I was mid-way through my last semester as a master’s degree counseling psychology student at the University of Pennsylvania. Term papers and finals were closing in. For my professional development class, in which topics such as multicultural competence in counseling, community mental health, ethical care and private practice were covered, I had to choose a term paper topic. The professor asked that our topic be important to our professional development and not have been covered extensively in class.

Just as finals and term papers were closing in, so was potential unemployment.

I had yet to find a job (and am still in job search mode!) and unemployment and psychological well-being had not been covered in class. Furthermore, with the recent economic downturn and increasing levels of unemployment, I had been working with several unemployed clients at my internship, and will likely work with unemployed clients in the future. I wanted to know what the research said, regarding the psychological effects of unemployment and also what individuals can do in order to increase their psychological well-being during unemployment.

The research results were not surprising; unemployment and psychological well-being had an inverse relationship, unemployment being correlated with decreased psychological well-being. Decreased psychological well-being included increased anxiety, increased symptoms of depression and decreased self-esteem (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg & Kinicki, 2005).

However, I wish to concentrate on what can be done about the decreased psychological well-being that often results from unemployment.

First, what does the research say? Overall, unemployed individuals who have positive social support experience greater psychological well-being than unemployment individuals who do not have positive social support (McKee-Ryan, Song, Wanberg & Kinicki, 2005). Therefore, I would suggest being sure that positive social support is present in your life, especially since unemployed and employed alike, most people experience a yearning to feel a sense of connectedness with other people (a sense of connectedness that sometimes gets lost when a job is lost). Increased social support can come from a variety of sources, including friends, family, alumni associations, volunteer opportunities, professional organizations, fun extracurricular activities (such as a softball league!), etc.

Keeping a daily schedule/routine has also been shown to increase psychological well-being during unemployment, specifically through increasing self-esteem and decreasing depressed symptoms (Waters & Moore, 2001). Therefore, just because a job is no longer in the picture doesn’t mean a daily routine has to be out the window. A daily routine could include, job searching from 9 A.M. to 12 P.M, getting lunch with a friend, spouse or partner from 12 P.M. to 1 P.M., going for a jog from 1 P.M. to 2 P.M., reading a book from 2 P.M. to 3 P.M., job searching from 3 P.M. to 5 P.M. and then spending time relaxing with family and/or friends from 5 P.M. on. Obviously, the daily routine does not have to be so rigid, but you the idea. The daily routine can be looked as an opportunity to re-connect with family and friends, re-discover a new hobby and not least of which job search.

I wish to also describe an effective technique that counselors often use with clients to increase client self-esteem, known as cognitive restructuring. For instance: An unemployed 30-year-old female Caucasian client who formerly worked as a corporate lawyer (before getting laid off) comes into therapy and says that she “is a loser” because she is unemployed. The therapist could challenge the client’s assertion that she “is a loser” by pointing out to the client specific facts that she has told the therapist, such as that she always received positive performance reviews, that most attorneys at her old law firm were laid off, that she graduated from law school (an accomplishment in and of itself), and that she has been working hard by actively looking for new employment.

I believe that the above intervention is best done by a therapist, due to the unbiased perspective and professional training and experience that counselors and psychologists possess. However, it is also helpful for unemployed individuals to engage in cognitive restructuring whenever those thoughts of “I’m a loser” or “it’s completely my fault” enter the mind.

For more on Unemployment and Psychological Health, look for Part II tomorrow.

Greg Welikson is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education Applied Psychology Program, graduating with a Master’s of Philosophy in Professional Counseling and Psychology. The author can be reached at greg@thecanned.com regarding questions, comments or for a reference list of the sources cited in the article.

Greg Welikson - July 28, 2009 - 11:05 am
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