What are the implications for psychologists working in the public mental health services (MHS)? Does this environment bring along different challenges when compared to their colleagues working in other settings? How do they cope? Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), this study explored the meaning psychologists give to their work with their clients and also looked at how they experience working in their teams within the context of the MHS in Malta. Semistructured in-depth interviews were conducted with seven registered psychologists who had worked in the Maltese MHS for at least 2 years. Common themes across participants included: client work as a source of satisfaction and a source of stress, the psychologist in the context of the multidisciplinary team (MDT), and focus on the self. The quality of the participants’ work experience was found to be shaped by the larger context of their work setting. Participants’ negative emotions arising from the system were perceived to be more distressing than those arising from client work. Issues of powerlessness, lack of control and divergent values were identified as the main modulators of this experience and were seen to contribute to distress and reduced job engagement. Personal coping strategies were used as a means to survive in this demanding work place. Implications and recommendations in relation to working with this client group and also working within a medical model (MM) system are highlighted.

中文翻译：

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在心理健康服务部门工作的心理学家的生活经历：令人筋疲力尽且令人恼火的旅程。

对在公共心理健康服务 (MHS) 工作的心理学家有何影响？与在其他环境中工作的同事相比，这种环境是否带来了不同的挑战？他们如何应对？本研究使用解释性现象学分析 (IPA)，探讨了心理学家赋予其客户工作的意义，并研究了他们在马耳他 MHS 背景下如何在团队中工作。对七名在马耳他 MHS 工作至少 2 年的注册心理学家进行了半结构化的深度访谈。参与者的共同主题包括：客户工作是满足感和压力的来源，多学科团队 (MDT) 背景下的心理学家，以及关注自我。参与者的工作经验的质量被发现是由他们工作环境的更大背景决定的。参与者从系统中产生的负面情绪被认为比客户工作中产生的负面情绪更令人痛苦。无能为力、缺乏控制和价值观分歧等问题被确定为这种体验的主要调节因素，并被视为导致压力和工作投入减少。个人应对策略被用作在这个要求苛刻的工作场所生存的手段。强调了与与该客户群合作以及在医疗模型 (MM) 系统内工作的意义和建议。参与者从系统中产生的负面情绪被认为比客户工作中产生的负面情绪更令人痛苦。无能为力、缺乏控制和价值观分歧等问题被确定为这种体验的主要调节因素，并被视为导致压力和工作投入减少。个人应对策略被用作在这个要求苛刻的工作场所生存的手段。强调了与与该客户群合作以及在医疗模型 (MM) 系统内工作的意义和建议。参与者从系统中产生的负面情绪被认为比客户工作中产生的负面情绪更令人痛苦。无能为力、缺乏控制和价值观分歧等问题被确定为这种体验的主要调节因素，并被视为导致压力和工作投入减少。个人应对策略被用作在这个要求苛刻的工作场所生存的手段。强调了与与该客户群合作以及在医疗模型 (MM) 系统内工作的意义和建议。