Healthy Healers Course

Think about what happens when you bring job stress, home.

For many people when job stress follows them home, they find themselves short-tempered with family members, feeling guilty, overwhelmed, have a hard time focusing or sleeping. In turn, family members describe feeling neglected, resentful and children may act out and seek attention in inappropriate ways.

Last week we talked about creating healthy boundaries for ourselves with clients who are our neighbors, friends and family members. This week we will explore ways to create healthy boundaries around work and home life.  

Lets go back to the case study from module one, about Sarah the health aide. As you recall, she was having problems with a woman named Mary…

Lets listen to some more of Sarah's story.

Notice how Mary kept calling Sarah at home?

What we didn’t mention was that Sarah had a husband and two teenage daughters. They were quite irritated by how family time was interrupted by the clinic calls. They also felt bad when Sarah seemed to be thinking about work in the evening when they wanted to talk to her. Loved ones and clients know if you are not giving them your full attention and not being present, and they don’t like it.

Creating Healthy Boundaries between Work and Home

Elvina Turner, of Unalakleet, worked as a village-based counselor and behavioral health provider for 32 years; she tells us,

“… Never bring our problems at home to work and

always leave your work at your work environment, never bring it home.”

Work-to-Home Transitions

One way to deal with job stress before going home is to take some “transition time” at the end of the workday to make a clear separation. Research has found that a few minutes of alone time, before greeting family members can buffer the impact of stressful day.^1. For some people a 3-minute relaxation exercise might be enough. For others, a 20-minute walk focusing on being in the moment might do it.

Other Strategies to Reduce Stress at Home

• Find out in advance what our family needs most from us, ahead of time. As a family, decide what blocks of time need to be reserved for activities.  This way the decision is not “one-sided” and allows everyone time to plan ahead, especially if it involves activities outside of the home. For example, your teenager might say, “I want you at my basketball game more than I want you fixing dinner!"

• Some people make family agreements in advance, no calls at work, unless it is an emergency.

On the discussion board share:  Some ways you keep “work at work and home at home”  A “Work-to-Home Transition” strategy you would like to try this week. Click here for your Discussion Board.  Group 1  Group 2

Establishing strong boundaries between work and home enables us to give both our families and our clients our undivided attention. It isn’t always easy, but it will make life easier.