Learning Center

It’s been about four months since workplaces first started navigating the uncharted waters of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are now entering a new phase of challenges which includes bringing back some employees who have been working remotely. This change will to be difficult for some employees so this is a good opportunity to review what is helpful to say (and ...

Seven months ago I lost my spouse of 52 years. My grieving process has been complicated by the isolation imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.  The isolation has deprived me of the opportunity to talk face-to-face with people and hug friends which I dearly miss.  However, it has not deprived me of the ability to manage my behavior and emotions with ...

The snow came early to New England this year, announcing the arrival of our darkest season.  The diminished sunlight available over the next few months can present some well-documented challenges to your mood, sleep patterns and energy level so this might be a good time to review what you can do to avoid the worst of the winter blues. As ...

I have been journaling for a few years now and it has turned out to be one of the best methods I have ever come across for reducing stress and achieving increased clarity and about goals, relationships and problems. I write longhand in a notebook trying to get onto the page whatever is on my mind at the moment but ...

Our digital devices, the screens connecting us to an infinitely wide world of information, pose a significant challenge because they are so compelling and distracting. They pull our focus away from being in the moment and compromise our ability to concentrate on the essential tasks of daily life: paying attention to our loved ones, solving our work challenges, and practicing ...

Organizations implement rigorous strategic planning processes because they know they can’t pursue every possible goal. They have to make critical choices in order to focus their business on those objectives which provide the best opportunities for success. Similarly, if you want to be healthier and perform better at work, you should consider developing a strategic plan for improving your personal ...

Opioid overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under 50. This is a staggering statistic reflecting a national public health emergency. A study released this month by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health  reported that construction workers, farmers and fisherman are particularly at risk with higher than average rates of overdose deaths. The opioid-related death rate for ...

During a February presentation at the Harvard School of Public Health Angus Deaton, the Nobel Prize-winning economist spoke about the rise in preventable deaths by suicide, alcoholism and addiction calling them “deaths of despair.” Public Health researchers around the world have started to recognize that loneliness plays a significant role in these deaths of despair and, as a result, loneliness ...

A report recently released by the CDC indicates that suicide rates have increased in almost every state from 1999 to 2016 with nearly 45,000 people taking their lives in 2016 alone. The recent deaths by suicide of Kate Spade followed by Anthony Bourdain have once again put this intensely complicated subject of suicide on the front pages of the media. ...

How do you like the idea of a diet that lets you eat as much as you want to and still realize a healthy weight loss? A diet which doesn’t require you to keep track of calories or points? If you like this idea read on, because not only is there such a diet, but a prestigious medical journal has ...

“Twixt the optimist and the pessimist The difference is droll, The optimist sees the donut But the pessimist sees the hole” McLandburgh Wilson, 1915 Anyone who has ever tried to make healthy changes in the way that they eat, drink, exercise or smoke knows that you are not successful 100% of the time. We have many expressions for the all ...

We are all accustomed to receiving instructions for improving our health. We know these directions by heart: eat more fruits and vegetables, get 8 hours of sleep each night, consume less sugar, stay hydrated etc. Somehow these repeated commands fail to inspire many of us to change our behavior, even though we accept their scientific validity and know that we ...

It’s not a shocker to learn that a blog with a name like stress.health.business. (inaugurated in 2012) has featured more posts about stress than any other topic. However, you may be surprised to see how many different dimensions there are to the stress/productivity/health relationship. So, as we commence our 6th year of the blog, I have anthologized a diverse sampling ...

It’s not complicated. You already know that if you exercise regularly, eat healthier and get more sleep you will feel better, live longer and perform at a higher level. However, just because it’s not complicated doesn’t mean it’s easy to know where to begin. Here are 8 ideas for jump starting a healthier 2018. Improve your sleep hygiene. 60% of ...

In my last post I summarized some alarming trends and statistics reflecting our country’s epidemic of opioid addiction. I also pointed out that while research supports the effectiveness of prescribing opioids for the treatment of acute trauma, before and after surgery, cancer pain and pain associated with end of life illness, “the evidence is limited for the use of chronic ...

Last month a White House panel called our country’s epidemic of opioid addiction and overdose deaths a “national public health emergency.” It’s an ongoing and escalating disaster with an estimated 3.8 million Americans using opioids for non-medical reasons every month and 142 Americans dying every day from overdoses. Opioid overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under ...

When I moved with my family from Maryland to Massachusetts 16 years ago, I told my husband and my realtor that my two top requirements were to be within 3 miles of a health club and a great coffee shop. This specification was not simply on my wish list, it was on my required list. At the time, I had ...

