As a female working professional, it may be beneficial to address your personal workplace worries and to consider how an improved day-to-day experience at the office can not only make you feel more satisfied at work, but also at home and in other areas of your life.
What are some of the common challenges professional women face with regard to their work?
Work-Life Balance
Whether you are a married or single working professional, it can be difficult to strike the proper work-life balance. It is very challenging, especially for mothers or women with obligations beyond the workplace walls, to be able to give their all to every area of life without ever making compromises on either side. You may struggle to find the right way of asking for a flexible work schedule or fear that doing so will incite judgment or stigmatization regarding the quality of your work or productivity.
See our Work-Life Balance page to learn about why a flexible work schedule is so important, as well as our Motherhood Challenges page to learn more about how a lack of flexibility at work can put an additional strain on you and your family.
Discrimination
In the face of discrimination and/or disrespect in the workplace, some women may come to feel that their hard work goes unrecognized or unappreciated. This can lead them to feel unmotivated, unworthy, frustrated, lost, and without purpose, which, without support, could spiral into more severe manifestations of depression and anxiety.
Work is an environment where many go in order to make a living, but also because it stimulates their minds and challenges them to reach beyond their comfort zones to be ambitious, explore, create and experience personal achievement. However, if work is a place where you feel afraid, vulnerable, undermined, embarrassed, silenced, or unsafe, or if it feels like a struggle to bear it all and stay silent in fear of losing your job, you may benefit from counseling in order to understand and navigate the specific ways in which work is taking a toll on your emotional welfare.
Feeling Alone
Sometimes, the mere emotional energy needed to navigate the feelings of loneliness and isolation that some modern working women experience today is enough to leave us feeling depressed, insecure, and unexcited to commute every day. Non-inclusive workplaces, can potentially make women feel socially ignored and professionally undermined, as if they are flawed and an unnecessary burden in the office. The workplace may feel even more isolating if there is a lack of female role models, leaders or colleagues at work with whom to share your mutual experiences and brainstorm ways of coping with these daily challenges.
What can I do to improve my own experience at work / How can therapy help?
For modern day women of all ethnicities and ages, it is crucial to identify whether work is a stressor that causes you unnecessary emotional pain, or a supportive and respectful environment that stimulates growth in a healthy way. If going to work feels like a weight on your chest, it is important to:
- Determine your boundaries and learn how to break down the barriers standing in the way of you being able to assert those boundaries and needs to whomever necessary
- Be able to understand your emotional reactions to certain encounters at work (socially or professionally) and know why they were triggering for you, as well as develop strategies for protecting against them in the future, either internally or through external confrontation (or reporting, if necessary)
- Build a sense of self-esteem and confidence so you can pursue your professional goals ambitiously with a sense of self-trust and confidence, and without judgment, embarrassment or undermining your accomplishments at work
- Find supportive and understanding environments both at home and at work where you can share your professional struggles and speculate ways to more effectively navigate them
At Long Island Psychology, we are dedicated to helping you work through the above challenges. We aim to empower and support you through developing strategies to create the professional opportunities you deserve. To learn more or to speak with one of our psychologists today, call 516-274-7876 or email info@lipsychologist.com. For more information about our Garden City and Rockville Centre, NY locations, please visit our contact us page.
