8 Groupwork Vol. 18(2), 2008, pp.8-25 Jerome Carson and Paul Dennison Groupwork Vol. 18(2), 2008, pp.8-25. © Whiting & Birch Ltd, 2008. DOI: 10.1921/81122 The role of groupwork in tackling organisational burnout: two contrasting perspectives Jerome Carson 1 and Paul Dennison 2 Abstract: The issue of occupational burnout is a concern to managers as it impacts on the quality of client care. Burnout is said to comprise three elements. These are a high level of emotional exhaustion, a low sense of personal accomplishment and the development of an unfeeling, so-called depersonalised approach towards service users. In this paper, we describe two contrasting approaches that used groupwork to tackle the problem of staff stress and burnout in mental health workers. The first used three-day self-esteem workshops. The second used staff support groups that were run fortnightly over a five-year period. Both approaches have their merits. While the concept of burnout is essentially a negative one, there may be a role for developing alternative approaches based on positive psychology and attachment theory. Key words: burnout; occupational stress; positive psychology; self-esteem workshops; staff support groups; psychodynamic approaches; attachment theory. Acknowledgement The first author is grateful to Professor Elizabeth Kuipers who supervised his doctoral dissertation on staff stress and to all the staff who participated in the workshops. 1. Consultant Clinical Psychologist 2. Consultant Adult Psychotherapist Addresses for correspondence: Dr Jerome Carson, Consultant Clinical Psychologist, South-West Sector CMHT, 380 Streatham High Road, Streatham, London SW16 6HP, England. jerome.carson@slam.nhs.uk. Dr Paul Dennison, Consultant Psychotherapist, St Thomas’ Hospital, Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH paul.dennison@slam.nhs.uk.