Pharmacy Assistant Jessica’s Success with Work-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: An Ascellus Study

Pharmacy Assistant Jessica contracted COVID-19 while on the job and experienced lingering mental and physical effects. She felt elevated anxiety because of her experience with the virus and continued to have headaches and body aches post-recovery. The frustration and helplessness she experienced led her to Ascellus for a Health and Behavior Assessment. 

Jessica and her therapist worked together to set treatment goals, which included reducing emotional distress and anxiety, applying mindfulness techniques and learning healthy coping mechanisms to effectively manage stress. Functional improvement was measured on a scale of 0-10 before and after treatment in four categories: work preparedness, stamina and performance, mental focus and flexibility, and interpersonal interaction and communication. Jessica participated in 12 treatment sessions before returning to work. Jessica’s score for work preparedness (WP) before starting treatment was four, while her post-treatment score was nine. She also self-scored her Interpersonal Interaction and Communication (IC) as two before treatment. Her score for IC after treatment was nine. The increase in scores across all four domains suggests marked improvement, with the greatest improvement in Interpersonal Interaction and Communication.

When at work, Jessica uses the mindfulness technique she learned with Ascellus to ease her anxiety and stop herself from catastrophizing the possible long-term consequences of an event, so she can better control her reactions and have a more positive outlook.

Overall, Jessica returned to full-duty work and her functioning improved in all measured domains. She utilizes learned coping mechanisms, including mindfulness techniques, deep breathing and applying psychoeducational information to help manage her anxiety. She made significant progress with treatment goals and regained full work functioning.

W-CBT programs can improve claims costs and get injured frontline workers back to health and wellness faster. 

For more information on both individual support and treatment interventions or organization-wide prevention programs, call us at 1.866.678.2924 or email us at referrals@ascellus.com.

Patient examples have been de-identified in accordance with Section 164.514(a) of the HIPAA Privacy Rule. Thus, any similarity to actual persons, living or deceased, or actual events, is purely coincidental.