It has been pointed out that a sick leave in the workplace due to mental health problems may lead to a chain reaction among the absentee’s coworkers. However, this is not widely known, and there is a lack of discussion to consider specific preventive measures. Therefore, in this workshop, we focused on clinical psychologists who support workers and provided an opportunity for discussion.
First, we introduced a fictional case (Case 1) about an employee on leave due to mental health problems and discussed about how to support. At that time, the participants looked back on their clinical practice and gain a new perspective on support for the workplace through the discussion with other participants. Next, we held a case study meeting in the form of PCAGIP on a fictional case (Case 2) about a worker who became unwell in a chain reaction due to the occurrence of a sick leave in the workplace. PCAGIP is a new case study method based on the concept of person-centered approach, and it is a method to generate useful hints for problem solving from interaction between the participants. After that, the facilitator gave a lecture on the impact of the occurrence of sick leave in the workplace. Then, the participants discussed what they can do to support workers, using the online post-it tool Miro. Finally, we reviewed and summarized the workshop and ended by asking each participant to share their findings and impressions. While discussion the participants were able to hear various opinions regarding psychological support for workers. Many participants said that the interaction itself between clinical psychologists engaged in the industrial field was a fresh and valuable experience. It is presumably because the percentage of clinical psychologists working in the industrial field is less than 10% of the total, and it is difficult to have opportunities to interact with each other. In addition, regarding the case study in the PCAGIP format, it can be said that it was a meaningful experience from the impression given by the participants: “I was able to respect each other’s opinions.” “I would like to apply it in my work.” The facilitators were able to obtain opinions supporting the significance of the research. Even though many participants had no experience of helping a colleague who had a chain reaction caused by the occurrence of sick leave in the workplace, they were aware of the high possibility of that. On the other hand, some said that it was difficult to consider what kind of support were needed. Through the group discussion including brainstorming and grouping ideas, it was suggested that various tools could be used according to the target of support within the broad categories of individual interviews, psychoeducation, and adjustment of the workplace environment. Both participants and facilitators were able to obtain results that were generally in line with the initial objectives, making the workshop a meaningful one.