PAThS to employment
Employ-Ability is a charity promoting employment opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people in Harlow and the surrounding area. Phil Edwards describes how use of the cognitive behaviourial PAThS programme has helped many people with mental health problems find and hold down a job.
Employ-Ability has been offering a supported employment service to disabled and disadvantaged people since 1992, starting with one member of staff and expanding in 2003 to a small team of two full-time employment advisers with part-time management support from a specialist agency called Realife Partnership.
During the last five years we have been developing expertise in supporting people with mental health conditions, and the majority of our referrals now come from mental health services - community mental health teams, the local hospital and GPs.
The basic methodology we use to support people into employment is termed supported employment - a process that begins with getting to know a person's strengths, interests and support needs. Having developed a thorough picture of what might be a good job match, we will then work with the person and local employers to identify a suitable vacancy. As the person settles into their new role, ongoing support is provided, inside or outside the workplace as required. This support can also extend to providing support for a job change if the initial placement doesn't work, or if the person wishes to develop their career further.
Supported employment principles state that anyone can work, regardless of impairment, if they are motivated to do so. The issue of whether someone is motivated is complicated and controversial. Sometimes failure to turn up reflects anxiety, rather than lack of motivation. This observation led to research for a programme that could address patterns of helpful and unhelpful thinking, because these thoughts are what ultimately enable or undermine progress.
The programme - Positive Attributional Thinking Skills, or PAThS - is based on the principles of cognitive behaviourism, and was developed and piloted by Judy Proudfoot at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. We decided at Employ-Ability to purchase the programme and pilot it with the help of a grant.
PAThS is a short course run over six weekly sessions, with each session lasting about three hours. The course is subtitled the Psychology of Success and has been designed to help participants increase optimism and the ability to deal with setbacks during job search.
The focus is on learning a positive and helpful style of thinking that will support job seeking behaviour. A key aim is to increase participants' chances of securing a suitable job. However the course demonstrates strategies that can be used in all aspects of life to deal more effectively with rejection and setbacks and develop personal optimism and resilience. The course includes, for example, modules on the 'ABC of success', 'Personal motivating activities', 'Changing unhelpful thoughts' and 'Putting it all together - the winning formula'.
The programme includes short, practical activities, small group work and practice between one week and the next to reinforce the messages delivered during the course.
Having piloted the programme, we secured a Jobcentre Plus contract to run it from June 2003 to June 2005. The contract was to achieve 30 starts and 18 jobs. Our client group were all people who had been unemployed for long periods of time, mostly for more than two years. Twenty-eight had a mental heath condition (some with additional physical disabilities); 19 were men, 11 were women, and their ages ranged from early 20s to mid 50s.
We achieved the 30 starts and 15 people got jobs, with one person going into higher education. Two dropped out because of worsening physical conditions and five because of worsening mental health conditions. Nine of the 15 are still in work - predominantly in fulltime posts.
Success stories
Two of the people still in work were in their early 20s when they took the programme and had never worked, because of their mental heath conditions. One has now qualified in childcare and is a team leader in a children's nursery; another has gone from strength to strength in a retail role (and was recently voted employee of the month).
Another woman in her 40s with an enduring mental heath condition initially dropped out of PAThS because of her anxieties at the thought of a return to work. She then chose to return and completed the programme and we have since supported her through a paid training placement and three different jobs. She is now training as a classroom assistant in a primary school and fulfilling her goal of working with children.
A typical comment from participants when asked why they joined the programme was:
'To improve confidence, and help to find right job'.
Some comments on problems identified during the programme were instructive:
'A couple of participants were very negative and unhelpful.'
Group dynamics were an important factor, and several people did experience setbacks that interrupted, or ended, their involvement in the programme.
Looking back at the programme, there were a number of barriers to success. There was no screening of clients for suitability, either in terms of health condition or educational ability. This is in line with our principles, but it did mean some were not able to complete the programme. Also, some participants did struggle with the need to understand and apply the concepts to their own situations.
