Lisa Irving - Clinical Psychologist
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Ten Dos and Don'ts for Supporting Work Related PTSD (psychological injuries and workplace bullying)

 

Understanding psychological injury, recovery, and return to work

A 10-page downloadable PDF for employers, human resource managers, and team leaders in the organisation wanting to learn how to help people who have psychological injuries, which might include work-related PTSD and workplace bullying.

Why This Matters Now

Experiencing a traumatic incident at work can change how you feel about your job, your safety, and your future. Many people find that once work, workers’ compensation, and return-to-work processes begin, things can quickly feel confusing or overwhelming.

PTSD and psychological injury are now recognised as workplace health and safety issues. This means recovery is influenced not only by treatment, but also by how workplaces and systems respond .

Understanding what is happening — and why — can make a significant difference to how steady and supported injured workers feel during this process.

Common Challenges for Injured Workers

Many injured workers describe feeling unsure about what to expect after a psychological injury.

You may find yourself questioning:

  • Why your reactions feel so strong or unpredictable

  • Why work contact feels helpful one day and distressing the next

  • What your workplace or IMC expects from you

  • How return-to-work decisions are made

  • What is reasonable to ask for during recovery

Without clear information, it’s easy to feel blamed, pressured, or misunderstood — even when others are trying to help.

What This PDF Provides

This PDF offers clear, practical Dos and Don'ts when working with psychological injuries/ PTSD/ workplace bullying claims in a workplace context.

It is designed to help you understand what to say and do. 

The focus is on understanding, not fixing.

 

Who This PDF Is For

This course is suitable for:

  • Employers who have workers experiencing psychological injury after a workplace incident

  • Employers who have workers navigating workers’ compensation or return-to-work processes

  • Employers wanting to better understand what’s happening for the worker, and how to help them feel psychologically safe.

No mental health or system knowledge is required.

No prior knowledge of mental health or psychology is required.

What Participants Will Gain

After reading this PDF, you may:

  • Better understand what to do and not do when working with workers with PTSD in a workplace context

  • Feel more confident communicating with your worker

  • Develop a plan at the end as to what skills you want to practice 

  • Compare some outcome measures before and after practicing these skills

    - decreased workers compensation costs per worker

    - faster return to work 

 

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PDF Format

  • Ten paged document

  • Short, structured - brief easy to understand ideas and concepts

  • Can be completed gradually and revisited as needed

    Important Note

    This PDF is not therapy.

    It is workplace education designed to support psychologically safer responses following workplace trauma.

Early 2026 Support Offer: Currently have a three for one course offer available seperate to the PDF

To support injured workers navigating recovery and return to work early in the year, January enrolments in the PTSD in the Workplace – Injured Worker course include access to two additional courses at no extra cost.

This means your enrolment includes:

  • Your course as the injured worker, and

  • One course you may share with your employer or workplace representative, and

  • One course you may share with your Injury Management Consultant (IMC)

Sharing access is entirely optional and remains under your control.

Why This Can Be Helpful

Psychological injury recovery is often influenced by how well everyone involved understands what is happening and what is reasonable during recovery and return-to-work planning.

When employers and IMCs have access to the same clear, practical information:

  • Communication can feel calmer and more consistent

  • Expectations around recovery and work capacity are often more realistic

  • You may feel less pressure to explain or justify your experience

  • Return-to-work discussions can feel more collaborative and less confronting

This offer is designed to support shared understanding, not obligation.

Important to Know

  • Each enrolment is separate and confidential

  • No information is shared between participants

  • Your employer or IMC does not see your progress or responses

  • You decide whether, when, and with whom to share access

Access the January Offer

Enrol now to receive access to all three courses as part of the January support offer

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Call To Action

Understanding What’s Happening

This course explains PTSD in clear, everyday language.
It helps you understand common reactions after trauma and how these can affect work and capacity.
The focus is on normalising your experience rather than pathologising it.

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Knowing What to Expect

Recovery often involves multiple people and systems.
This course helps clarify the roles of employers, IMCs, and workplaces, and what the WC system involves.
The emphasis is on reducing uncertainty and confusion.

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Feeling More Confident to Engage

Clear information supports steadier communication.
This course helps you understand boundaries, expectations, and how to participate in discussions without over-explaining or over-extending yourself.
The focus is on supporting sustainable recovery and return-to-work pathways.

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About the Course Facilitator

This course is developed and delivered by Lisa Irving, Clinical Psychologist and founder of Revive Health and Happiness.

Over many years of clinical work, Lisa has supported individuals affected by workplace trauma, as well as workplaces navigating the complexities of psychological injury, recovery, and return to work. Through this work, she has seen firsthand how well-intentioned people can feel unsure, constrained, or fearful of getting things wrong — often at the very moments when clarity and steadiness matter most.

Much of Lisa’s writing and professional advocacy has focused on the gap between what workplaces intend and how experiences of psychological injury are actually lived. In particular, she has written about how systems, language, and responses — not just symptoms — shape recovery outcomes.

These courses were created in response to a recurring pattern Lisa observed across industries:
people at work wanting to do the right thing, but lacking a shared, practical understanding of PTSD and psychosocial risk in a workplace context.

Rather than positioning psychological injury as an individual problem to be managed behind closed doors, this course reflects Lisa’s belief that safer outcomes emerge when workplaces develop shared understanding, clear boundaries, and consistent responses.

The aim is not to turn workplaces into therapists, but to support people to act with confidence, care, and appropriate responsibility — in ways that support recovery while respecting roles, limits, and organisational realities.

 

Enroll now to gain immediate access to the course.

Suitable for individuals, teams, and organisations.

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Shared Understanding Supports Better Outcomes

Recovery is influenced not only by treatment, but by how well everyone involved understands what is happening.

When expectations are unclear or communication is misaligned, recovery and return-to-work processes can become more difficult. Shared understanding supports calmer communication, more realistic planning, and smoother progress over time.

This course is designed to support that shared foundation — while keeping your choice and control at the centre.

 

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