Difficulties at work and health problems

Initial situation

Ms A. and her husband are both employed and have two children of pre-school age. Ms A. returned to work six months ago after maternity leave. She feels increasingly overwhelmed and realises that she underestimated the double burden. She is plagued by feelings of guilt towards her employer, her children, her partner and her neglected circle of friends.

Ms A. contacts Proitera in the hope that the company's social counselling service can help her overcome her exhaustion so that she can meet all her commitments moving forward.

Proitera's intervention

In the initial consultation, Ms A. describes herself as burnt out and lacking in energy. She has trouble sleeping and finds it difficult to eat a balanced diet. However, taking sick leave due to exhaustion is out of the question and reducing her working hours is not possible for financial reasons.

Ms A. agrees to see a doctor. Proitera considers this a necessary step at the start of coun-selling in order to assess the person's ability to work and ensure their performance and concentration in the workplace.

After the medical examinations, particular attention is paid to how Ms A. deals with various challenges and obligations. She explains: "I always want to do too much and take on too much!"

This insight alone has a relieving effect on Ms A. She finds the open conversation with the Proitera consultant beneficial and realises that she misses this in her everyday life with her husband. She would like to tell him that she feels overworked and wants to reduce her workload. However, her decision to have a second child was linked to the promise that she would continue to work 80% of the time. She now feels like a failure.

Through ‘focusing’, an intervention developed by the American philosopher Eugene Gen-dlin, Ms A. is able to pinpoint the source of her anxiety and find the courage to admit that she has overestimated her abilities. She suddenly feels that it is feasible and sensible to ask her mother for help with childcare and to talk to her husband and her manager. Budget counselling in a follow-up session helps her to better assess her financial situation and re-duce her existential fears. In the final session, the medical assessment and the conversa-tion with her husband are discussed and a positive conclusion is reached.

Result

The discussions relieve Ms A. and help her to reflect objectively on her situation and be-haviour. She feels that openly addressing her excessive workload is a particularly im-portant step. Contrary to her fears, the discussion with her manager is understanding and sympathetic. "I think it will be possible to reduce my hours by 40% within the company Ishe says with relief. "And if that doesn't work out, I have the option of staying at home for a while." She later informs her counsellor by email that the internal job change has worked out. Ms A. is now able to juggle all her commitments – without taking any sick leave. The company has been able to retain an experienced and valued employee.