When Work Hurts

Compassion is a big buzzword right now in healthcare, but what does it really mean and how can you actually be more compassionate?This week Paula is joined by clinical psychologist Dr Chris Irons, an expert in Compassionate Mind Training.The pair examine what compassion is, why it matters and how it can be applied within organisations and teams as well as on a personal level. Chris discusses why self-compassion is such a tricky concept, especially for health professionals and how this is a skill that is something we can learn, for the benefit of ourselves and our patients.This week there is also a bonus episode of an exercise to help you warm up your compassion muscles for work - so keep an eye out for that in your podcast app.Chris is Co-Director of Balanced Minds and BalO.He has written a number of books, including:The Compassionate Mind WorkbookThe Compassionate Mind Approach to Difficult Emotions : Using Compassion Focused TherapyHe also runs an online self-compassion course and has developed the Self-Compassion App.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Doctors, nurses and allied health professionals are experiencing unprecedented levels of distress due to their work.Join clinical psychologist Dr Paula Redmond as she talks to inspiring clinicians and thought leaders about the stories behind the mental health statistics, and how compassion, connection and creativity can offer hope when work hurts.Follow the podcast so you don't miss an episode.

Staff in intensive care have found themselves right at the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic.In this episode I speak to Dr Rosie Baruah, a consultant in critical care medicine and anesthesia at the Western General Hospital in Edinburgh, about the pressures faced by those working to look after the sickest patients.We covered a range of subjects around working through the pandemic, including burnout and moral injury, as well as gender bias in medicine. You can follow Rosie on Twitter @RosieICM.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.

Over the last couple of years many people have been reflecting on how closely our working lives are aligned with our values. For health professionals in particular the gap between how we want things to be, and how they are, can cause huge distress. I talk about this and other topics with consultant clinical psychologist Dr. Joe Oliver who is an expert in acceptance and commitment therapy as well as an associate professor at UCL. He also leads an exercise for listeners towards the end of our conversation that involves mindfully tapping into values.You can find Joe via these links:Twitter: @contextconsultInstagram: @contextconsultFacebook: contextualconsultingLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/joe-oliver-a0b40347/And check out his book The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for Self-EsteemI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.

When work and life hurts being able to talk about how we feel and have those feelings heard and validated can make a huge difference to how we navigate and survive trauma.For those working on the front line, during the COVID pandemic, this has never been more important. I spoke with Claire Goodwin-Fee a psychotherapist who set up an organisation called Frontline19 to respond to this.Frontline19 offers free psychological support to frontline staff, delivered by qualified and vetted volunteer therapists. To find out more about Frontline19 you can visit their website at Frontline19.com.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Dr. Heidi Edmundson is a consultant in emergency medicine at the Whittington Hospital in London.She actively campaigns to "make wellbeing a thing" for hospital staff - through addressing barriers to basic needs such as taking breaks and access to hot food. She has also introduced creative tools and techniques to foster wellbeing amongst teams.In this episode we explore these initiatives and why they are so important in enabling staff to be seen as whole people.She also takes me through a simple creative exercise - grab a pen and paper so that you can take part too. Please share your own drawings with me on Twitter @DrPaulaRedmond #WhenWorkHurts.You can find Heidi on Twitter @heidi_edIf you fancy watching the Emergency Department staff animation you can find it here https://vimeo.com/435039026And you can get hold of the Do No Harm mindful embroidery craftivism project here www.drpaularedmond.com/donoharmAs usual I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Jan Bostock is a consultant clinical psychologist who works in the Northeast and Cumbria Wellbeing Hub for health and social care staff. She's also a key figure in the development of the Power Threat Meaning Framework (BPS, 2018), and is co-chair of the British Psychological Society committee for the Framework. As well as reflecting on her experiences of the pandemic we also discuss how issues around power and social justice can be key to dealing with the mental health of those working for the NHS and social care.You can find your local Wellbeing Hub for NHS staff here: EnglandScotlandHere are some of the resources Jan mentioned:https://www.bps.org.uk/coronavirus-resources/professional/facilitating-community-resiliencehttps://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Mary-Boyle/A-Straight-Talking-Introduction-to-the-Power-Threat-Meani/25519665https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph22I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Dame Clare Gerada is known as the Doctor's Doctor. She's the medical director and founder of Practitioner Health and as well as chair of the charity Doctors In Distress. She's also the president of the Royal College of GPs and a practising GP in south London. In this episode you'll hear her thoughts on what the pandemic has been like for GPs and the unique pressures they have felt. If you want to find out more about her book "Beneath The White Coat" you can find it here.And for information about Practitioner Health and Doctors In Distress you can visit the websites:https://www.practitionerhealth.nhs.uk/https://doctors-in-distress.org.uk/This is the last episode in this series. Thank you so much for listening. We'll be back in March with Series 2. If you want to be the first to know about it you can sign up to my emails here.

