u/HopeSuper

I've been accepted for a position at a university, and would stop dealing with the stress of the hospital. The job is a good opportunity, even though there seems to be a significant workload, and the rents are cheaper.

The problem is that it's in a rather unattractive area with not much around, where I don't know anyone (family and friends would be 5 hours away) and there are few leisure activities or opportunities to meet people. I'm afraid of falling back into depression in such an environment. I also don't like the countryside.

The alternative is to stay in my region and find a way out of my current job.

What should I do?

TL;DR: New leadership in my adult psych unit is progressively excluding OTs/rehab staff from meetings and clinical discussions through indirect verbal instructions only. The atmosphere has become psychologically distressing very quickly, and occupational health advised me to protect myself before it gets worse.

First of all, I’m French and English is not my first language. I used Google Translate and ChatGPT to try to explain this situation as clearly as possible.

I’m an occupational therapist working in adult psychiatry in a public hospital setting, and the work environment has become increasingly concerning over the past month (actually, the past 3 weeks exactly) after a change in medical leadership.

Our new head physician never speaks directly to the rehab team (OTs, PTs, etc.) and communicates almost exclusively through management. Decisions affecting our practice are being made without discussion or written communication.

Recently, we were told verbally (through our manager, not directly) that we should no longer attend the morning staff meetings or some multidisciplinary meetings. No official explanation, no written request, no organizational document — just indirect instructions. We’re also being told not to run some therapeutic activities together anymore, despite this being clinically relevant and previously encouraged.

What’s difficult is that these meetings are where important clinical information circulates. Being excluded from them makes it harder to coordinate care, advocate for patients, and even understand treatment decisions. It also feels professionally delegitimizing.

There’s also a growing atmosphere of control and hypercriticism. For example, feedback about my “non-verbal attitude” was reported through management instead of being addressed directly to me. My manager herself told me she does not see any problematic attitude from me and does not really understand the criticism.

Several colleagues are distressed, and I’ve already met with psychological support because the situation has started affecting my sleep, stress levels, and overall mental health.

I also met with the occupational psychologist today. She directly told me this situation sounded like workplace harassment and advised me to protect myself and leave before the situation causes more damage psychologically. She also said that, considering how slow public institutions can be, even if action were eventually taken, it would probably happen after a lot of damage had already been done.

At this point, I’m considering stepping away from the institution for self-preservation, but I’m struggling with how much energy should be spent resisting internally versus protecting myself and leaving. I’m a public healthcare worker in France, so I know I would not have trouble finding another job, even if it might not be in my preferred field.

It’s currently 1 AM here, and I can’t sleep because I honestly don’t even know whether I’m still supposed to attend tomorrow morning’s staff meeting.

Have any other OTs experienced this kind of progressive exclusion from interdisciplinary spaces or indirect authoritarian management? How did you handle it — both professionally and psychologically?

Thank you