To Be Met as a Person at Work

Una McCluskey graduated from University College Dublin, did her professional social work training at the University of Edinburgh, and got her PhD from the University of York. She has written extensively on individuals, couple, family and group systems, and has developed her own model for exploring attachment dynamics in adult life. Her research on affect attunement in adult psychotherapy led her to develop a theory of interaction for psychotherapy and particularly to identify and rate the concept of goal corrected empathic attunement. Throughout the last ten years she has been providing courses for workers and experienced professionals in the field of psychology, psychotherapy, social work, medicine, organisational management and development, education, nursing, art therapy, legal practice, religious and pastoral carers, to enable them explore their own dynamics of attachment in adult life as outlined by the work of Heard and Lake and to check its application to their personal and work life. Nicola Neath graduated from York University in English and Philosophy in 1991 and began training as a psychotherapist in 2006, and she has been working with Universities since then. Neath started as a trainee psychotherapist with a Student Counselling Service on a trainee placement, and remained with this service over five years while becoming accredited. She developed her own private practice, counselling, training and coaching with The Baobab Centre, working with various large public and smaller private organisations. This work deepened her skills and a separate opportunity arose to work with an internal Staff Counselling and Psychological Support Service in 2011. This was a chance to synthesise all that she had learnt so far and to build upon her experiences. Neath was supported by the head of the service Sally Rose who suggested she might be interested in the work of McCluskey.

"This book is treasure for all of you who are aware that feelings and emotions matter when we think about how to create a work environment that is healthy for its members and at the same time productive from the organisational perspective. With its emphasis on emotions and feelings grounded on attachment theory, and the development by Dr Una McCluskey, this book will give you as an OD consultant, HR consultant and manager a way to think and intervene when your team is in turmoil or 'stuck' and traditional interventions with more structure, routines and hierarchy seems like a waste of time."–Sven-Erik Viskari, licensed psychologist and senior organisational consultant, Sweden "Nicola and Una write in a warm and accessible way that guides the reader through a rich body of knowledge around what it takes to create more human work environments. For the specialist or for the interested newcomer, this book asks important questions of us as we consider what kind of workplaces we want to be part of. The balance of theory and practical application is just right: the book is a valuable resource to practitioners in the areas of group facilitation, counselling and organisational development and to those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of how people interact at work."–Michael Jenkins, Chief Executive, Roffey Park, Leadership institute, UK and Hong Kong"Remaining human at work amidst the digital revolution poses a particular challenge. In a world in which we are trapped in the prison of busyness, dominated by social media and relationship contact limited to 140 characters, what the authors do is to remind us about the importance of being met as a person at work. They bring our attention to the contribution of Una McCluskey and beautifully synthesise theory and practice. The text is a timely reminder of the importance of what is at the heart of being human, relationships. It is a must-read for all who care about creating mindful and compassionate workplaces in which human relationships, and thus people, can flourish."–Margaret Chapman-Clarke, work psychologist, editor and author Mindfulness in the Workplace: An Evidence-based Approach to Improving Wellbeing and Maximising Performance

• Introduction: exploring the dynamics of attachment and their effect on wellbeing and creativity at work; 1. The application, theory and why try it: exploring the dynamics of attachment and their effect on wellbeing and creativity at work; 2. Introducing GCEA© and TABEIS© for the workplace; 3. The session structure; 4. Careseeking; 5. Caregiving; 6. Self-defence and fear; 7. Interests and interest-sharing with peers; 8. Sex and sexuality in the workplace; 9. The internal environment; 10. The external environment; 11. Final session, review and the application in practice; 12. Conclusion to the pilot; 13. Feedback from participants and what happened next; 14. The integrated person: theories of people at work; Appendices