I was interviewed by Olive Keogh for her Irish Times article “Anxiety in the workplace: ‘Friday Jul 14 2023
Organisational psychologist and psychotherapist Margaret Forde says anxiety is one of the most common reasons people seek her help, so it is good to normalise the conversation around it.
“The thing to remember about anxiety is that it can be managed and that it is possible to break that anxiety loop that people often get caught up in. It’s a question of what works for you, and sometimes people need a bit of help to find it. When people are anxious, they often discount the positives and their perceived ‘failures’ loom much larger than their successes. It’s important to redress the balance.
“I’m a great believer in self-compassion, which is not about letting yourself off the hook. It’s about treating yourself with the kindness you’d extend to someone else in a difficult situation. This helps stabilise your mood and get you into a more creative and functional space instead of being stuck and hard on yourself.
“Anxiety is often disproportionate to achievement, and high achievers can be very anxious,” says Forde. “When you learn to externalise it – and self-awareness helps here – it’s easier to look more objectively at what you’re anxious about and what you fear may happen.”
Read the full article here: