60 per cent).
Nor is it just stress. Workplace counselling is effective in relieving the symptoms of both anxiety and depression.
The majority of those who use workplace counselling say they are "highly satisfied" with it.
The same number would use the service again (if necessary) and would recommend it to their colleagues.
Stress needs defining - a life without any stress is actually called death! But 'overstress' is demonstrably destructive.
"People who need workplace counselling show signs of psychological distress equivalent to that found in out-patient psychiatric hospitals" (Professor McLeod).
Work-related anxiety will not go away until we learn how to respond to it differently. Counselling helps people respond differently and quickly.
As a result, levels of job commitment and satisfaction also rise.
And levels of substance abuse are reduced.
All styles of counselling turn out to be helpful. It is more important to see a well-trained practitioner than opt for one particular approach.
Successful results can be achieved after as little as 3-8 sessions of counselling, says this report.
and workplace counselling always covers its financial costs. The BACP Survey confirms other up-to-date findings:
A survey last year of 200 senior managers for business telecoms group Energis found over 25% suffered daily stress attacks.
A recent report from the TUC said that yet again Britain's shop floor workers are "stressed out".
New research from The Industrial Society cites stress as the Number One health and safety issue of our time.
When large organisations sing the same song we should all take notice.
In fact, undiagnosed anxiety conditions are now causing more sickness/absence from work than traditional complaints like backache, hangovers and stomach upset
Psychologist, Dr Michael Reddy, Chairman of ICAS, Britain's leading supplier of Employee Workplace Programmes, says: "Over-stress is a time-bomb ticking away in the basement of UK Plc".
It is not just a question of shopfloor versus management as the TUC suggests. In this cost-and-corner-cutting culture we are all in the stress firing line.
Managers who work 16-hour days are as misguided as lorry drivers who fall asleep at the wheel.
Either we change the culture which gives employees and bosses the longest working hours in Europe or Britain will break down. We need to persuade every working person that stress actually kills - after it has first stolen your quality of life. In 1851, John Ruskin said: "In order that people may be happy in their work, these three things are needed: they must be fit for it; they must not do too much of it; and they must have a sense of success in it". His words are just as true today. "This report by Professor McLeod not only demonstrates the positive emotional outcomes but also makes a first-rate business case. For every $1 spent through Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) on workplace counselling - between $6-10 was being saved for our Company with the workforce receiving the direct benefit. I believe that we are a far more efficient organisation with counselling in place through the use of EAP" - Dr Mike Doig, Medical Director Chevron (Europe); Member of the UK Offshore Health Advisory Committee. "However much we try to minimise sources of stress in the workplace and however much we work to improve employees' resilience to pressure, we cannot influence what happens to our people outside the workplace and we have to acknowledge that there will always be some people who will need help. The provision of counselling services through an Employee Assistance Programme ensures that our staff always has somewhere to turn when life's pressures start to build up. Whether the primary source of stress lies within or outside the workplace, its early resolution will facilitate a rapid return to productivity by removing the distraction and worry caused by the unresolved problem". Dr Marian Roden, Senior Medical Director, Corporate Health Management, SmithKline Beecham, UK

Technical note: the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy report on 'Counselling in the Workplace - The Facts' by Professor John McLeod of the University of Abertay, Dundee, examines over 80 separate studies, published and unpublished, spanning a period between 1954 and 2000 reflecting the experiences of more than 10,000 clients who have made use of workplace counselling.

The 108 page report can be obtained from BACP.

For further information contact:
Phillip Hodson 020 7794 2838, email phillip@philliphodson.co.uk or Gladeana McMahon, 020 8852 4854 email gladeana@dircon.co.uk