CASE STUDY: career progression

Katherine works in the healthcare profession and came to me because she was experiencing stress at work. The affects of stress made her forgetful, her concentration was poor, she was avoiding problems, worrying and apathetic about her job. She had loved her job before she got burned out. Now, the stress was affecting her physically too, as she experienced digestive problems and a major flare-up of her fibromyalgia.

She wanted to learn to recognise and reduce stress and to progress her career. It was important to her to stay in the healthcare industry, but in a different role. Ultimately, she wanted a happier and more fulfilling life.

We began by going through Katherine's life values, to determine her priorities in life. She was feeling overwhelmed, so we looked at how she could best manage her time, given her priorities. I encouraged her to reassess what had to be done and to focus on activities that were more satisfying and enjoyable.

Katherine soon began investigating career options for herself. At this point, we talked through the work successes she had already had, to build her confidence as she prepared for moving into a different role. We investigated what was important to Katherine about work to help her to understand her work priorities. This allowed her to figure out what she wanted to do in her career. Then, we moved on to developing Katherine's problem solving skills, to enable her to make positive decisions as she moved towards her career goals.

To support Katherine's anxiety around work, we discussed her negative thinking patterns and she learned to balance her thinking, reduce her stress and create a stronger sense of self-worth.

Katherine is now studying for further qualifications to support her transition to a more senior role in the healthcare profession. The course allows her to continue working and apply her skills.

She is also enjoying doing drawing again in her spare time, after a long period of not doing it and is learning to play guitar.