On Friday 12th of July, we were delighted to be joined by Dr Fraser Smith for an informative session on managing stress and avoiding burnout in the workplace. At Livingston James Group, we run a series of Friday morning ‘Knowledge Academy’ sessions aimed at bringing awareness to and debating topics affecting colleagues and the business landscape, as well as cultivating a culture of continuous learning and development. Consultant, Rachel Sim, discusses highlights from the session with Dr Fraser Smith below.
Dr Fraser Smith is a Clinical Director at MAPP Psychology. I initially met Fraser at Glasgow Tech Week where he delivered a talk on unveiling the mental health epidemic in tech, and he kindly offered to run a session with Livingston James Group about stress and burnout. We are all likely to face mental health challenges throughout our lives, and whilst stress can be productive and is often unavoidable, if it is not understood and managed appropriately (particularly in the work environment) it can have significant detrimental effects on employees’ health and business performance.
MAPP Psychology is a modern psychology practice focused on making it simple to access the highest standards of therapy on the market. They specialise in giving people the tools they need to draw their own map and navigate towards a happier, healthier life. At MAPP Psychology the team have years of experience making a positive difference to people dealing with a vast range of symptoms, including anxiety, depression, grief and stress.
Fraser has a doctorate in Counselling Psychology, is an NLP practitioner and Member of HCPC and BPS. Fraser is a recognised leader in the field of men’s mental health (an area of which we are all becoming increasingly aware) but works with clients from all backgrounds. As well as their one-to-one sessions, MAPP Psychology also offer corporate wellbeing programmes and support, and it was great to have Fraser join us to run a company-wide session.
The session focused on understanding the difference between acute and chronic stress. In general, stress is an incident where your body has a chemical reaction to feeling an increased demand or pressure, wherein you feel a perceived level of difficulty with the task you have to complete or a situation you are in, and question your competency to manage it. Acute stress occurs when we have an immediate response to this type of situation and with an increased rush of adrenaline, our body adapts to be able to cope with it.
On the other hand, chronic stress occurs when we have prolonged exposure to stress which can be far more challenging to manage and is detrimental to our wellbeing if not tackled promptly. With ineffective means of coping, chronic stress will result in burnout, a weakened immune system, difficulties sleeping and more. Therefore, it is key to learn to manage stress before it becomes chronic to prevent ill health.
The session went on to discuss practical steps we can implement in the workplace to reduce employee stress, for example setting clear boundaries and expectations so employees can switch off, creating differentiation from work and home / life environments and implementing reflective practises so employees can better identify their strengths and accomplishments.
It was fantastic to come away from the session with practical takeaways which we can implement both within the Livingston James Group and within our own lives.
If you are interested in understanding more about MAPP Psychology’s range of services, visit their website.
For a discussion about developing your technology leadership team, or for a confidential career discussion, contact [email protected].
