Work-related problems problems and coping strategies - Importance of psychotherapy

Abstract

he study presented in this paper deals with work-related problems (subjective significance of work and problems occurring at the workplace, factors influencing satisfaction with work, attribution of physical and/or mental conditions to working conditions, etc.) as well as with strategies for coping with them, particularly the role to be played by psychotherapy in this process. It becomes clear that the capacity of psychotherapy to solve work-related problems or to help people cope with a loss of job is perceived as being very limited. Having said this, there is no denying the fact that especially people experiencing problems at work suffer from a variety of disturbances/symptoms the treatment of which obviously falls within the purview of psychotherapists. What makes matters difficult is that many of those concerned are quite suspicious of almost any type of professional help, including psychotherapy. Dealing with acute cases directly at the workplace seems unrealistic. Rather, emphasis should be placed on job enrichment, i.e. complementing psychotherapeutic work by in-house coaching in an effort to achieve prevention and to offer successful counselling for targeted treatment strategies. Psychotherapists should increasingly focus on their core competencies in a changing professional world and on the problems emanating from these changes. New challenges such as shareholder value vs. human resources development could be tackled by means of psychotherapy.

Keywords:
Work-related problems, coping, psychotherapy.