The Tree of Life is a narrative therapy approach that helps people to tell stories about themselves in ways that make them stronger. It uses the metaphor of a tree to support this process in creative ways and has a broad applicability in both therapeutic and professional contexts.  In this episode, Paula is joined by Dr Julie Fraser and Dr Liz Matias, both clinical psychologists, who have written about their use of the Professional Tree of Life to support NHS staff in the ACP-UK book Psychological Staff Support in Healthcare.  They discuss what the approach looks like, as well as the ..read more

Reflective practice groups are a subject that has come up a few times on the podcast as being an important way of supporting both staff wellbeing and patient care.  Paula wanted to explore this in more depth, so in this episode she is joined by Dr Arabella Kurtz, consultant clinical psychologist and psychoanalytic psychotherapist to talk about her Heads and Hearts model. They discuss how reflective practice is defined in this context, the different components of the Heads and Hearts model, and common challenges. Arabella and her colleague Dr Joanna Levene have summarised the model in a ch ..read more

So far this series has talked a lot about the impact of traumatic experiences on us as individuals. But working in healthcare usually means working in teams and experiencing distressing events as part of a team. In this episode, Paula speaks with Dr Sadie Thomas-Unsworth, consultant clinical psychologist and lead for staff support and palliative care, about the guidelines she and colleagues have written entitled Group Psychological ‘Debriefs’ - Practice guidance for post-event team reflection following distressing events at work. Published by the Association of Clinical Psychologists and autho ..read more

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 dra ..read more

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 ..read more

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.com Learning from Excellence website: www.learningfromexcellence.com I'd love to connect with you so come and find me on Lin ..read more

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 ..read more

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 ..read more

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 conn ..read more

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.practitionerh ..read more