WORKING WITH ANXIETY

Is working with, or managing, the anxiety of others in your job description? Probably not. Yet whether you’re a chief executive, manager or professional, it’s likely central to the job that you do, and even more so since COVID. I was reminded of this recently reading a 2014 UK book, that I hadn’t come across before by Adrian Ward, called Leadership in Residential Care: A relationship-based Approach. Adrian says that:

“Much of the work that leaders have to do with their teams in the residential child care context is about working with anxiety. This includes the anxiety which staff may feel in relation to their work with the young people, the anxiety which the young people and their families experience in their lives through whatever difficulties have brought them to the place, as well as the anxiety of others about the place and how it works”.

In relation to children and young people, readers who are trauma-informed will be very familiar with the relationship between trauma, anxiety, and emotional pain, whether that be a toddler in foster care, an adolescent in residential care, or a care leaver who has just left care. If we’re being honest, we’d also acknowledge that however well-intentioned we think we are, our systems and how they operate often also unnecessarily contribute to the anxiety that our children and young people experience.

However, what about the anxiety of staff, whether that be colleagues or those that report to you? Staff may be anxious about violence. They may be anxious about failing professionally, being critisised by others, and whether the long hours and personal emotional toll is worth the outcomes achieved. They may also be anxious about job security and how that might impact on them and their families.

And as for the anxiety of others, this is particular clear in residential care settings in relation to the anxiety of neighbours and schools. However, working the anxieties of others is just as important for those who support foster carers, and particularly new foster carers, as well as care leaver workers in their interactions with actual or potential accommodation, education, and training providers. In some jurisdictions and organisations that are under particular stress, we regularly see the anxieties of Ministers and Departmental leaders being reflected and played out in Parliaments, select committees and the media.

While like stress, some anxiety is not necessarily a bad thing and it can and does convey important, sometimes critically important, information. If someone sees that my home is on fire I need them to be sufficiently anxious to rush and call the fire service immediately! However, we also do need to recognise how anxiety shapes the interactions of others with us and our understanding of them and their situation – and indeed when we are experiencing high levels of anxiety ourselves, our interactions with them and their understanding of our situation too.