With the support of JobAccess, Christina navigates anxiety at work

Image: a woman with dark hair wearing a grey shirt sits with two young babies, playing with toys. (Image used for representation purposes only)

* Represents name has been changed for privacy.

Christina* has worked as a childcare worker with a local childcare centre for six years. Based on her excellent work, Christina was promoted to Team Leader. It meant that in addition to her care work, Christina was leading three employees.

Christina lives with anxiety, a mental health condition. She shared information about her condition with her employer a few years ago. Over the years, Christina’s anxiety was manageable until recently, when it heightened, impacting her work. It made it difficult for her to be present at work and to communicate effectively with her team. Some of Christina’s tasks were also not being completed successfully.

Christina’s manager Suzannah wanted to support Christina in the best way possible, so she contacted JobAccess.

A JobAccess Adviser, a psychologist, discussed various strategies with Suzannah to help her best support Christina. Some strategies included how to communicate, in an understanding and effective way, the requirements of Christina’s role and any gaps in how she was currently meeting these requirements. They also discussed how to form a plan with Christina to get her back on track at work.

Suzannah was also advised of the one on one specialist support funding available through the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) to fund Christina’s treating psychologist to develop techniques for managing her new role and her anxiety.

Christina, Suzannah and Christina’s psychologist met to look at Christina’s current experience and circumstances and come up with solutions together. A specific plan was put in place to support Christina as the employee and Suzannah as the employer. The team also identified that Leadership Training was an opportunity to assist Christina in her new role, supporting her in further realising her ability and potential.

Through a few additional supports provided by JobAccess and the EAF, Suzannah could support and retain her employee, and Christina navigated her challenges in collaboration with her employer and her psychologist. The result is that Christina remains at work with her long-term employer and feels good at work — a positive outcome for all involved.

Last updated: 6 June 2023 - 7:57am