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    Practical Solutions for Job Stress
    Practical Solutions for Job Stress
    Practical Solutions for Job Stress
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    Practical Solutions for Job Stress

    By Jack Boghosian Ph.D.

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    About this ebook

    Practical Solutions for Job Stress offers a problem-solving approach to the most common workplace dilemmas confronting people daily. Having treated hundreds of individuals with job stress, Dr. Jack Boghosian explains how to handle troublesome behavior and malfunctioning workplace systems by finding ways to hold people accountable for what they say and do. Youll also learn how to change distorted beliefs that lead to ineffective coping. By using the oral and written communication strategies outlined by Dr. Boghosian, you can show co-workers and supervisors how workplace problemsimpair your job performance, and how specific changes can improve things. Learning to effectively deal with manipulation by others will help you replace self-doubt with self-respect.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateMar 7, 2005
    ISBN9781463478919
    Practical Solutions for Job Stress
    Author

    Jack Boghosian Ph.D.

    Dr. Jack Boghosian is a licensed clinical psychologist practicing in southern California since 1982. He received his bachelors degree in psychology from UCLA and his masters and doctoral degrees from the Graduate School of Psychology at Fuller Seminary. He has extensive experience in individual and group psychotherapy for depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders and stress management. In 1995 he developed a program to help people disabled by work-related stress recuperate, improve their coping skills and return to their jobs, and he continues to direct that program. He has also been an organizational consultant.

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      Book preview

      Practical Solutions for Job Stress - Jack Boghosian Ph.D.

      © 2005 Jack Boghosian, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 03/03/05

      ISBN: 1-4208-2175-X (sc)

      ISBN: 9781463478919 (ebk)

      Printed in the United States of America

      Bloomington, Indiana

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Part One:

      Understanding Stress in a Practical Way

      Stress and Stressors

      The Stress Emotions: Anger and Anxiety

      Stress Symptoms

      Part Two:

      Physical and Psychological Preparation for Effective Coping

      Cued Self-Calming Through

      Tense-Release Muscle Relaxation

      Improving Your Psychological Self-Care

      Counteracting Distorted Beliefs

      Assertive Communication: An Essential Skill

      Part Three:

      Developing Better Ways of Handling Workplace Problems

      Recognizing Faulty Coping Strategies

      Describing Workplace Problems in

      Ways That Lead to Solutions

      Putting It In Writing:

      The Importance of Documentation for Accountability

      Common Types of Workplace Stress Problems and

      Strategies for Possible Solutions

      Other Resources for Coping

      Final Comments

      About The Author

      Introduction

      I’ve been in practice as a clinical psychologist since 1982, and one of my specializations has been stress management. Since 1995, I’ve directed a treatment program for people temporarily disabled by work-related stress, a program that enables them to recuperate, improve their coping skills and return to their jobs as soon as they can. This book largely reflects my experiences treating approximately 1,500 patients in that program.

      Over the years, my patients have consistently told me that they wished this information had been available to them long before their stress became unbearable. Virtually all of my patients take pride in the jobs they do, but they don’t like the conditions under which they have to do those jobs. I’ve written this book for the vast number of people who are struggling to handle job stress but who are not (yet) disabled by their symptoms. The material is designed to help such people develop better ways of handling their workplace stress problems.

      In dealing with the workplace problems faced by a wide variety of individuals in a wide variety of occupations, certain types of issues repeatedly arose. I’ve made the assumption that the work stress problems most commonly encountered by my patients are probably the same as those most often encountered by working people in general—people like you.

      •

      I’ve tried to make this book as practical as possible, a sort of survival guide for workplace stress. Although much more could be said about each of the issues and subjects covered, I’ve made the assumption that anyone who needs this book would want a concise manual, not an encyclopedia.

      My approach to workplace stress management deals with interpersonal problems and system problems, rather than with personalities. That is, I try to help employees change counterproductive patterns of behavior with other people at work and change the way they function within the larger workplace system. Workplace problems usually involve more than what occurs between you and one particular difficult person.

      I’ve placed a heavy emphasis on communication in this book for two reasons. First, virtually all workplace problems are the result of faulty communication, which takes many forms. Second, the most important and powerful coping tool you have is your ability to communicate clearly and effectively with other people. In fact, the more clearly you communicate, the more clearly you think, and vice versa. The reason that communication problems are often so difficult is not only because we misunderstand what others say and do, but also because we assume what’s going on with other people even when they don’t say or do anything. I offer many specific suggestions, especially when it comes to communicating with others. In fact, if it seems at times like I’m putting words in your mouth, it’s because that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’d rather provide you with too many specific examples than provide you with too few. You’re free to use the examples as they’re written, alter them to express the basic idea in your own words, or use something entirely different.