Benefits came up on many occasions as a key anxiety when considering a return to work. This is not without foundation, and we have had to advocate strongly for people whose benefits have been cut on spurious grounds.
Long-term mental heath conditions undermine resilience to a significant extent and some people could not move back into work. For instance, one middle aged man with a background in engineering was placed in a large store assembling bikes - a perfect job match. However the job lasted only three days because he was unable to cope even in a very supportive environment.
It is also difficult to believe some people really want to work, given the evidence. However, this is contentious, and sometimes people do return a year later with more interest in being employed.
It is important to maintain a positive feel within each group, and it can be necessary to challenge group members who are consistently pessimistic. If not challenged, people who are making progress may leave because of the impact on their mood.
The programme had an immediate impact on most people, and the first couple of sessions tended to be very lively, with lots of positive thinking. With some people this enthusiasm did wane, and programme assignments were not completed (the assignments are not complicated). However, some of the key ideas, images and metaphors did tend to stay with people - eg. the Reservoir of Resilience - and we could refer to them when people were struggling during their job search.
The programme went through several changes in terms of length of sessions, accessibility of ideas and group activities. The aim was to engage people without diluting the ideas, and to encourage them to try out new ways of thinking and behaving.
The programme gave us a structure and an opportunity to engage with people in a group so they could see, for example, that they are not the only ones feeling as they do.
Supported employment
The PAThS programme on its own would have enabled very few of the participants to progress into work. The supported employment advisers were crucial to progress, and their Effort and Persistence, reinforced with Resilience and Optimism (key PATh programme concepts) had at least to match that of their job seekers.
The supported employment process combines very well with the PAThS strategies and offers many opportunities to reinforce positive work and encourage improved self-image. This is also practically reinforced through the development and implementation of action plans.
Conclusions
It is worth noting that we achieved a 50% return to work rate for a group of people who, without support, usually achieve about a five per cent return rate. The PAThS programme is one of several innovations we have tried to progress people into work, and most have benefits. However, the core principles and practices of supported employment are vital as a framework for these methods, and also to ensure that, while it is legitimate to encourage people towards work, ultimately they remain in charge.
Employ-Ability has been offering a supported employment service to disabled and disadvantaged people since 1992, starting with one member of staff and expanding in 2003 to a small team of two full-time employment advisers with part-time management support from a specialist agency called Realife Partnership.
During the last five years we have been developing expertise in supporting people with mental health conditions, and the majority of our referrals now come from mental health services - community mental health teams, the local hospital and GPs.
The basic methodology we use to support people into employment is termed supported employment - a process that begins with getting to know a person's strengths, interests and support needs. Having developed a thorough picture of what might be a good job match, we will then work with the person and local employers to identify a suitable vacancy. As the person settles into their new role, ongoing support is provided, inside or outside the workplace as required. This support can also extend to providing support for a job change if the initial placement doesn't work, or if the person wishes to develop their career further.
Supported employment principles state that anyone can work, regardless of impairment, if they are motivated to do so. The issue of whether someone is motivated is complicated and controversial. Sometimes failure to turn up reflects anxiety, rather than lack of motivation. This observation led to research for a programme that could address patterns of helpful and unhelpful thinking, because these thoughts are what ultimately enable or undermine progress.
The programme - Positive Attributional Thinking Skills, or PAThS - is based on the principles of cognitive behaviourism, and was developed and piloted by Judy Proudfoot at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. We decided at Employ-Ability to purchase the programme and pilot it with the help of a grant.
PAThS is a short course run over six weekly sessions, with each session lasting about three hours. The course is subtitled the Psychology of Success and has been designed to help participants increase optimism and the ability to deal with setbacks during job search.
The focus is on learning a positive and helpful style of thinking that will support job seeking behaviour. A key aim is to increase participants' chances of securing a suitable job. However the course demonstrates strategies that can be used in all aspects of life to deal more effectively with rejection and setbacks and develop personal optimism and resilience. The course includes, for example, modules on the 'ABC of success', 'Personal motivating activities', 'Changing unhelpful thoughts' and 'Putting it all together - the winning formula'.
