Because of the heavy emotional content of the work, counselors are particularly susceptible to burnout.
Working with troubled people means working with anxious, depressed, and angry people. After all, if people were happy, peaceful and satisfied with their lives they wouldn’t be coming to see us. As a result, we can often start to absorb some of this negative affect if we’re not careful. In another words, we ourselves can start to feel anxious, depressed and angry by working with people who feel that way. Although we have had training in how to keep these feelings at bay, we are still human and can experience them. When we experience them too often and for too long, burnout can result.
The Types
What does burnout look like? How do we know we are burned out? First, let’s talk about the ways in which counselors can burn out: physically, mentally or emotionally. Causes of physical burnout include not taking enough breaks, including vacation days, not getting proper rest, and taking on too many clients. Causes of mental burnout include seeing too many new clients in one day, not taking breaks between clients, not keeping boundaries in session and allowing clients to talk about too many topics, and doing too much training and/or research. Causes of emotional burnout include worrying too much about clients, getting too emotionally involved with clients, and not addressing any internal issues that may be triggered by clients.
The Symptoms
Symptoms can be different for different people. Common symptoms for physical burnout include fatigue, irritability and inability to concentrate. Common symptoms for mental burnout include frequently losing one’s train of thought while in session, a pattern of forgetfulness and/or mistakes, and feeling so drained you cannot hold a conversation. Common symptoms of emotional burnout include dreading going to work, starting to care too little or care too much about your clients, feeling glad and relieved when clients cancel or no-show, and no longer feeling empathy for clients.
The Cure
Suggestions for preventing physical burnout:
1. Get enough sleep
2. Eat a healthy well-balanced diet
3. Drink sufficient water
4. Exercise regularly
5. Consume alcohol in moderation only
Suggestions for preventing mental burnout:
1. Do not schedule too many clients in one day
2. Limit the number of new clients you accept
3. Have sufficient downtime each day
4. Keep clients on track during session- do not allow them to wander all over the place and then try to keep up with them
Suggestions for preventing emotional burnout:
1. Understand that clients are responsible for their own decisions
2. Understand the pieces of the process that the clients control
3. Be aware of your own issues and seek a therapist for yourself if necessary
4. Participate regularly in a peer supervision group
Yours in the Joy of Knowledge,
Dr. Barbara LoFrisco
