The (dis)stressing effects of working in (dis)stressed homelessness organisations

Purpose - This paper aims to offer a critical analysis of the potentially traumatising nature of working with (dis)stressed and traumatised people with complex needs who are homeless. It also seeks to provide a commentary on the contribution of Psychologically Informed Services: A Good Practice Guide in addressing the impact of these difficult dynamics upon workers, teams and organisations.Design methodology approach - The paper is an invited piece and is based on the specialist experience and viewpoint of the authors working as psychotherapists with a background in therapeutic community work and of their experience of reflective practice and team development consultancy with teams working in homelessness services.Findings - With increasing demand and more restricted funding for homelessness resettlement services, the authors raise issues in the complex interaction of institutional and social and interpersonal dilemmas for staff "stuck in the middle" between the (dis)stressing nature of clients' "unhoused" minds and the (dis)stressed response of the systems of care. A group-analytic, systems psychodynamics approach is used to shed light upon the risks to workers when services do not make time to reflect upon these (dis)stressing and potentially traumatising dynamics. They also point towards some of the personal and professional characteristics required in consulting to staff teams and agencies working with such complex dynamics.Originality value - The new operational guidance is welcomed, however, the authors suggest that the successful implementation of Psychologically Informed Environments (PIEs) is reliant on the capacity of any given organisation to build effective cultures and structures to support the development of reflective practice and team development.