      Keep in mind, though, that the main purpose of the communication skills I discuss is to help you cope with difficult people and difficult situations. The goal here is solving workplace problems, or simply surviving your workplace stress—not becoming best friends with a troublesome supervisor or coworker, or single-handedly transforming your job (or your entire company) into an ideal one.

      •

      Workplace stress is unique. There certainly are other types and sources of stress, like stress involving a personal relationship problem (with a spouse, a family member or a friend), a serious or chronic medical problem or a financial problem. However, workplace problems often involve all three of these types of stress. After all, workplace stress usually involves problems in relationships with supervisors and/or co-workers. In addition, workplace stress often leads to physical symptoms and sometimes aggravates pre-existing medical conditions. Furthermore, workplace stress has financial implications if you’re dependent on the income from a job and you’re afraid you’ll either lose it or you might have to leave it. Finally, though you can avoid some types of stress, you have to face your workplace every day, making it easy to feel trapped and helpless.

      The main factor that makes work-related stress unique is interpersonal power. That is, the levels of authority in the workplace create a structure that gives many difficult experiences much more impact than they would have in a family or other social group. Difficult behavior by a supervisor is much tougher to handle than the same behavior from a co-worker, and challenging the unreasonable decisions or misguided policies made by your superiors usually brings consequences you don’t experience when you ignore a friend or relative. At the same time, there’s no substitute for the benefits of authority used wisely. The strategies for coping with workplace problems that I offer in this book deal not with power and authority per se, but with accountability.

      •

      In this book I won’t advise you to change jobs. Anyone can tell you, Just quit, but resigning is not an easy matter. It’s a major decision, even in a good economy, unless something better suddenly becomes available. It’s not a simple matter either. Some people who should change jobs don’t, either because they have unreasonable fears of being unable to find other work or because they have a distorted sense of loyalty to their current job. On the other hand, some people who do change jobs take various misguided attitudes and behavioral tendencies with them which help recreate similar problems on the next job.

      What I will do in this book is help you identify any of your own patterns of thinking and behaving that have led you to respond to problems in ways that have contributed significantly to the stressfulness of your job. Once you replace such patterns with more reasonable ones, your way of viewing your workplace problems will change and various possible solutions will become more apparent.

      •

      This book is not a substitute for individual psychotherapy, although the two complement each other very well. For one thing, the material in the book can help you deal with job stress problems even if you find that you also need to work with a therapist on some deeper personal issues. Actually, people often find that the material in this book enables them to clarify just what those personal issues are for which they might need a psychotherapist’s help. You can certainly be struggling with a great deal of stress without necessarily having any diagnosable psychiatric disorder. However, if anything you read in this book causes you concern about your own psychological or physical well-being, consult with a qualified mental healthcare provider.

      Part One:

      Understanding Stress in a Practical Way

      People use the term stress all the time, but often loosely and imprecisely, so let’s start by forming a clear definition of it. By understanding a few simple principles, this everyday term can become much more meaningful and useful.

      Stress and Stressors

      To think as clearly as possible about stress, it’s crucial to understand the difference between stress and stressors. People face various kinds of difficult events and situations, like relationship problems, financial dilemmas, changes or upheaval on the job, illnesses, etc. Psychologists call such events and situations stressors, whereas the term stress is used to refer to the impact that stressors have upon a person. This distinction explains how several people all experiencing the same stressor can each have a different reaction and response to it. The reason for these differences is that each individual brings something to the event or situation, something within himself/herself.

      As difficult as various events, people and situations can be, most of our stress comes from the ways we respond to them. For example, imagine a large office with many people each working at his/her desk. One person is playing a small radio. The music isn’t blaring, but it’s distracting. Upon hearing the music, one person instantly thinks, "I can’t work like this. How selfish and rude can you get? I don’t know about these other people, but I’m here to work! They can’t do this to me!" These thoughts would immediately trigger the emotional state of anger. However, another person’s thoughts might be, Uh-oh, I won’t be able to concentrate with this noise, so I’ll make mistakes on this report, and my boss will be upset, and this may be the excuse he needs to fire me, and then I won’t find another job, and I’ll be on the street, homeless! These thoughts would immediately trigger the emotional state of anxiety.

      At this point we can further clarify that stress problems involve anger and anxiety, as depicted in the two examples just given. Although other emotions can certainly

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