Is it OK to Miss School or Work for Counselling Appointments?
With many of us having returned to school and/or work ‘in person’ in 2022, the need for mental health services has continued to be substantial. This has resulted in many services creating or expanding their waitlists, particularly for those seeking later counselling appointments following the school or workday. This is an unfortunate reality for many clients, as a mental health clinic we have seen the additional stress that can be placed on one who is already struggling personally and in need of immediate help. A primary obstacle for many looking to not only begin their counselling journey, is having the ability to book and attend sessions consistently. Many are hesitant to miss school and/or work to attend daytime appointments. Due to the demands of school/ work schedules and their requirements, the majority of people feel they are unable to attend daytime appointments. They feel they aren’t ‘allowed to’ by their school and/or employer. Some may also be unaware of the laws regarding missing school or work for counselling appointments. In an ideal world, no matter what someone’s job is or when classes take place, occasional missed periods of time for the purposes of attending counselling appointments would not only be permitted by employers and educational institutions, but promoted. For the average working person, there are often two main reasons why it is difficult to attend daytime counselling appointments. The first reason would be the stigma that still exists around seeking mental health treatment, especially within the workplace. While many employers have made positive steps towards reducing this stigma, I have heard many accounts by clients regarding their feelings that their employer doesn’t care and provides little to no support. Due to this, employees often don’t view counselling appointments as a priority compared to other common medical appointments. Another reason people often see it as difficult to attend daytime counselling appointments is the belief that one can push through their stress while holding the belief that work comes first. In North America, at no fault of our own, we have developed the belief that we wait until we are unwell to seek help, as opposed to practicing a healthy lifestyle (which includes a work-life balance, mental health care, etc.) Just as with any other health issue, the earlier one seeks counselling can correlate to how effective the treatment can be. This can help reduce the impact on our employment, schooling, friends, family, physical health, etc. Students face similar challenges to the one’s discussed above, but also have their own unique ones. If we look at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had, and continues to have on children/teens when it comes to their mental health and success in the school environment; factors such as altered brain development, inconsistent in-person social interaction, teacher burnout, and family/home stressors, have played significant role in their struggles today. The impact of the above factors on children and teens’ mental health includes: increased instances of depressed mood, irritability, sleep disturbances, increased need to spend time alone, decreased [...]