Burnout, anxiety, difficult communication with colleagues and managers, procrastination, and difficulty setting and maintaining personal boundaries are challenges people face regardless of their profession or position. Yet it is not always clear how to handle a specific situation: how to navigate a difficult conversation, say no to additional tasks, ask for a raise, or respond to signs of emotional exhaustion.

To help people navigate these situations, Hillel IT School has created a free Hillel Max video course, “Everything Is (Not) OK at Work: How to Cope with Burnout, Stress, and Conflict.” Across seven short lessons, the course offers practical techniques, exercises, and step-by-step approaches that can be applied to everyday workplace situations. The entire program takes just over an hour and is built around specific challenges and ways to address them – without excessive theory or motivational clichés.

Rather than relying on lengthy theoretical explanations, the course focuses on real-life situations, practical exercises, and actionable techniques that people can use in their day-to-day work.

From Difficult Conversations to Burnout: What the Course Covers

The program is built around situations that can arise in virtually any team.

How do you communicate with a toxic colleague or manager? How do you start a conversation about a raise or career growth? What should you say when someone tries to shift their responsibilities onto you? How can you recognize signs of burnout and deal with procrastination and anxiety? And how do you organize remote work so that it does not turn into an endless working day?

The course also addresses panic attacks, personal boundaries, and emotional strain.

The course was created and is hosted by Andrii Salamatov, a psychotherapist, Director of Development, and creative thinking trainer. For more than 10 years, he has worked with business teams and has delivered over 500 projects for Ukrainian and international companies. He is also a co-owner of the creative agency 4Press and the research agency GreenDuck.

His experience working both with people’s psychological concerns and directly with business teams became the foundation of the course.

“At work, we cannot control everything, but we can learn to respond more effectively to difficult situations. This course is about practical tools that can help people manage stress, protect their personal boundaries, and maintain psychological resilience in their day-to-day work,” says Andrii Salamatov, psychotherapist, Director of Development, creative thinking trainer, and co-owner of the creative agency 4Press and the research agency GreenDuck.

Seven Lessons Instead of One-Size-Fits-All Solutions

The course creators deliberately moved away from the traditional format of lengthy lectures. Each of the seven lessons focuses on a specific challenge and provides tools that participants can try in practice. The entire program takes just over an hour, so it can be completed gradually, starting with the topics that are most relevant at the moment.

At the same time, the aim of the course is not to offer a single universal answer to every workplace problem. Rather, it provides a set of approaches that can help people better understand the situation they are facing, their own response to it, and the possible next steps.

“Not every problem at work can be solved by quitting, but not every problem should simply be endured in silence either. We wanted to answer the question: ‘What can you do when things at work become genuinely difficult?’ That was the idea at the heart of the project: to provide practical, high-quality information from a trusted expert and make it available completely free of charge.

“We deliberately invited an expert who has spent many years working not only as a psychotherapist but also directly with teams and managers – conducting research, developing skills, and working with real business processes. That is why the course is grounded in practical advice, exercises, and techniques that can be applied to real workplace situations,” says Alina Pervushyna, Head of PR at Hillel IT School and initiator of the project and course.

Not Just for IT Professionals

The course is not limited to IT professionals. The challenges discussed in the videos arise in many different work environments – wherever there are teams, managers, deadlines, responsibilities, and constant interaction with other people.

The course can therefore be useful for office workers, managers, healthcare professionals, educators, retail employees, freelancers, IT specialists, and people working in many other fields. It is also designed for anyone who wants to better understand their own emotional state – where anxiety, procrastination, or signs of burnout may come from, and which practical tools may help them manage these challenges.

After completing the seven lessons, participants will have a set of techniques and practical approaches for navigating different workplace situations – from difficult conversations and setting personal boundaries to managing emotional strain.

“Everything Is (Not) OK at Work: How to Cope with Burnout, Stress, and Conflict” is available free of charge to everyone on the Hillel Max platform.

The course materials are educational in nature and include practical recommendations aimed at supporting psychological well-being. They are not intended for diagnosis or treatment and are not a substitute for professional psychological support. Anyone who needs such support should seek help from an appropriately qualified professional.