Leticia Martínez Val: "Much of work stress arises from relationships".

Psychologist Leticia Martínez Val talks to us about Third Generation Therapies and work stress.

When we think about the concept of work, it is easy to end up seeing everything in terms of rational calculation: How much money is the hour worked?How much money is an hour's work worth? How many tasks have to be performed in a working day?

While these considerations are necessary, they are not enough to understand how a job will suit us (or vice versa); there are also psychological variables to take into account. And not paying attention to them can cost us a good part of our health.

That is why it is it is essential to know what work-related stress is.The psychologist Leticia Martínez Val explains it to us in this interview.

Interview with Leticia Martínez Val: work-related stress and Third Generation Therapies

Leticia Martínez Val is a health psychologist with a practice in Zaragoza and specialized in Third Generation Therapies.. In this interview she talks to us about the application of these therapeutic tools applied to work-related stress.

What common element do the different Third Generation Therapies share?

First Generation Therapies were carried out at the beginning of the 20th century and were a revolution at that time, since for the first time science began to be done on disorders of the mind. Scientific rigor and the development of techniques based on empirically validated learning laws were sought.

Until that time, the usual were the psychoanalytic therapies of Freud and his disciples, where his contribution to the field of thought and general culture seems to me incalculable, but it does not belong to the field of science, at least as we know it today.

The Second Generation Therapies emerged in the mid-twentieth century, and although the behavior modification techniques of the First Generation are still maintained, thinking is introduced as the main variable to explain the disorders. It was no longer only the observable behaviors of Pavlov's dog, among others, that were important, but also people's thoughts and beliefs. This second wave was called cognitive-behavioral.

Third Generation Therapies emerged at the end of the 20th century, although many of them began to be designed decades earlier, and are qualitatively different from the previous ones.

In this case, they are not oriented to reduce cognitive symptoms and thus alter behaviors (we modify thinking and limiting beliefs in order to alter problem behaviors), but they focus on altering the function of the symptom, modifying the context in which it occurs (the disorder is not in the person, but the person is in a problematic situation that has to learn to solve in another way (change strategies). I would say that Third Generation therapies have in common: focus on the present, radical acceptance, shared compassion-humanity, and activation-confrontation.

People have thoughts and emotions that we tend to label as positive or negative. Both are equally ineffective, since we will tend to cling or stick to positive thoughts and emotions, so when an unpleasant or painful event happens we will feel deeply unhappy because we do not want to leave the state of constant happiness that we believe is normal (let's not talk about how much social networks can influence this issue and constantly compare ourselves with those apparently perfect and happy IG lives). This makes all thoughts and emotions that we label as negative we want to reject them, because if something doesn't bring me pleasure or happiness we will want to avoid it. This is not living in life!

Just the fact of living already implies that painful situations are going to happen, and the first step is to accept this. Embrace the idea that we will be able to remain attentive and stable in these situations. We must learn to tolerate discomfort, so we will know how to better savor and appreciate the sweet moments, which there will also be.

So the general proposal of the Third Generation Therapies I believe is clarity, to keep us attentive and calm to learn to manage the thoughts-emotions as neutral and consciously decide how we are going to solve it. Because believe me, in this life except death, everything has a solution. Through meditation and other techniques, we can develop the patience necessary to learn to wait. We are in the time of immediacy. This cannot be so.

As a psychologist, what made you want to train in this type of psychotherapeutic intervention?

My initial training revolved around cognitive-behavioral therapy (second generation), which is still the model of choice for many professionals today. It is very effective, but in my practice, it is limited.

My life and professional experience made me not want to conform, there had to be other models that could generate a transformative experience for people who were suffering, there had to be a way to address all the casuistry of problems that came to consultation.

I began to read Jaakko Seikkula and his wonderful proposal in Open Dialogue Therapy, Marsha Linehan and her Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Hayes and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, etc.

At the same time I had wonderful mentors in my immersion in the Systemic Family Model who inspired me deeply and I saw very clearly that my path should continue in neuroscience, what I consider the new therapeutic revolution, so I started my adventure in the world of Research, specifically in the field of Mindfulness, Self Compassion and Contemplative Sciences. In short, in Third Generation Therapies. The first step to change was to change yourself. And that's what I did.

What are the aspects of Third Generation Therapies that you find most useful in the face of frequent psychological problems in the workplace?

The most frequent problems in the workplace that come to consultation are usually relational. This means that much of the work stress we generate is associated with other people and our interaction with them, it arises from relationships.

We suffer in solitude but we share our life and work space with other people, so I think it is important to apply a systemic vision to therapy and teach patients to improve their way of relating and interpreting the world.

The first step we will give the patient is to calm down, give him/her support and help him/her to let go.

Interpersonal conflict resolution training is also highly effective. Here we will work on self-esteem, mindfulness and clarity training to make a correct interpretation of the facts. Only by being calm and with a clear mind will we be able to resolve conflict situations. To be at peace.

What you feel matters. What you think matters, and you have to learn to communicate correctly your desires and needs. Let what you say represent and define you. Not communicating in a clear and precise way generates that you do it in a reactive way, and that often makes us feel sorry for what we have said in a discussion. We could call it "authenticity of emotion".

In the case of work-related stress, what are the techniques linked to Third Generation Therapies that are most effective?

Work stress usually brings with it depression, generalized anxiety, sleep disorders, eating disorders, somatic disorders (pain, physical discomfort), aggressiveness and permanent stress, fear and anguish, emotional blockage and loss of self-esteem, among others.

The most used techniques would be Mindfulness, discomfort tolerance, emotional regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Therapeutic bonding and presence are added to this.

Is work stress experienced in very different ways depending on the type of work being performed? For example, perhaps in more creative jobs it has some particularities compared to public-facing tasks, compared to professional sports.

Job stress is experienced in the same way, what is usually a differentiating factor are the particularities of them. The most important thing in a therapeutic process is to adapt as much as possible to the patient and help him/her to satisfactorily resolve his/her fears and symptoms, whatever they may be.

For example, someone who is famous will be more likely to work on the management of his private life and his exposure to public life, his pressure will be more oriented to the idea of "responsibility" in front of hundreds, thousands or millions of people, to the idea of being in good physical shape, etc.

And someone working in front of the public will have other kinds of particularities that generate stress, but in the end, both will experience for example insomnia, lack of or increased appetite, self-esteem problems, fear of failure, panic attacks, etc.

From the beginning of the psychotherapy process, how long does it usually take to manage and mitigate work stress?

It all depends on the person, but the average time usually ranges from two months to a year.

There is a popular belief that therapy is a long and tedious process that takes years and yields few results. And nothing could be further from that. Nowadays, therapies are brief and focused on objectives. We want the patient to feel well as soon as possible and not to chronify the symptoms.