How solution focused support helps women through work‐home conflict

Abstract

While work‐home conflict has well‐established negative outcomes, few studies explore how this might be resolved. This study explored the delivery and outcomes of a three‐session workplace intervention delivered by a non‐specialist counsellor to women with high work‐home conflict, using solution‐focused therapy (SFT). Transcripts from the counselling sessions provided the key data for the study. Participants had unique combinations of conflict, and unique levels of self‐assessed success in developing and sticking to their solutions. These perspectives are spillover (home or work affect each other), segmenting (demands are ring‐fenced in one domain) and compensation (demands in one domain are balanced with contributions to the other). Although the specific solutions generated may not be new to “outsiders”, they were to these women, and were unlikely to have been undertaken without the intervention.

Citation

McKenna, J. and Mackey Jones, W. (2004), "How solution focused support helps women through work‐home conflict", Health Education, Vol. 104 No. 3, pp. 132-142. https://doi.org/10.1108/09654280410534531