Product Description

Offers managers and staff in the caring fields new ways of looking at the stresses involved in their work which undermine effectiveness and morale. Wide range of care settings analysed using a variety of approaches and ideas.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #47002 in Books
• Published on: 1994-08-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

From the Back Cover
Working in the human services has always been stressful, and the current massive changes in the organization of these services, together with dwindling resources and ever greater demands for cost effectiveness, add to the stresses inherent in the work. Even in the best run and best resourced organizations there are pockets of irrationality where unconscious institutional processes undermine both effectiveness and morale.
The contributors to this book use ideas drawn from psychoanalysis, open systems theory, Bion's work with groups, and group relations training to explore the difficulties experienced by managers and staff in a wide range of care settings. Each concept is illustrated with examples from practice to make it recognizable and useful to the reader.
Each chapter develops a theme relating to work with a particular client group or setting (including hospitals, schools, day centres, residential units, community services and many others), or explores aspects of work organization (for example, the supervisory relationship, facing cuts and closure, or intergroup collaboration). By describing both the difficulties and their own feelings and thoughts while consulting to these institutions, the authors offer the reader new ways of looking at their own experiences at work which will be both enlightening and helpful.

Customer Reviews

unconscious and hidden defenses
I am soon to complete my MSC in Mental Health Nursing. I wish I had found this book at the beginning of my course rather than the end! clear, concise, easy to read and straight to the point. an excellent addition to any students core book list. Can't recommend it highly enough, but each to their own!!

A helpful read and a greater understanding of working dynamics
Well written and can be read in entirety or just dipped into. Really helpful in understanding the hidden undercurrents that affect our lives in any group setting.