ABSTRACT
This chapter illustrates bullying in the workplace. A client named Elizabeth, a pseudonym, was referred for services in 2011 through her organisation's Human Resources department in their efforts to address the client's reaction to what the organization perceived to be to a single 'incident' of bullying against the client that had occurred in 2007. Commencing in 2003, she reported having received various inappropriate, incorrect, and professionally offensive criticisms and public slights from two colleagues. As Elizabeth came to understand the pattern of the colleagues' behaviour towards her, and the cumulative impact of that, she became more able to distance herself from it. An effective model for understanding the impact of inappropriate workplace behaviours, bullying, and other forms of harassment on people is offered by the work of Dr Dieter Zapf and his application of Glasl Stages of Conflict Escalation into the workplace.
