From 2011 to 2012, 1.1 million workers were impacted by work related stress, lack of professional support and bullying (Health and Safety Executive, 2013). “Burnout” is not easily defined but it can be described as a phenomenon that affects both the personal and professional dimensions of an individual’s life. This study investigates counselling psychologists’ experience and management of “burnout” using the qualitative method of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Six qualified counselling psychologists from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and the United States of America were interviewed via telephone. The three main themes that were found are: (1) “batteries run out” which includes the physical and emotional effects, as well as the disillusionment of the reality of the profession, (2) “Prisoner of an eroding system” describes the professional dimension of the experience such as locus of control, effect on client work, boundaries and values, and (3) “Recharging the batteries” which gives an insight into how the participants managed their experience, such as their personal view of “burnout”, the issue of reclaiming their space and time, as well as the role of support. Overall, there was an underlying sense that the participants wanted to be taken care of by others but were unable to ask for help. The relevance of this study to the field of Counselling Psychology is discussed in relation to theory and professional practise. The limitations and shortcomings of this investigation are highlighted and suggestions for future research are made.

This thesis investigates workplace cyberbullying, defined as a situation where over time, an individual is repeatedly subjected to perceived negative acts conducted through technology (for example, phone, email, web sites, social media) which are related to their work context. In this situation the target of workplace cyberbullying has difficulty defending him or herself against these actions. The thesis has two broad aims: (1) to develop a workplace cyberbullying measurement scale; and (2) to investigate the impact of workplace cyberbullying on employees. Workplace cyberbullying is conceptualised in this thesis by drawing on the traditional workplace bullying and cyberbullying literature. A rationale is presented for investigating it as a distinct form of workplace bullying and four separate studies address the development of the workplace cyberbullying measure (WCM). The first study generated measurement items by asking employees to describe cyberbullying behaviours. The behaviours were sorted into categories using content analysis and converted into measurement items. In the second study, the relative severity of each item was assessed so that the measure could be weighted according to severity. In the third study, the 34 item WCM was completed by a sample of 424 employees. A two factor structure (comprising work-related cyberbullying and person-related cyberbullying) was compared to a unidimensional factor structure and the measure was refined into a 17 item instrument. During the fourth study the nomological network of the WCM was constructed and further reliability and validity evidence was obtained. The fifth and final study then used the WCM to investigate the impact of workplace cyberbullying within a theoretical framework. The theoretical and practical contributions of the studies are discussed along with directions for future research.

The author’s objective was to establish if Emotional Intelligence (EI) influences work related stress among Irish Civil Servants. EI is the ability to perceive, understand and regulate one’s own feelings and emotions along with those of others essential for daily functioning. Work related stress is the perceived inability to cope due to an imbalance between demands and resources, leading to fatigue, irritability and poor communication which can challenge interpersonal and intrapersonal functioning. Stress management through EI helps workers reappraise workplace demands helping them cope. Schutte et al. (1998) Assessing Emotions Scale (AES) was employed to measure EI within the Irish Civil Service. A customised self-reported questionnaire obtained participants socio-demographic information pertaining to gender and age. An adapted Occupational stress Index (OSI) developed by Srivastava and Singh (1981) was used to measure perceived occupational stress levels among Irish Civil Servants, determining whether EI is a meditating factor of work-related stress. It is suggested that occupational stress scores reflect levels of EI influenced by one’s ability to adapt and cope through the appraisal, regulation, management and utilisation of emotions rather than what a job entails. Contrary to empirical research the inferences drawn indicated that the null hypotheses were accepted. H01: Global EI does not correlate with perceived occupational stress among Irish Civil Servants. H02: Global EI does not predict perceived occupational stress when accounting for age and gender. Further exploration was done using the three components of occupational stress: role ambiguity, role overload and role conflict. Age was the only variable factor which significantly contributed to role ambiguity, rejecting H02. It is suggested that Human Resource Management evaluate the organisational role structure to mitigate any risk of occupational stress. Employees could develop self-focused EI as it is believed to have positive effects on psychological and physiological occupational well-being.