The programme includes short, practical activities, small group work and practice between one week and the next to reinforce the messages delivered during the course.
Having piloted the programme, we secured a Jobcentre Plus contract to run it from June 2003 to June 2005. The contract was to achieve 30 starts and 18 jobs. Our client group were all people who had been unemployed for long periods of time, mostly for more than two years. Twenty-eight had a mental heath condition (some with additional physical disabilities); 19 were men, 11 were women, and their ages ranged from early 20s to mid 50s.
We achieved the 30 starts and 15 people got jobs, with one person going into higher education. Two dropped out because of worsening physical conditions and five because of worsening mental health conditions. Nine of the 15 are still in work - predominantly in fulltime posts.
Success stories
Two of the people still in work were in their early 20s when they took the programme and had never worked, because of their mental heath conditions. One has now qualified in childcare and is a team leader in a children's nursery; another has gone from strength to strength in a retail role (and was recently voted employee of the month).
Another woman in her 40s with an enduring mental heath condition initially dropped out of PAThS because of her anxieties at the thought of a return to work. She then chose to return and completed the programme and we have since supported her through a paid training placement and three different jobs. She is now training as a classroom assistant in a primary school and fulfilling her goal of working with children.
A typical comment from participants when asked why they joined the programme was:
'To improve confidence, and help to find right job'.
Some comments on problems identified during the programme were instructive:
'A couple of participants were very negative and unhelpful.'
Group dynamics were an important factor, and several people did experience setbacks that interrupted, or ended, their involvement in the programme.
Looking back at the programme, there were a number of barriers to success. There was no screening of clients for suitability, either in terms of health condition or educational ability. This is in line with our principles, but it did mean some were not able to complete the programme. Also, some participants did struggle with the need to understand and apply the concepts to their own situations.
Benefits came up on many occasions as a key anxiety when considering a return to work. This is not without foundation, and we have had to advocate strongly for people whose benefits have been cut on spurious grounds.
Long-term mental heath conditions undermine resilience to a significant extent and some people could not move back into work. For instance, one middle aged man with a background in engineering was placed in a large store assembling bikes - a perfect job match. However the job lasted only three days because he was unable to cope even in a very supportive environment.
It is also difficult to believe some people really want to work, given the evidence. However, this is contentious, and sometimes people do return a year later with more interest in being employed.
It is important to maintain a positive feel within each group, and it can be necessary to challenge group members who are consistently pessimistic. If not challenged, people who are making progress may leave because of the impact on their mood.
The programme had an immediate impact on most people, and the first couple of sessions tended to be very lively, with lots of positive thinking. With some people this enthusiasm did wane, and programme assignments were not completed (the assignments are not complicated). However, some of the key ideas, images and metaphors did tend to stay with people - eg. the Reservoir of Resilience - and we could refer to them when people were struggling during their job search.
The programme went through several changes in terms of length of sessions, accessibility of ideas and group activities. The aim was to engage people without diluting the ideas, and to encourage them to try out new ways of thinking and behaving.
The programme gave us a structure and an opportunity to engage with people in a group so they could see, for example, that they are not the only ones feeling as they do.
Supported employment
The PAThS programme on its own would have enabled very few of the participants to progress into work. The supported employment advisers were crucial to progress, and their Effort and Persistence, reinforced with Resilience and Optimism (key PATh programme concepts) had at least to match that of their job seekers.
The supported employment process combines very well with the PAThS strategies and offers many opportunities to reinforce positive work and encourage improved self-image. This is also practically reinforced through the development and implementation of action plans.
Conclusions
It is worth noting that we achieved a 50% return to work rate for a group of people who, without support, usually achieve about a five per cent return rate. The PAThS programme is one of several innovations we have tried to progress people into work, and most have benefits. However, the core principles and practices of supported employment are vital as a framework for these methods, and also to ensure that, while it is legitimate to encourage people towards work, ultimately they remain in charge.
