How Can an Occupational Psychologist Help You Find Your Work-Life Balance?

What’s an Occupational Psychologist...? Good question! I’m asked this quite a lot, so I thought it might be helpful to share what I do and why psychology plays such an important part in my passion for Parenting Point. 

• Occupational Psychology looks at the behaviour, performance, health and wellbeing of people at work 

• Occupational Psychologists aim to enhance the effectiveness and wellbeing of individuals and organisations through evidence-based interventions

• We provide solutions to a wide range of workplace problems, including: how to improve employee wellbeing, tackle workplace stress and develop individual, team and organisational skills and behaviours

• We also evaluate the benefits of our work to ensure the support we provide really does make a difference to individuals and organisations

• We are registered with the Health and Care Professions Council and follow a strict ethical code of practice 

• The specific areas I work in are: individual, team, organisational & cultural change, individual & group coaching, employee wellbeing, learning and development and psychometric assessment

Even in ‘normal’ times, research shows that conflicting energy, time and behavioural demands impact men and women’s job satisfaction, family satisfaction and life satisfaction. Work-family conflict has also been reported as one of the most significant physical and psychological workplace stressors. These challenges are even greater right now.

As a parent, I’ve experienced many of these stressors first-hand. Being a Psychologist doesn’t make me immune to the anxiety, guilt and emotional stress of working parenthood. It does give me a helpful starting point for recognising these feelings and a toolkit to navigate the many changes and challenges. I now work with individuals and organisations to share these resources, helping parents to find their meaningful and fulfilling work-life balance. 

Finding a meaningful and fulfilling work-life balance may seem utterly unachievable during a global pandemic, because it’s hard enough at the best of times. There are little things that we can do to help take the pressure off a bit. Please do get in touch if I can support you. If I’m not the right person to give you the help you need, I’ll try to recommend the best person who can.

Jayne Ruff – Chartered Occupational Psychologist & Founder of Parenting Point.

Parenting Point exists to give everyone the self-belief that they can flourish as a parent and a professional by positively aligning both worlds. We help parents find their meaningful and fulfilling work-life balance through practical, psychology-based workshops and coaching. We work with organisations to create positive and inclusive performance cultures that support and encourage the growth of working parents.