One of the more common misconceptions about counseling is that the primary purpose is to rehash troubling events from the past. This is a particularly harmful misconception because, if you believe it, you are likely to conceive of counseling as a painful and futile exercise since, obviously, no amount of conversation can ever change the past. Of course, counselors do ...

In part one of this two part post, the relevance and importance of the topic of suicide in the workplace was detailed. Suicide awareness efforts at schools and senior centers do not reach those in the middle years of their lives – a time when suicide can be an increased risk.  The proximity and time spent with coworkers means we ...

The workplace is a reflection of its surrounding community. Inevitably, issues in the community like addiction, depression, and family conflict have a direct impact on the workplace. Among these issues there is no topic more emotionally charged, or more important, than suicide. Suicide prevention warrants our attention in the workplace because the feelings of despair, isolation and hopelessness associated with ...

For the past several years we have seen growing awareness in the business community about the high cost of sleep disorders. There is an abundance of research which validates the impact of sleep problems on productivity: An international human resource company has declared that “insufficient sleep” is the number one condition damaging corporate productivity. This finding followed a thorough examination ...

I can’t imagine that anyone would ever feel inspired to write an article about the “Top Five Reasons for Taking 100% of Your Pay.” Nobody requires encouragement to accept their entire compensation. So why do 41% of Americans not use all of their available vacation time? Why are people not using an average of 9.2 days per year of their ...

A new research study from Stanford University and the Harvard Business School has named workplace stress as a contributor to at least 120,000 deaths a year and up to $190 billion in health care costs. 120,000 mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and coworkers who die prematurely, in part, due to work environments that are allowed to remain toxic. ...

We are forgetful creatures. I’m not referring to the “senior moment” variety of forgetfulness. I’m talking about the habitual forgetting that takes place in the midst of everyday life challenges and stresses, when we “forget” to make those choices that we know will keep our bodies, spirits and relationships healthy. We forget that change can only happen today and not ...

Our hyper-connected, 24/7, ultra-competitive and globalized work environment is putting extraordinary stress on employees and their families. The health consequences to individuals and the financial costs to businesses add up to a problem of staggering proportions: Depression has become the leading cause of disability worldwide. Behavioral disability costs have increased more than 300% in the past decade and account for ...

Last week the Boston Globe published a chart which details the current costs, in dollars and in time, of providing care for an older family member (It is worth noting that the chart appears in the business section because the astounding numbers illustrate just how significant this issue is for many employees and for the organizations that employ them)   ...

The National Institute of Mental Health estimates that 6.7% of the U.S. adult population has a major depressive disorder in any given 12 month period. The number goes up to 16.5% when looking at how many people have depression over the course of their lifetime. Depression is a devastating condition that can rob you of the precious ability to enjoy ...

Are you getting enough sleep? The National Sleep Foundation survey reports that 60% of us struggle with our sleep every night. Sleep problems, which are being linked to an ever expanding array of health and psychological problems, were recently described as “the new health frontier.” Employers, who are waking up to the mounting evidence documenting the impact of insufficient sleep ...

        We launched Comprehensive EAP’s blog on June 6, 2012  with an expression of hope for what it would become: ………a place where we can think about the psychology of behavior, health and productivity in the workplace.  What makes us more productive and more fulfilled? What gets in our way and impairs health, safety and productivity? What ...

The most persuasive evidence for the value of an Employee Assistance program (EAP) depends on who is making the decision. If you are a human resources professional, or you are a front line manager, your value equation probably includes how the EAP helps you get your work done and makes your life less stressful. You assign a tangible value to ...

Let’s begin with the iconic image of Tom Hanks as the exasperated coach of a woman’s baseball team in the movie A League of Their Own, declaring “There’s no crying in baseball!” This image resonates for so many men because, let’s be honest here, some of us are flummoxed by tears and uncertain about how to respond to a person ...

Organizations are on a quest to identify the essential elements of employee engagement. They dream of building cultures and work environments that will capture every last ounce of employee discretionary effort. They want employees who arrive at work every day with all the optimism, ambition and enthusiasm that they brought on their first day believing that happy people create more ...

For the past 25 years the Families & Work Institute has been tracking the benefits practices, policies and programs of U.S. employers. Their findings have documented the many ways that employers and employees benefit from flexible and family friendly workplaces. The data demonstrates that in return for providing a more supportive workplace to employees, employers benefit by having “more engaged employees, ...

Sleep has become one of the hottest topics in medical and corporate circles. In the past 10 years there has been a mounting volume of studies, surveys and discoveries validating the fundamental importance of sleep. The National Institute of Health states it plainly: “sleep plays a vital role in your health and wellbeing throughout your life.” Insufficient sleep has been ...