Employ-Ability is a charity promoting employment opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people in Harlow and the surrounding area. Phil Edwards describes how use of the cognitive behaviourial PAThS programme has helped many people with mental health problems find and hold down a job.
Employ-Ability has been offering a supported employment service to disabled and disadvantaged people since 1992, starting with one member of staff and expanding in 2003 to a small team of two full-time employment advisers with part-time management support from a specialist agency called Realife Partnership.
During the last five years we have been developing expertise in supporting people with mental health conditions, and the majority of our referrals now come from mental health services - community mental health teams, the local hospital and GPs.
The basic methodology we use to support people into employment is termed supported employment - a process that begins with getting to know a person's strengths, interests and support needs. Having developed a thorough picture of what might be a good job match, we will then work with the person and local employers to identify a suitable vacancy. As the person settles into their new role, ongoing support is provided, inside or outside the workplace as required. This support can also extend to providing support for a job change if the initial placement doesn't work, or if the person wishes to develop their career further.
Supported employment principles state that anyone can work, regardless of impairment, if they are motivated to do so. The issue of whether someone is motivated is complicated and controversial. Sometimes failure to turn up reflects anxiety, rather than lack of motivation. This observation led to research for a programme that could address patterns of helpful and unhelpful thinking, because these thoughts are what ultimately enable or undermine progress.
The programme - Positive Attributional Thinking Skills, or PAThS - is based on the principles of cognitive behaviourism, and was developed and piloted by Judy Proudfoot at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. We decided at Employ-Ability to purchase the programme and pilot it with the help of a grant.
PAThS is a short course run over six weekly sessions, with each session lasting about three hours. The course is subtitled the Psychology of Success and has been designed to help participants increase optimism and the ability to deal with setbacks during job search.
The focus is on learning a positive and helpful style of thinking that will support job seeking behaviour. A key aim is to increase participants' chances of securing a suitable job. However the course demonstrates strategies that can be used in all aspects of life to deal more effectively with rejection and setbacks and develop personal optimism and resilience. The course includes, for example, modules on the 'ABC of success', 'Personal motivating activities', 'Changing unhelpful thoughts' and 'Putting it all together - the winning formula'.
The programme includes short, practical activities, small group work and practice between one week and the next to reinforce the messages delivered during the course.
Having piloted the programme, we secured a Jobcentre Plus contract to run it from June 2003 to June 2005. The contract was to achieve 30 starts and 18 jobs. Our client group were all people who had been unemployed for long periods of time, mostly for more than two years. Twenty-eight had a mental heath condition (some with additional physical disabilities); 19 were men, 11 were women, and their ages ranged from early 20s to mid 50s.
We achieved the 30 starts and 15 people got jobs, with one person going into higher education. Two dropped out because of worsening physical conditions and five because of worsening mental health conditions. Nine of the 15 are still in work - predominantly in fulltime posts.
Success stories
Two of the people still in work were in their early 20s when they took the programme and had never worked, because of their mental heath conditions. One has now qualified in childcare and is a team leader in a children's nursery; another has gone from strength to strength in a retail role (and was recently voted employee of the month).
Another woman in her 40s with an enduring mental heath condition initially dropped out of PAThS because of her anxieties at the thought of a return to work. She then chose to return and completed the programme and we have since supported her through a paid training placement and three different jobs. She is now training as a classroom assistant in a primary school and fulfilling her goal of working with children.
A typical comment from participants when asked why they joined the programme was:
'To improve confidence, and help to find right job'.
Some comments on problems identified during the programme were instructive:
'A couple of participants were very negative and unhelpful.'
Group dynamics were an important factor, and several people did experience setbacks that interrupted, or ended, their involvement in the programme.
Looking back at the programme, there were a number of barriers to success. There was no screening of clients for suitability, either in terms of health condition or educational ability. This is in line with our principles, but it did mean some were not able to complete the programme. Also, some participants did struggle with the need to understand and apply the concepts to their own situations.