Welcome to Season 2 of the When Work Hurts podcast.We start this second series of conversations with a look at moral injury. It's a term we've come to hear a lot recently, so to get a fuller understanding of what moral injury is I chat to health psychologist and expert in moral injury amongst healthcare workers, Dr Esther Murray.Esther's book is The Mental Health and Wellbeing of Healthcare Practitioners.You can connect with Esther on Twitter @EM_HealthPsychI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!A full transcript of the episode is available here.

Emily Moorhouse is a public health nurse. But in March 2020 she was working in nurse. At the time she thought it was her dream job, but as the pandemic hit the UK she began to struggle with her mental health. In this episode Emily talks to Dr Paula Redmond about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, how she took time off to recover and eventually made a career change.Emily also mentions how she got help from Frontline-19. Paula spoke to Frontline-19 founder Claire Goodwin-Fee in Series 1, episode 3 so if you want to hear more about that organisation you can check out that episode.You can connect with Emily on Instagram @emsvibesx.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!A full transcription of this episode can be found here.

Disconnecting from work can be a real struggle for many people working in healthcare -which can have a huge impact on our mental health.In this episode Dr Paula Redmond speaks to work psychologist Ross McIntosh about about bringing contextual behavioural science and ACT to the workplace - particularly around disconnecting from work.Ross guides Paula (and you) through a useful exercise (the ACT Matrix) to help you disconnect so you might want to find a quiet spot to listen. Click here for the accompanying handout.There's also a bonus episode today of an additional exercise so keep an eye out in your podcast app. You can hear more of Ross on his podcast People Soup which can be heard through your podcast app or via his website www.rossmcintosh.co.ukI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!A full transcription of this episode is available here.

In this bonus episode Work Psychologist Ross McIntosh takes Dr Paula Redmond and you through an ACT exercise called "Passengers On The Bus" to help identify unhelpful mind chatter.Click here for the accompanying handout.

Art therapy in healthcare settings has traditionally been used to support patients.But it's also a practice being used with doctors struggling with burnout.In this episode Dr Paula Redmond chats to Megan Tjasink, Lead Art Psychotherapist in Cancer and Palliative Services, at Barts Health NHS Trust in London.She talks about her work with doctors and how art therapy and creative practice can help in coping with burnout.Here are some of the resources Megan mentioned:Her paper on art therapy to reduce burnout in oncology and palliative care doctors: a pilot study"Coping through Connection and Creativity" blog (this is no longer being added to but is a historic resource for art therapy-based exercises and a gallery of clinician art work made as part of the initiative)Megan recently wrote a chapter called "The innovative use of Art Therapy with hospital clinicians" for Art Psychotherapy and Innovation: New Territories, Techniques and Technologies, Jessica Kingsley Publishers (due to be released July 21, 2022). The chapter contains more detail about much of what we discussed in relation to the way the work has developed over the past 2 years, including the ICU nurses clay workshops (with images) , the blog and the value of exhibiting and viewing art with/by other clinicians in work spaces.Jordan Potash's work in Hong Kong with hospice workers and an RCT with healthcare workers in SingaporeThe botanical drawing classes Megan was inspired by I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!A full transcript of this episode is available here.

