In this issue
Into the future
How will we work in the future? And what are the implications for employee wellbeing and the workplace counsellor? Nicola Banning reports
Trauma counselling in China
Trauma counselling is still a new concept in China and as it develops it needs to take into account the unique history and culture of the Chinese people, say Xiaoping Zhu, Zhen Wang and Tony Buon
It’s ‘complex’
Approaching workplace bullying from a systems thinking perspective could help develop a more holistic understanding, suggests Damian Stoupe
SAD at work?
Nicola Banning considers ways that clients, counsellors and organisations can manage the impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder
What employers want
What factors motivate employers to engage and retain a counselling service? Trainee counsellor and former HR
practitioner Ruth Goldwater applies a dual perspective
Inside the organisation
Nicola Banning talks to Helen Orr, Staff Support Advisor at Tayside Police
From the chair
Articles from this issue are not yet available online. Divisional members and subscribers can download the pdf from the Counselling at Work archive.
First words
Change happens, as they say, and the workplace is no exception to this maxim. In this issue, we include several examples of change taking place and impacting on the working population, both at home and abroad.
The advance of technology has implications for all of us, wherever we work, and whether we be therapist or client. Within a broad-ranging article, technology is one area of fast-paced change explored by Nicola Banning as she asks the intriguing question: how will we work in the future? As our work locations become less critical and our methods of communication more virtual, and as career patterns have to adapt to fit changing economic climates, Nicola considers the implications this may have for both counsellor and client, and how workplace counsellors can be best placed to respond.
From an international perspective, Tony Buon, with fellow authors Xiaoping Zhu and Zhen Wang, provide a fascinating insight into the evolving landscape of trauma counselling within China, a country which is currently going through immense social change. They describe how, exposed to the influence of Western culture, the way Chinese people express their emotions is changing; and they urge that, as trauma counselling continues to develop within this environment, it must take care to respect and integrate the unique culture of the Chinese people.
As we brace for the ‘dark days of winter’, the potential influence of the changing seasons is discussed, specifically the condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Brought on by lessening levels of sunlight as the days grow shorter, it can produce symptoms of ‘the blues’ in some people. This article looks at ways that clients and counsellors alike can manage the impact of SAD and shows how one staff counselling service is taking a proactive approach.
Also in this issue, Ruth Goldwater, a former HR practitioner currently in training as a counsellor, shares the findings of her research, which shed interesting light on the reasons why employers choose to engage and retain a counselling service. Workplace bullying is the subject of Damian Stoupe’s thought-provoking perspective, in which he suggests that counsellors could support organisations in developing alternative approaches to the problem. While, in the latest ‘Inside the organisation’ interview, Helen Orr provides a window into her working world as Staff Support Advisor at Tayside Police. And, as BACP launches a second series of Professional Development Days, there is a preview of the content of three topics, selected for their potential interest to workplace counsellors.
Finally, I would like to join BACP Workplace Chair, Jean Crispin, in welcoming Nicola Banning as the new editor of Counselling at Work. Nicola, whose name you may recognise, as she is a current member of the BACP Workplace executive, will be taking the helm of the journal from the next issue. We are delighted to have her on board.
Jacqui Gray
Acting editor