Benefits came up on many occasions as a key anxiety when considering a return to work. This is not without foundation, and we have had to advocate strongly for people whose benefits have been cut on spurious grounds.
Long-term mental heath conditions undermine resilience to a significant extent and some people could not move back into work. For instance, one middle aged man with a background in engineering was placed in a large store assembling bikes - a perfect job match. However the job lasted only three days because he was unable to cope even in a very supportive environment.
It is also difficult to believe some people really want to work, given the evidence. However, this is contentious, and sometimes people do return a year later with more interest in being employed.
It is important to maintain a positive feel within each group, and it can be necessary to challenge group members who are consistently pessimistic. If not challenged, people who are making progress may leave because of the impact on their mood.
The programme had an immediate impact on most people, and the first couple of sessions tended to be very lively, with lots of positive thinking. With some people this enthusiasm did wane, and programme assignments were not completed (the assignments are not complicated). However, some of the key ideas, images and metaphors did tend to stay with people - eg. the Reservoir of Resilience - and we could refer to them when people were struggling during their job search.
The programme went through several changes in terms of length of sessions, accessibility of ideas and group activities. The aim was to engage people without diluting the ideas, and to encourage them to try out new ways of thinking and behaving.
The programme gave us a structure and an opportunity to engage with people in a group so they could see, for example, that they are not the only ones feeling as they do.
Supported employment
The PAThS programme on its own would have enabled very few of the participants to progress into work. The supported employment advisers were crucial to progress, and their Effort and Persistence, reinforced with Resilience and Optimism (key PATh programme concepts) had at least to match that of their job seekers.
The supported employment process combines very well with the PAThS strategies and offers many opportunities to reinforce positive work and encourage improved self-image. This is also practically reinforced through the development and implementation of action plans.
Conclusions
It is worth noting that we achieved a 50% return to work rate for a group of people who, without support, usually achieve about a five per cent return rate. The PAThS programme is one of several innovations we have tried to progress people into work, and most have benefits. However, the core principles and practices of supported employment are vital as a framework for these methods, and also to ensure that, while it is legitimate to encourage people towards work, ultimately they remain in charge.
Employ-Ability has been offering a supported employment service to disabled and disadvantaged people since 1992, starting with one member of staff and expanding in 2003 to a small team of two full-time employment advisers with part-time management support from a specialist agency called Realife Partnership.
During the last five years we have been developing expertise in supporting people with mental health conditions, and the majority of our referrals now come from mental health services - community mental health teams, the local hospital and GPs.
The basic methodology we use to support people into employment is termed supported employment - a process that begins with getting to know a person's strengths, interests and support needs. Having developed a thorough picture of what might be a good job match, we will then work with the person and local employers to identify a suitable vacancy. As the person settles into their new role, ongoing support is provided, inside or outside the workplace as required. This support can also extend to providing support for a job change if the initial placement doesn't work, or if the person wishes to develop their career further.
Supported employment principles state that anyone can work, regardless of impairment, if they are motivated to do so. The issue of whether someone is motivated is complicated and controversial. Sometimes failure to turn up reflects anxiety, rather than lack of motivation. This observation led to research for a programme that could address patterns of helpful and unhelpful thinking, because these thoughts are what ultimately enable or undermine progress.
The programme - Positive Attributional Thinking Skills, or PAThS - is based on the principles of cognitive behaviourism, and was developed and piloted by Judy Proudfoot at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. We decided at Employ-Ability to purchase the programme and pilot it with the help of a grant.
PAThS is a short course run over six weekly sessions, with each session lasting about three hours. The course is subtitled the Psychology of Success and has been designed to help participants increase optimism and the ability to deal with setbacks during job search.
The focus is on learning a positive and helpful style of thinking that will support job seeking behaviour. A key aim is to increase participants' chances of securing a suitable job. However the course demonstrates strategies that can be used in all aspects of life to deal more effectively with rejection and setbacks and develop personal optimism and resilience. The course includes, for example, modules on the 'ABC of success', 'Personal motivating activities', 'Changing unhelpful thoughts' and 'Putting it all together - the winning formula'.
