Dr Paul Flaxman

Information:
Specialism:	occupational health psychology; cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in the workplace; employee recovery during leisure time.
Teaching:	Postgraduate: (MSc Organisational Psychology/Behaviour) Well-being, Counselling, and Personal Development, Work Design; Organisational Development and Change;Research Design and Statistics
Location:	Social Sciences Building, room D430
Tel:	020 7040 8484
Fax:	020 7040 8580
Email:	Paul.Flaxman.1@city.ac.uk
Office Hours:	Wednesdays and Fridays during term time

Paul has held research and teaching positions at London Guildhall University and Goldsmiths College (University of London). While at Goldsmiths, Paul helped to implement a major work redesign intervention within the financial services sector. This work was co-funded by the British Occupational Health Research Foundation (BOHRF) and participating organisations. He has also contributed to the development of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Management Standards for work-related stress. In the first of two projects funded by the HSE, Paul worked alongside Professor Frank Bond at Goldsmiths to review the links between psychosocial work stressors and business-related outcomes. More recently, he helped to identify the management competencies that are linked to the HSE standards.
Paul specialises in adapting cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) interventions for use in the workplace. Most notably, he has taken a prominent role in developing and evaluating acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) as a worksite stress management intervention. In recent years, he has personally delivered psychological skills training to hundreds of employees across the UK.

Paul is director of a major new research programme that is examining the impact of respite and recovery experiences on employee well-being and performance. To support this work, Paul and his team have received research grants from the University’s staff development unit (2007), Institut de recherché Robert-Sauvé en santé et sécurité au travail (IRSST; Canada) (2008), the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (2008), and the British Council (2009). Paul’s research has been supported by Dr. Julie Menard, a visiting researcher from Quebec, and Mia Soderberg from the Department for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (Sweden).

Paul is a member of the British Psychological Society and a chartered occupational psychologist. Between 2003 and 2007, he edited the Occupational Health Psychologist, a quarterly publication of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology (EA-OHP). Paul is an executive committee member of the ACT special interest group within the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP), and a member of the NHS Occupational Health Psychology Network. In 2008, Paul was awarded a City University staff prize for research, and received the 2009 ‘Student Voice’ teaching award for the School of Social Sciences.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (under review). A randomised worksite comparison of acceptance commitment therapy and stress inoculation training. Behaviour Research and Therapy.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (under review). Worksite stress management training: Moderated effects and clinical significance. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

Flaxman, P. E & Bond, F. W. (forthcoming). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Promoting psychological flexibility in the workplace. In R. A. Baer (Ed.), Mindfulness and acceptance: Illuminating the processes of change. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Bond, F. W., Flaxman, P. E., van Veldhoven, M. J. P.M., & Biron, M. (forthcoming). The impact of psychological flexibility and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) on health and productivity at work. In J. Houdmont & S. Leka (Eds.). Contemporary occupational health psychology: Global perspectives on research, education, and practice. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
Bond, F. W., Flaxman, P. E., & Bunce, D. (2008). The influence of psychological flexibility on work redesign: Mediated moderation of a work reorganization intervention. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 645-654.

Yarker, J., Donaldson-Feilder, E. Lewis, R., & Flaxman, P. E. (2007). Management competencies for preventing and reducing stress at work. UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Contract Research Report 553.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy in the workplace. In R. A. Baer (Ed.), Mindfulness-based treatment approaches. San Diego, CA: Elsevier

Bond, F. W., & Flaxman, P. E. (2006). The ability of psychological flexibility and job control to predict learning, job performance, and mental health. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 26, 113-130.

Keogh, E., Bond, F. W., & Flaxman, P. E. (2006). Improving academic performance and mental health through a stress management intervention: Outcomes and mediators of change. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 339-357.

Bond, F. W., Flaxman, P. E., & Loivette, S. (2006). The business case for the management standards for stress: Conclusions based upon meta-analyses. UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Contract Research Report 431.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F.W. (2004). Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)-based stress management interventions (SMIs): Investigating the mechanisms of change. In J. Houdmont & S. McIntyre (Eds.), Key papers of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology. Maia (Portugal): Publismai.

Flaxman, P. E., Bond, F. W., & Keogh, E. (2002). Preventing and treating evaluation strain: A brief CBT approach. In F. W. Bond & W. Dryden (Eds.), Handbook of Brief Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy. Chichester: Wiley.

SELECTED CONFERENCE PAPERS

Flaxman, P. E., Menard, J., Bond, F. W., & Kinman, G. (2008). Perfectionism and weekend respite amongst university academics. Paper presented at the annual conference of the European Academy of Occupational Health Psychology: Valencia, Spain.

Flaxman, P. E., Bugler, C., & Cairns, N. (2008). The relations between employee perfectionism, thinking about work during leisure time, and psychological well-being. Paper presented at the British Psychological Society annual occupational psychology conference: Stratford-upon-Avon, January 2008.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (2007). Acceptance and commitment therapy and stress inoculation training at work. Paper presented at the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) annual conference, Brighton, September 2007.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (2007). For whom, and to what extent, is worksite stress management training effective? Paper presented at the British Psychological Society annual occupational psychology conference: Bristol, January 2007.

Flaxman, P. E., & Bond, F. W. (2006). Worksite stress management interventions: Investigating the mechanisms of change. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association (APA) sixth international conference on occupational stress and health: Miami, Florida, March 2006.