Michelle's story

Michelle* is a lab technician in her 50s. However, stress, anxiety and depression caused by workplace bullying meant she was no longer able to work.

Within four weeks of being notified that she’d made a claim, our recovery specialists arranged a collaborative case conference with Michelle, her GP and employer.

During this conference, services that could help Michelle get back to work were discussed, along with Michelle’s wellness goals.

It was agreed that our work readiness program was the best course of action, and Michelle was referred to one of our external rehabilitation providers. Support commenced shortly after.

The program assisted Michelle to identify and develop a set of wellness goals including improving sleep, developing resilience and self-managing her psychological condition.

Michelle completed a full 12 weeks of the work readiness program, building strong foundational skills and strategies to support a sustainable return to work.  

"The return-to-work support really helped me a lot to manage and cope with my anxiety and made me move forward to being myself again. I used to find work very challenging. I was not happy at all with the situation I was facing with my work,” says Michelle.

“Now I can smile again and be myself and the person that I used to be, who was a happy and cheerful person. It is because of the help– it’s given me motivation to start thinking more positively, be more confident and set goals for the future.”

_{*Names have been changed to protect privacy.}