Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT ) therapists form a relatively new workforce delivering psychological interventions to people with mild to moderate mental health difficulties in often high-volume environments (Department of Health [DOH], 2008c). Emerging research has suggested that working as an IAPT therapist can be a demanding and stressful role (Walket & Percy, 2014 ; Westwood, Morison, Allt, & Holmes, 2017). Work-related stressors have been linked to physical and mental health difficulties (e.g. Bosma, et al., 1997; Stansfeld, Fuhrer, Shipley, & Marmot, 1999) and the financial cost of stress related illness is considerable (Blaug, Kenyon, & Lekhi, 2007). Across the literature stress has been conceptualised in a variety of ways (Cooper, Dewe, & O’Driscoll, 2001). The transactional approach understands stress through the relational processes between the person and the environment (Lazarus, 2006). Self-compassion (Gilbert, 2010a ; Neff, 2003b), a way of self-relating in times of hardship and suffering, has predominately been inversely associated with perceived stress and has been linked to psychological wellbeing (Neff & Costigan, 2014). This quantitative cross-sectional online project explored IAPT therapists’ levels of perceived stress and examined whether self-compassion moderated the relationship between work-related stressors and perceived stress in IAPT therapists. IAPT therapists reported experiencing levels of perceived stress that were higher than the norm. Self-compassion did not moderate the relationship between work-related stressors and perceived stress. Multiple regressions, employed as model cleansing strategies, revealed that work-related stressors and self-compassion are independent predictors of perceived stress in IAPT therapists and that self-compassion is more strongly related to perceived stress than work-related stressors. The study demonstrates the applicability of Lazarus’ (2006) approach in workplace research. The findings are discussed in relation to self-compassion theory (Neff , 2003b) and affective regulation systems (Gilbert, 2006), and are considered in relation to future research and practical implications around workplace wellbeing.

In their day-to-day tasks, police officers are repeatedly subjected to stressful and traumatic events and as such are at significant risk of developing post - traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There is a wealth of literature exploring risk and protective factors, however there is still a need to develop our understanding of specific factors which may be unique to the police. In light of this need, two potential factors have been identified for this current research, burnout and social connectedness. Burnout relates to a culmination of stress which is unmanaged and untreated. Social connectedness relates to the internal experience of feeling connected to others and the world around. This thesis is primarily concerned with exploring the relationship between these factors and PTSD and general distress within the context of the police force. This research took place within one UK police force. In total, 93 participants from specialist departments at high risk of exposure to trauma took part in an online survey. The survey included self-report measures of burnout, social connectedness, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and general distress. Non-standardised measures also sought to capture demographic information and an additional outcome variable of sickness absence. A series of multiple forced-entry regressions were carried out. Increased symptoms of exhaustion (one aspect of burnout), significantly predicted increased PTSD symptom severity. Further exploratory analyses found that exhaustion significantly predicted two of the four PTSD symptom clusters: intrusion and alterations in arousal and reactivity. The same multiple regression analysis indicated that social connectedness made a significant contribution to the model predicting PTSD symptom severity, greater than that of exhaustion. It was also found that increased symptoms of exhaustion significantly predicted increased general distress, whereas disengagement (a further aspect of burnout) and social connectedness did not. Lastly, it was found that none of the predictor variables made a significant contribution to the model predicting sickness absence. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical and clinical implications.

According to the Office of National Statistics (2011), approximately six million people provide unpaid care to a family member. The growth of interest in the carer role has helped establish the idea that the provision of informal care warrants attention because of the relationship between caring and burden. It has been suggested that living with someone with depression is comparable to that of other serious mental health problems, such as schizophrenia or dementia. Furthermore, there is evidence that partners are most at risk of burden within the informal caregiving context. The meta-ethnography of existing research indicates that qualitative studies which specifically explore the experiences of living with a family member with depression are somewhat heterogeneous regarding types of relationship with the depressed individual. Combining different relationships (e.g. partners, siblings and parents) within the same study makes it difficult to disentangle data and therefore gaining an in-depth understanding of specific experiences is almost impossible. This study therefore aimed to explore the experiences of living with a partner with depression. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine female and four male participants who live with a partner with depression. A critical realist perspective was held and data was analysed using Braun and Clarke’s six phases of thematic analysis (2006), with the assistance of MAXQDA. Results identified five key themes: ‘making sense of the depression’; ‘the depression cannot be compartmentalised’; ‘a light at the end of the tunnel’; ‘learning to navigate the ‘depression’ maze’; and ‘gaining a new perspective’. The findings illustrate that living with a partner with depression is not a static process and that the needs of the depressed partner are constantly changing. Furthermore, although the findings outline a sequential process that appears cyclical in nature, recognition is given that the phases are dynamic and may overlap. Clinical implications and recommendations are discussed within the context of the Care Act (2014).