Are you a superhero? If you hesitated, think again: Are you a family caregiver? Do you juggle multiple demands at work? Are you the “go-to” person for planning family activities? Do you ever pick up the slack for family members or coworkers? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may very well be a superhero. Although we ...

The path to perfect is littered with failure and disappointment and should be avoided by anyone seeking self-improvement. Perfect is the enemy of good because perfect is an oversized and complicated fantasy, not an achievable goal. When it comes to making changes in your work habits or your relationships or your health it often pays to think small. I am ...

A recent analysis from an international human resource company revealed that of the top 15 drivers of poor employee productivity the number one culprit is insufficient sleep. The remaining top 14 drivers of lost productivity were: depression; fatigue; back/neck pain; anxiety; hypertension; other emotional disorders; arthritis; obesity; chronic pain; headache; irritable bowel; high cholesterol; heart disease; and allergies.  Amazingly, eight ...

A few years ago one of our client companies merged with their biggest competitor and they asked us to facilitate some preliminary meetings with the other management group which, until the merger, had been their rivals. There was much anxiety in both management groups about how to merge the two very different, adversarial and extremely competitive cultures. Andrew, a senior ...

Philip Tuttle is a self-employed lobsterman who works the waters off Harpswell, one of my favorite spots in the midcoast Maine area. His enviable commute to work consists of walking about 25 yards from his back porch to his 26 foot lobster boat, the Queen Tut. His commute might be pleasant but that is the only aspect of a lobsterman’s ...

The business community is developing a variety of interventions that are designed to improve the health and productivity of employees while controlling their health care costs. Employers are well-positioned to positively influence employee health and behavioral choices with a wide array of tools including: financial incentives to reward positive health behaviors, healthy food choices in the cafeteria, effective management practices ...

You know them. They are the management equivalent of helicopter parents (without the personal commitment and attachment). They hover over the work of their employees and they insist on inspecting and controlling the smallest details of a project. They are irritated by employee initiative and insist on being consulted on all decisions, even those well within the scope of the ...

When an employee reports being sickened at work by toxic fumes leaking into their work area, most organizations will carefully and expeditiously investigate the matter. We expect them to seek out the origin of the fumes and engineer a solution that protects employees from illness and the organization from liability. It would be short sighted and foolish, not to mention ...

“When you improve a little each day, eventually big things occur. When you improve conditioning a little each day, eventually you have a big improvement in conditioning. Not tomorrow, not the next day, but eventually a big gain is made. Don’t look for the big, quick improvement. Seek the small improvement one day at a time. That’s the only way ...

The compelling logic that supports organizations investing in EAP mental health and substance abuse services is based on some well-documented facts*: Mental health and substance abuse disorders are prevalent in the workplace In the U.S. 30-40% of the population experience mental health and/or substance abuse disorders at some point in their lives 15-20% require professional assistance in a given year ...

Even the “show me the numbers” folks over at the Wall Street Journal are alerting their readers to the fascinating body of research demonstrating the positive impact of smiling. It appears that remembering to smile more could pay off in a variety of ways including better heart health and lower stress levels. The idea that facial expressions don’t just reveal emotions ...

Perhaps you remember the cartoon image of Wonder Woman or the Lynda Carter TV version of the 1970‘s female superhero. As more women have entered the paid workforce over the last several decades, the image of needing superhero powers to balance work, family and health has become a familiar metaphor.  Unfortunately, tending to the multiple needs of others often puts ...

When that feeling of being under so much pressure at work starts to carry over and you feel just as driven at home, it’s time to slow down, not speed up.  We have gotten very good at doing more in less time, undertaking several things at once, processing ever more information, and constantly reacting with split second decisions. But these ...

Many of us have a love-hate relationship when it comes to making changes in our life. We think a lot about wanting to eat better, exercise more, drink less, manage our time more productively, be kinder and gentler with our loved ones, and continually improve our current selves. The desire for self-improvement is a hard-wired component of human nature, an ...

I am completely amazed that there has not been more debate surrounding the emergence of the so-called “free” EAP that is being offered as a throw in by some carriers as a way to attract business to their more profitable insurance products. Let’s start by calling this “free” EAP by its real name which is “pretend” EAP. “Pretend” EAPs offer ...

For the past 32 years I have had a front row seat at the ongoing drama of elation, disappointment, achievement, loss, bravery and betrayal that occurs every day in the world of business. This has been the sustaining and motivating privilege of working all these years in the EAP profession. Employees and managers and family members have trusted me to ...