Being a general practitioner not only confers a certain status but also the privilege of people disclosing to me matters they would not disclose to anybody else. It is as a hypnotherapist that sometimes I am best able to help these people. Over the years there is a pattern that I have observed that I believe is important to those in the business field and I want to share it with you. You will be aware that a certain amount of stress is necessary. It provides the incentive and the energy in which to achieve that which may not otherwise occur. Too much stress and a person's emotional system breaks down and consequently the performance becomes ineffective. Business managers need to understand that human beings are not machines, have limits, and do respond to the circumstances they are in. Continual or excessive stress is also not good. We all need to calm down and chill out. Without this, body and mind are not able to recover and long term health suffers. Take a person who is stressed at work. It does not matter whether it is the demands of the job; work colleagues acting to undermine; or the clients to be served being unreasonable; the effects are the same. The individual may be able to respond to that stress, gain respite at home where they can chill out and calm down. Essentially the person’s well-being is maintained. Take a second person who is stressed at home. This may be due to relationship issues, or the health problems of others; again it matters little what they are. This person comes to work, whilst still doing the job well uses the workplace as a de-stressor from the issues at home. It does not mean that the person will bring the problems from home to work or require colleagues at work to solve the problems, work is a place where they can take the mind of the problems at home. The person can complete their work and be refreshed to deal with matters at home. Now take a third person, one who has stress both at work and at home. It is this I call the double whammy. The person is under attack at work and home and has no respite. Inevitably something must give, usually the person's health. So what can corporate managers do? Firms, large and small alike should be aware of the amount of stress that individual employees are under. They will know how much stress is generated by the demands of the job itself. Good managers will set targets and deadlines that will maximise the output, whatever that output is, within the person’s capacity without at this time necessarily stretching it. But what managers cannot know unless their employees inform them is how much external stress a particular person has. In this situation the employee will want time and to reduce the stress of work so that work can be used as the respite from the stresses at home. This does not mean that the employee wants a cushy number or to contribute any less. They just want the understanding that they are already operating at the limits and for a period of time cannot take on any extra duties or targets. Such a policy will pay dividends to the firm because their employee who knows the role, will not need replacing. Furthermore in due course the employee will feel more loyal to the firm because the firm responded to the personal needs when required. As a hypnotherapist if there are issues that I can help with, be it in the workplace or at home I would be delighted to do so.