Stressed at Work? When Your Boss or a Colleague Is Getting to You

Stressed at Work? Workplace Stress Support, Hills District

It’s 6:15 on a Tuesday evening. Sarah* is sitting in her car in the office car park, engine off, keys still in her hand. She isn’t ready to drive home yet. Her chest is tight. She’s replaying the meeting again: her manager cutting her off mid-sentence, the colleague who quietly took credit for her work, the email she nearly sent but deleted at the last second.

Why workplace stress builds up

We spend a huge part of our waking lives at work. When things go wrong there, especially with the people we work alongside, it’s hard to simply switch off at 5pm.

Conflict with a boss or a difficult colleague can be particularly draining. You may feel unheard, undervalued or constantly on edge. Over time, small frustrations pile up until they feel much bigger than any single moment.

Work stress often shows up in ways we don’t immediately connect to the job:

• Dreading Monday from Saturday afternoon
• Lying awake replaying conversations or rehearsing arguments
• Feeling irritable or short-tempered with the people you love
• Headaches, tension or feeling exhausted no matter how much you rest
• Losing confidence in work you used to do well
• Avoiding certain people, meetings or emails

When these feelings build without an outlet, they can spill over. That’s when people sometimes do something they later regret: an angry outburst in a meeting, a sharp email sent in the heat of the moment, or quitting on the spot without a plan.

What happens when work stress is left untouched 

It’s tempting to push through and hope things settle down. Sometimes they do. But often, unaddressed stress quietly grows and starts affecting other parts of life.

• Your work: concentration slips, mistakes creep in, and performance concerns can follow. In some cases, people end up leaving or losing a job they didn’t really want to lose.
• Your relationships: the tension you carry home lands on partners, children and friends, often the people who least deserve it.
• Your health: ongoing stress can affect sleep, energy, mood and physical wellbeing, and can contribute to burnout.
• Your sense of self: you may start to doubt your abilities or feel like a different person from the one who started the job.

None of this means something is wrong with you. It means you’ve been carrying a heavy load, and it may be time to set some of it down.

Before you quit or snap: a few first steps

If you’re feeling close to the edge, these small steps can create some breathing room:

1. Pause before you act. Big decisions made in the heat of emotion are rarely the ones we’d make with a clear head. Give yourself 24 hours before sending that email or handing in a resignation.
2. Name what’s actually bothering you. Is it one person, a workload issue, feeling unrecognised, or something else? Writing it down can help untangle it.
3. Notice your patterns. When does the stress peak? Which situations or conversations set it off?
4. Talk to someone outside the situation. A trusted friend can help. So can a psychologist or counsellor, who can offer an objective view and practical tools.

You don’t have to wait until things fall apart to ask for support. Reaching out early often makes the path forward much clearer.

How work stress counselling can help

Counselling isn’t about someone telling you whether to stay or go. It’s a space to slow down, untangle the worries and concerns, and gain enough clarity to make well-reasoned decisions you feel good about.

Working with a psychologist, you might explore:

• Understanding what’s driving the stress, so you can respond to the real issue rather than the symptoms
• Coping tools to manage strong emotions in the moment, before they turn into something you regret
• Confident workplace communication, including how to approach a difficult conversation with your boss or a colleague
• Being more assertive, so you can express your needs clearly and respectfully
• Setting healthy boundaries around workload, availability and how others treat you
• Advocating for yourself, whether that’s raising a concern, asking for flexibility, or asking for the promotion or pay rise you’ve earned

For Sarah, the turning point wasn’t a dramatic exit. It was learning to recognise when she was reaching her limit, and having the words to raise her concerns with her manager calmly. Some weeks were still hard, but she no longer sat in the car park dreading the drive home.

Workplace stress counselling in Bella Vista: evenings, Saturdays and telehealth online.

One of the hardest parts of getting help for workplace stress is finding the time. Taking a morning off to see someone can feel like one more thing to explain at work.

That’s why at Creating Change Psychology & Counselling in Bella Vista, we offer appointments in the evenings after work, on Saturdays and via telehealth so you could meet in your lunchbreak. You can get support without needing to take time off.

Our team works with people across the Hills District and wider Sydney who are navigating workplace conflict, stress and burnout, or who simply want to feel more confident at work. Whether you’re weighing up a big decision or just want to feel like yourself again, we’re here to help you find a way forward that’s right for you.

More articles on workplace stress and wellbeing

Every workplace challenge is a little different. Here are a few more reads that might speak to where you are right now.

Confronting Mental Health Stigma at Work

Long Work Hours are You Burnt Out?

DISC Personality Insights for Effective Communication

When you’re ready, you can book an appointment or contact our team.

*Sarah is a composite example; names and details are fictional.

Written by Rebecca Deane – Clinical Psychologist – www.creatingchange.net.au

Rebecca Deane (MPsych (Clinical), MArts (Forensic), BA Psych) leads a team of highly skilled psychologists at Creating Change Psychology & Counselling in Bella Vista, helping people navigate workplace stress and regain clarity.