The climate of intolerance, anger and, to put it bluntly, hatred that has blossomed over the past four years has employed Jessi Eden Brown as a professional trainer for the Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI) and a private psychotherapy practice in Seattle. According to the WBI, workplace bullying targets were increasingly reporting bold assaults, debilitating sabotage, and bullying from known or suspected opposition to the Trump administration. Brown has seen this trend in her private practice and in her coaching work at WBI. In the weeks surrounding the insurgent attack in the US Capitol, two of Brown's clients reported that workplace harassment had escalated into damage to personal property.
"One had scratched" Trump 2020 "in the hood of his employee on the hood of his car," says Brown, a licensed professional advisor. "And the other one told me that his locker was broken in [and] the contents [were] which were soaked in red paint the day after the uprising in the US Capitol."
The division between mask wearers and anti-maskers during the pandemic has also resulted in a harmful type of bullying, Brown says. “For example, a client told me that three workplace bullies have had 'false coughs' in their direction for months, often followed by giggles and the occasional obscene gesture . She said she was considering reporting the problem to Human Resources or management, but her final complaint resulted in retaliation. So she decided to ignore it and keep wearing a mask. "
The pandemic has also contributed to an increase in bullying in other ways, says Brown. "At the beginning of the pandemic, many of my clients reported an overwhelming sense of relief when they switched to remote work [and were] that no longer had to face their bullies in person," she explains. “Bullying tactics like micromanagement, non-verbal intimidation, and public humiliation have been tempered by distance. For some clients, however, this period of calm was short-lived as bullies began to arm the very technology we rely on to work from home. Customers told me that their invitations to important Zoom meetings were "somehow overlooked". They talked about the relative ease with which bullies manipulate reports and documents, cleverly overcrowding their posts, and minimizing the value of the target. "
Brown's customers have also reported feelings of increasing isolation as they experience increasing levels of resource gatekeeping.
The economic collapse caused by the pandemic is also used as a weapon, according to Brown. A client's boss regularly threatens, "This is not the time to be out of work, so you really don't want to screw up next week's presentation."
Brown says understandably most of her bullied clients fear leaving their jobs during the pandemic, despite the abuse they face.
“Sometimes there are opportunities to push back and stand up for yourself. In other cases, this can only make the situation worse, ”she says, noting that the outcome is highly situational. “I work with my clients to explore their options and, if possible, to focus on their health again. Setting boundaries, increasing self-sufficiency, and looking for ways to deal with pain and frustration – all of these could help the client survive on the job until the outlook is more positive. "
"Some of my clients have reached their absolute limits in dealing with aggressors in the workplace and have chosen to step down, switch, or early retirement despite the extraordinary uncertainty of a global pandemic," Brown continues. “A client takes the opportunity to return to school and change her career in a different direction. The other takes some time, lives on savings and repairs his health – he knows that he has a financial cushion of exactly six months. As that deadline gets closer we will plan the next steps and ideally he will rejoin the workforce and feel a little charged and focus on creating a fresh start. "
These are difficult counseling situations, Brown admits, and she is sometimes concerned about the safety of her clients. "I first listen to her account of the incident so that the client can deal with the fear, anger, confusion, and vulnerability that come with the persecution," she says. "From there we talk about all the small steps to help the customer feel more secure."
For example, since his house keys and wallet were in the locker when someone broke into the locker, Brown's customer decided to change all of his locks at home and add two more security cameras to his home system.
In cases where bullying may be criminal, Brown and her clients discuss whether to file a police report or take other formal action, weighing the costs and benefits of those decisions.
“I also do research and pass on specific resources that could provide additional support to my client, such as B. Support groups for victims of hate crimes, PTSD groups [posttraumatic stress disorder] … Unfortunately, "she says," things continue to get worse in our country. In society it is a challenge to help these people regain a sense of security what we often recognize and address openly. "
“I've seen the combined effects of a divisive Trump administration, a deadly global pandemic, and intense racial reckoning that have left some of my clients with traumatic injuries. Often, "Brown concludes," I think that the repair and healing work we do in therapy is just beginning and even more difficult times are ahead. "
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COVID-19 has largely redefined where people work, how people work, and what workplace challenges employees face when trying to make ends meet. Read more in the article “We're Working Our Way Through the Pandemic” in the March 2021 issue of Counseling Today.
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Laurie Meyers is a senior writer for Counseling Today. Contact them at [email protected].
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It should not be assumed that opinions or statements in articles appearing on CT Online represent the opinions of the editors or guidelines of the American Counseling Association.
