What Can An Organizational Psychiatrist Help With?

Psychiatry is a broad and fascinating field, with many branches designed to help all aspects of human life. In this post, we will look at organization psychiatry, a branch of psychiatry that specializes in diagnosing and treating mental health issues commonly observed in workplace environments. Are certain career fields more associated with mental health conditions like anxiety or depression than others? Ahead, we’ll explain how organizational psychiatrists can help individuals and companies resolve issues at work.

What is organizational psychiatry?

Organizational psychiatry looks at the mental health of people in the workplace. The work environment can be an area of intense stress, and organizational psychiatry seeks to evaluate how workers behave in these contexts.

An organizational psychiatrist will go into a work environment and study how the people function. Often, they are called upon by people who want to improve their productivity or workplace morale. The organizational psychiatrist will look for ways to improve the organization's overall health, which may involve changing leadership structures, workflows, and communication styles. Here are some common questions organizational psychiatrists might ask when examining a work environment:

• What are the rules and principles of the workplace? Are they implemented consistently or are there double standards?
• How do employees interact with each other? What types of behaviors need to change?
• How does the overall morale of the business work? How do employees respond to a crisis or significant stress?
• How does everyone respond to a change in the business? What can be done better to implement the change?

An organizational psychiatrist helps during a crisis or simply when a workplace desires to improve its functioning. If the workplace doesn’t maintain the healthiest environment, the business may deteriorate. An organizational psychiatrist can help by looking at the various ways a business can improve.

How do organizational psychiatrists help?

Organizational psychiatrists can help with all kinds of workplace-based conflicts. One of their most common endeavors is to improve workplace culture, which could entail resolving conflicts among employees and/or supervisors. Conflicts may result from scheduling and assigning work hours or disagreeing on how to advertise a new product, for example. An organizational psychiatrist can empathize with both sides and help them find a solution to satisfy everyone.

Perhaps you believe that your business can improve its productivity. An organizational psychiatrist can certainly help in this regard. They have likely worked with many other businesses and analyzed various leadership structures, and may be well-equipped to help you optimize workflows and specific processes, such as product development or social media engagement. Maybe you’re investing way too much time or money into one area when investing it in another area could help you reach your goals more efficiently. It’s helpful to be open to constructive criticism when working with an organizational psychiatrist, as it is essentially their job to identify loopholes or hurdles in your company’s functioning.

Some jobs are more prone to their employees developing mental health conditions – like anxiety and depression – than others. Healthcare workers, emergency first responders, teachers, social workers, and customer service representatives are just a few career fields that are likely to involve higher levels of stress, trauma, or exposure to violence and death. Prolonged immersion in stressful environments may lead to employee burnout. When employees quit abruptly or have to go on medical leave due to stress-related injuries or illnesses, that will inevitably cause disruptions in workflow and workplace morale.

Organizational psychiatrists can identify workplace stressors and make suggestions for building a healthier, more sustainable work environment. They can make recommendations for ways to support employees who will go through inevitable stress. Perhaps your company could use a relaxation room where employees can take a time out and cool down. Others might benefit from having in-house counseling services for de-briefing traumatic experiences. The organizational psychiatrist’s suggestions will depend on the type of work environment.

Collaborating with an online organizational psychologist

After the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses transitioned to a fully or partially online mode. Even before the massive transition to remote work, many other businesses were already operating completely online. These types of companies, in particular, may benefit from the expertise of an online organizational psychologist.

Online counseling platforms like MyTherapist enable employees and company leaders to book virtual sessions at convenient times – there’s no need to reschedule important meetings or leave work early to travel to an in-person therapist’s office. 

Online therapy has also been proven to be as effective as in-person therapy in mitigating the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). If your work environment is ripe for developing symptoms of these types of mental health conditions, it can be worthwhile to seek online support before symptoms compound over time.

Takeaway

As businesses grow and evolve, it is important to “check the pulse” of employee wellbeing, company workflows, and interpersonal relations. If you are an employee or manager and experiencing difficulty in these areas, or you anticipate that an upcoming transition will cause distress within the company, there is no shame in asking for help. An organizational psychiatrist can help you in many ways. So can an online behavioral therapist, who can listen to your problems and help provide solutions and plan goals to make your career as successful as possible. Invest in your company’s and employees’ health by reaching out to MyTherapist today.