Stress in the city: behind the scenes of the corporate machine - a phenomenological inquiry: a phenomenological inquiry into people's experiences of working long hours with elevated stress levels in a City professional services firm
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- Title
- Stress in the city: behind the scenes of the corporate machine - a phenomenological inquiry: a phenomenological inquiry into people's experiences of working long hours with elevated stress levels in a City professional services firm
- Creator
- Sarah Louise Stanley
- Date
- 2013
- Abstract
- This study explores the experience of a period of working long hours with elevated stress levels in a City professional services firm, positioned in the context of corporate organisations expecting people to work longer and harder alongside an increased focus on tackling workplace stress. The study potentially gives corporate organisations and psychotherapists an insight into what happens for people who experience this phenomenon in the corporate environment via detailed exploration of three individuals experiences. This approach contrasts the abundance of quantitative and solution-focused literature on workplace stress. The Literature Review explores the concept of stress and its evolution in modern corporate life, and considers factors within it, such as organisational injustice, through psychoanalytic and existential ideas, arguing that they could precipitate virtual trauma. It also considers how some organisations are tackling stress, mainly through resilience training, and explores through psychotherapy theories the concept of resilience itself. Three female participants of similar age and seniority at City professional services firms were interviewed about an experience of working 12+ hours per day for a period of 4+ months. Semi-structured interviews captured rich, detailed descriptions. The analysis used Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) based on Smith et als (2009) methodology, which is grounded in the philosophies of hermeneutics and phenomenology. The findings illuminate largely unconsidered themes around the debilitating impact of the experience on the self and relationships; around work being experienced as an alternate reality; the meaning that participants ascribe to the experience; and coping. The discussion ties findings Page 6 of 126 back to the Literature Review and elucidates them further through psychoanalytic theories such as attachment patterns and ego development. Existential ideas around the significance of authentic being and finding meaning in suffering also help illuminate the findings. Possible psychotherapeutic conceptualisations and interventions are presented in the context of the studys inherent and necessary limitations."
- Subject
- Job stress|Stress Disorders, Traumatic-therapy||
- Psychotherapy and Counselling
- Extent
- 126 pages : illustrations
- Format
- Publisher
- Regent's University London
- degree
- MA in Psychotherapy and Counselling
- Language
- English
- Date Issued
- 2013
- Type
- Thesis & Dissertation
- Rights Holder
- Regent's University London & Sarah Louise Stanley
- Item sets
- Theses or Dissertation