The programme includes short, practical activities, small group work and practice between one week and the next to reinforce the messages delivered during the course.
Having piloted the programme, we secured a Jobcentre Plus contract to run it from June 2003 to June 2005. The contract was to achieve 30 starts and 18 jobs. Our client group were all people who had been unemployed for long periods of time, mostly for more than two years. Twenty-eight had a mental heath condition (some with additional physical disabilities); 19 were men, 11 were women, and their ages ranged from early 20s to mid 50s.
We achieved the 30 starts and 15 people got jobs, with one person going into higher education. Two dropped out because of worsening physical conditions and five because of worsening mental health conditions. Nine of the 15 are still in work - predominantly in fulltime posts.
Success stories
Two of the people still in work were in their early 20s when they took the programme and had never worked, because of their mental heath conditions. One has now qualified in childcare and is a team leader in a children's nursery; another has gone from strength to strength in a retail role (and was recently voted employee of the month).
Another woman in her 40s with an enduring mental heath condition initially dropped out of PAThS because of her anxieties at the thought of a return to work. She then chose to return and completed the programme and we have since supported her through a paid training placement and three different jobs. She is now training as a classroom assistant in a primary school and fulfilling her goal of working with children.
A typical comment from participants when asked why they joined the programme was:
'To improve confidence, and help to find right job'.
Some comments on problems identified during the programme were instructive:
'A couple of participants were very negative and unhelpful.'
Group dynamics were an important factor, and several people did experience setbacks that interrupted, or ended, their involvement in the programme.
Looking back at the programme, there were a number of barriers to success. There was no screening of clients for suitability, either in terms of health condition or educational ability. This is in line with our principles, but it did mean some were not able to complete the programme. Also, some participants did struggle with the need to understand and apply the concepts to their own situations.
Benefits came up on many occasions as a key anxiety when considering a return to work. This is not without foundation, and we have had to advocate strongly for people whose benefits have been cut on spurious grounds.
Long-term mental heath conditions undermine resilience to a significant extent and some people could not move back into work. For instance, one middle aged man with a background in engineering was placed in a large store assembling bikes - a perfect job match. However the job lasted only three days because he was unable to cope even in a very supportive environment.
It is also difficult to believe some people really want to work, given the evidence. However, this is contentious, and sometimes people do return a year later with more interest in being employed.
It is important to maintain a positive feel within each group, and it can be necessary to challenge group members who are consistently pessimistic. If not challenged, people who are making progress may leave because of the impact on their mood.
The programme had an immediate impact on most people, and the first couple of sessions tended to be very lively, with lots of positive thinking. With some people this enthusiasm did wane, and programme assignments were not completed (the assignments are not complicated). However, some of the key ideas, images and metaphors did tend to stay with people - eg. the Reservoir of Resilience - and we could refer to them when people were struggling during their job search.
The programme went through several changes in terms of length of sessions, accessibility of ideas and group activities. The aim was to engage people without diluting the ideas, and to encourage them to try out new ways of thinking and behaving.
The programme gave us a structure and an opportunity to engage with people in a group so they could see, for example, that they are not the only ones feeling as they do.
Supported employment
The PAThS programme on its own would have enabled very few of the participants to progress into work. The supported employment advisers were crucial to progress, and their Effort and Persistence, reinforced with Resilience and Optimism (key PATh programme concepts) had at least to match that of their job seekers.
The supported employment process combines very well with the PAThS strategies and offers many opportunities to reinforce positive work and encourage improved self-image. This is also practically reinforced through the development and implementation of action plans.
Conclusions
It is worth noting that we achieved a 50% return to work rate for a group of people who, without support, usually achieve about a five per cent return rate. The PAThS programme is one of several innovations we have tried to progress people into work, and most have benefits. However, the core principles and practices of supported employment are vital as a framework for these methods, and also to ensure that, while it is legitimate to encourage people towards work, ultimately they remain in charge.
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