Staff wellbeing initiatives - like yoga classes - can feel like a cynical move by employers to paper over the cracks of the very serious issues affecting staff.But wellbeing is imporant - not just for healthcare workers themselves, but for patients too.Dr Peter Donnelly is a consultant paediatric intensivist at the Royal Hospital For Children in Glasgow, as well as being the Chair of the Wellbeing Special Interest Group for the Paediatric Critical Care Society.He joins Dr Paula Redmond for this episode to explain how staff wellbeing initiatives can be made more meaningful and effective.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!A full transcript of this episode is available here.

If you were running a marathon or doing any kind of athletic training it's unlikely you'd start without a warm up or end without cooling down. And it's the same with being compassionate in healthcare work - you need to warm up your compassion muscles, and cool down at the end of your working day or shift.In this bonus episode Dr Chris Irons takes Dr Paula Redmond and you through an exercise you can do as your own compassion warm up and cool down. I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!

Being treated rudely at work can have a horrible impact on us. Unfortunately it's an all too common experience if you work in healthcare. And the consequences can reach far beyond the individual - affecting teams and patient care.In today's episode Paula talks to Dr Chris Turner (Consultant in Emergency Medicine and co-founder of Civility Saves Lives) about his work understanding and tackling incivility in healthcare.Civility Saves Lives website: www.civilitysaveslives.comLearning from Excellence website: www.learningfromexcellence.comI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!For more information about the Creative Restoration retreat for GPs on 1st October 2022 see the website: creativerestoration.org

Being a doctor and a patient can be a challenge. Not only do you have to deal with your illness, but you also need to deal with the identity conflicts this can create.In this episode Dr Paula Redmond talks to GP, coach and writer Dr Claire Davies about her experience as a doctor-patient when she was diagnosed with Lupus. And how it didn't fit her narrative at all.You can find Claire at her website www.clairelouisedavies.com or on LinkedIn.I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!For more information about the Creative Restoration retreat for GPs on 1st October 2022 see the website: creativerestoration.org

Racism and racial inequality continues to plague the NHS - with negative outcomes for individual staff, but also for organisations and patients.To get to grips with this issue, and how to tackle it, Dr Paula Redmond speaks to Owen Chinembiri. Owen is Senior Implementation Lead at the NHS Race & Health Observatory - but is chatting today in a personal capacity.As you might imagine racism and examples of racism are discussed in this episode.Here are the links/resources Owen mentions:Links between NHS staff experience and patient satisfactionRacism in Nursing Glass cliffNHS staff survey Latest WRES reportDiversity wins: How inclusion matters Changing The Way People Saw Black Rugby Players I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!For more information about the Creative Restoration retreat for GPs on 1st October 2022 see the website: creativerestoration.org

Dr Mia Hobbs is a Clinical Psychologist who is passionate about the mental health benefits of knitting.She also hosts the podcast Why I Knit. She and Paula explore how we can use craft, and knitting in particular, to benefit our mental health - and how this is especially relevant for health professionals.You can find Mia at www.therapeuticknitting.org and on Instagram @knittingistherapeuticIf you'd like a copy of the PDF she mentioned email her: mia@therapeuticknitting.orgI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!For more information about the Creative Restoration retreat for GPs on 1st October 2022 see the website: creativerestoration.org

This episode contains discussion of suicide and its impactLosing a patient or colleague to suicide can be devastating. In this episode Dr Rachel Gibbons (psychiatrist, psychoanalyst and group analyst) talks about her personal experience of surviving patient suicide and the work she has done to understand suicide and homicide; its impact on healthcare staff; and what helps.The Royal College of Psychiatrists has produced a number of resources to support staff when a patient dies by suicide - you can find them here.If you've been affected by the issues in this episode you can get help from a range of organisations.Samaritans Call 116 123 Email jo@samaritans.orgCampaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) Call 0800 58 58 58 – 5pm to midnight every day or visit the webchat pagePapyrus – for people under 35 Call 0800 068 41 41 – 9am to midnight every day. Text 07860 039967 pat@papyrus-uk.orgI'd love to connect with you so come and find me on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook.Sign up to my weekly newsletter here to get updates about the podcast as well as psychology tips and insights direct to your inbox.Follow and subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!For more information about the Creative Restoration retreat for GPs on 1st October 2022 see the website: creativerestoration.org