Introduction

General workplace stress levels have increased by over 20% in the last three decades (Korn Ferry, 2019) and 1 in 5 employees spend at least 1 hour contemplating their stress weekly in the Canadian workplace (Statista, 2021). As per the American Psychological Association, 2021, stressors that stem from heavy workloads, people issues, work-life balance, job security; more so during and following the Covid-19 has given rise to chronic stress leading to psychological, physiological and emotional strain. Chronic stress also manifests as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, fertility issues, cancer, hair loss, frequent illnesses, obesity, depression, anxiety and poses risk of early mortality, exhaustion and resistance at work. It has led Canadians loose over $ 33 Billion each year on workplace stress related healthcare costs and productivity. (CCOHS, 2021)

Evidence shows that SFBT has been effective in reducing workplace stress and burnout in employees, maximizing productivity and minimizing costs by improving the overall health and wellbeing of employees. Hence is a preferred therapy approach in many Employee Assistance Programs in Canada (EAPs).

As many full-time working professionals do not have the time or the capacity to pursue lengthy interventions, SFBT proves to be a timely, efficient and a desirable therapy approach. Desirable because SFBT focuses on competence rather than pathology or problem-finding and uses exceptions to the problem that heightens optimism. It focuses on the employee’s strengths, skills and resources instead of weaknesses. It is a goal-oriented, and a collaborative work between the employee and the counsellor that focuses on a detailed plan of what a different future looks like from the employee’s perspective, what are some changes that needs to be implemented, and how can it be broken down into actionable and achievable parts, creating a sense of hope in employees. Examples of some of the questions for goal clarification and solution-orientedness are “how will you know that this therapy has been helpful or effective?” or “what changes do you foresee?” or “what will the future look like in the absence of any problems?”. (Nelson & Thomas, 2012)

The sessions last for about 6-10 weeks which are quick and brief in nature as compared to most other therapies that are time consuming, expensive and can last months or years (Wheeler, 2022). SFBT also compliments the online medium and has been effective in remote-based care provisions in the field of tele-health or tele-medicine that makes it flexible for busy working professionals to include it in their routines (Latifi et al., 2022).

To support this there was another study conducted to gage the effectiveness of online SFBT program for individuals experiencing workplace stressors and burnout and the employees who attended it presented significant improvements on the Depression anxiety Stress Scales (DASS) and the burnout, anxiety and depression outcomes versus the group who did not attend the online SFBT program. (Jonas et al., 2017)

In a different study individuals with anxiety or depression who experienced dysfunction at work for periods of at least 1 year were divided into 2 groups and assigned to SFBT and Psychodynamic psychotherapy. The group that attended SFBT noticed a significant improvement in as little as 6 months as compared to psychodynamic psychotherapy. (Kenekt et al., 2008)

Women experiencing work and home conflicts also reported improved psychological health in just 3 SFBT sessions that helped them to minimize bringing work stress at home and home stress being brought at work. The sessions focus on asking the miracle and scaling questions highlighted the women’s strengths and goals that helped them to put things into perspective and set clear priorities that would balance out their work and life. (Mc Kenna & Wendy, 2004)

The techniques used in SFBT like asking coping questions, reflecting on employee’s resiliency, miracle questions, visualizing an ideal future, scaling questions to track progress, consultation breaks to deliver well-reviewed feedback combined with compliments and positive affirmations makes SFBT not just reduce stress, anxiety and burnout at work but also helps employees with potential family issues, relationship issues, addictions and depression that may be adding to the workplace stress (Franklin, 2016)

In another research, 688 employees at Merck, Canada were studied for the effects of SFBT over a period of 1 year and reported notable health improvements like reduced fatigue
 (-4.7%); cholesterol (-4.3%), physical inactivity (-4.1%), hemoglobin, emotional stress
 (-6.7%), blood pressure (-2.6%), and improved sleep quality (4.4%) (Lowensteyn et al., 2018).

Executive leaders also report SFBT to have helped them through major organizational changes, especially with the development of behavioral and psychological skills required to meet workplace objectives while balancing the pressures, stressors and constraints associated with the change process. (Grant, 2014)

As employers seek to bolster the performance of employees, minimize time-off for illness and establish a positive professional culture, SFBT showed significant increase in self-reported performance amongst employees and a faster rate at which employees returned to work following sick leaves due to illness or debilitation from stress, anxiety, burnout, depressive disorders and chronic pain like foot injuries without symptom re-occurrences. (Mai Bjornskov & Rosholm, 2018)

A study shows SFBT has been effective for laid-off employees as well to cope better, regain their composure quicker and re-enter the job market following a stressful transition. (Germain & Palamara, 2007). It also helps to manage financial anxiety, a raising concern for majority employees due to economic shifts, Covid-19 and world affairs especially at a time where inflation is ever so high and unpredictable, financial stressors has been on a rise for decades and just one SFBT session in a financial goal setting seminar significantly reduced stress and anxiety, increasing helpfulness and improving goal-setting behaviors. SFBT provided a sense of hope about one’s financial future and shifts the employee’s focus on future solutions and moving away from problem-focused discussions which are prominent in other therapeutic approaches. (Archuleta et al., 2020).

SFBT also compliments well as a supplemental program with other employee wellbeing interventions and has proven to be effective in helping teams and organizations cultivate positive understanding of themselves, collaborations, teamwork and a positive work culture whereby individuals feel safe, included, supported and valued. (Nelson, 2010)

In conclusion the mental well-being of employees is ever so crucial both from ethical and economic standpoint and SFBT is a therapy approach that has been effective in alleviating stress and burnout, especially in the modern workplace setting where stress is significant and it negatively impacts one’s psychological, physical, spiritual, emotional, and social well-being.  SFBT has consistently exhibited positive outcomes in stress management, burnout prevention, and holistic wellness and are highly recommended in the modern Canadian workplace since it was found to be effective, cost-efficient, timely, convenient, and desirable relative to other therapies. SFBT is not a replacement for CBT but can serve as an exceptional alternative considering the positive implications for stress and burnout. SFBT can reduce chronic stress thus adding to the holistic wellness while also preventing health decline of employees, which so often leads to adverse health outcomes, burnout, productivity losses, and socioemotional strain.

Instead SFBT encourages employees to cultivate tools to overcome their mental barriers by becoming more hopeful about the future, identify and appreciate their own strengths, include strategic thinking, relationship building, empathy, influencing and executing. Through SFBT employees are able to explore past successes and build a sense of hope, optimism, resiliency from such accomplishments (Nelson, 2010). It has helped employees deal with change effectively and developed solution focused thinking and goal-orientedness so that employees can foresee better self-efficacy with lower risks of depression or psychological decline. Integrating miracle questions helps to free employees of self-imposed constraints, while the scaling questions help employees recognize their progression overtime. And as the client builds success, the counsellor integrates compliments, affirmations and celebrations to solidify these advancements and help the employees maintain progress beyond the conclusion of therapeutic sessions (Nelson, 2010). Furthermore, participating in SFBT transcends the workplace to better familial relationships and work-life balance making it a highly holistic therapy approach that can be used on a wide range of demographics in and outside workplaces (Grant, 2014). Example: substance abuse, alcoholism, discrimination, exploitation and others (Ghosh, 2020).

Reference

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