Burnout Syndrome

Burnout is a syndrome of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy and is a serious health risk for counselors.

Burnout is the result of direct client contact and chronic job-related stressors, i.e., work environment stress, client-induced stress, event-related stress, or self-induced stress.

Symptoms:

Emotional Exhaustion:  Feelings of being emotional overextended and psychologically drained by job-related stressors.

Depersonalization:  Impersonal or unfeeling responses towards the people who are receiving services or treatment.

Lack of Personal Accomplishment:  Dissatisfaction with level of job-related achievements and feeling incompetent when working with clients and/or co-workers.


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Wellness Tips for Counselors

1.  Identify Job-Related Stressors

2.  Educate yourself on Counselor Fatigue Syndromes

3.  Seek Supervision

4.  Practice Healthy Coping Strategies

5.  Participate in Professional Training Opportunities

6.  Seek Support from Professional Peers

7.  Set Professional Boundaries

8.  Maintain your Professional Identity

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Client-induced Stress and Self-Induced Stress

Stressors for mental health professionals include client-induced stressors:

1)  Clinical nature of the caseload

Research studies have shown that counselors have reported higher levels of stress when working with clients with severe depression, severe anxiety, suicidal ideation, or trauma.

2)  Characteristics of clients

Counselors report higher levels of stress based on specific characteristics of their clients.  These characteristics include aggressive and hostile behaviors, impulsive behaviors, or clients who are resistant to treatment.

Self-induced stress for clinicians includes:

• emotional depletion
• physical exhaustion
• self-doubt
• worrying about cases
• unhealthy lifestyle

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