The first time burnout hit me, I was 24. I was working for Child Protective Services in Texas, carrying an impossible caseload and impossible problems. Trying to untangle other people’s family dramas. One night, way later than any young person working a $28K job should be at the office, I realized my eyes were burning and my shoulders were so heavy. And I just didn’t care anymore. About 6 weeks later, I quit that job.
The second time came at 37. Once again, working hard and late – but this time with unrealistic expectations for myself and a deep sense of being inadequate. The same burning eyes and heavy shoulders. The same numbness. This time, it took years to extricate myself from it.
Burnout, in 3 Parts
The term “burnout” was originally coined in the 1970s, to describe a condition experienced by service providers. As it gained traction, its symptoms were recognized by people in a variety of fields. While it’s still primarily seen as a response to professional stress, there’s been some discussion of burnout in parenting and other roles.
It’s fairly common to hear people say they are “so burned out.” It’s become another way of saying we’re tired, overwhelmed, slammed, or just over it all.
Christina Maslach, the developer of the commonly used Maschler Burnout Inventory, breaks burnout down into these 3 components:
- Exhaustion – I think this is what most of us think of when we complain of “burnout.” We’re exhausted – physically, mentally and emotionally. We’ve just got no more left to give – mostly time, but also energy. Overwhelmed, fatigued and slow moving. These are familiar feelings when workload requirements outweigh time reality.
- Cynicism or Detachment – Maslach describes this as being an excessive detachment from our work. We may even become hostile in our negativity toward those we are working with. She notes this often results from losing our idealism – what once started as good intentions and high expectations met a wall of reality and disillusionment. We put distance between ourselves and our work first as a protective reaction. Eventually it can lead to deeper problems with just not caring.
- Professional Inefficacy – Essentially, Maslach says this happens when we just don’t feel very good at work. We aren’t as productive as we think we should be (or need to be), we don’t feel like we know what we’re doing, or we don’t feel like we’re having much, if any, positive impact. In essence, it’s a waste of everyone’s time that we’re there – we’re not offering anything of benefit.
When we take these pieces together, it’s pretty obvious to see that each piece drives the others – if we’re not feeling great at our work, we’re probably getting exhausted from trying and failing, and we’re emotionally distancing ourselves in order to protect ourselves. Or – we’re overwhelmed and exhausted, we start to get really behind and unable to keep up, which causes us to become resentful, and perhaps hostile, toward it all.
Burnout and Therapists
As therapists working with very young children and families, we are at high risk for burnout. Our jobs are physically and emotionally demanding, and we don’t often have spaces to meaningfully share these stressors in productive ways. Sometimes meetings with other providers can turn into vent sessions, which does little to help (beyond increase our cynicism). Friends and family cannot always understand what is being carried, even though they may be happy to listen to us.
It’s not hard to see the erosion burnout can cause. Lack of interest in supporting families, negative view of families, putting one step in front of the other through our sessions, documenting minimally, not following up on questions, losing patience, and ultimately not serving anyone – including ourselves – very well.
And even though we’re at high risk, there’s little in place systemically to help address the problem. It’s up to us, individually, to be aware of our own burnout symptoms if they start creeping in – and to address them.
Preventing Burnout
Maslach has talked about what could be seen as the opposite of burnout – work engagement. Feeling energized, being connected to those we’re working with, and feeling a sense of competence and productivity is correlated with preventing burnout
What can this mean for us? How can we feel more energized, more connected, and more competent and productive in our work?
I need to remind myself of “My Why” when I start feeling burnout creep in…and I’ve got a free workbook you can check out here to do just that. I’ve got other ideas to help, too, but first I would love to hear yours! Comment below and tell me your thoughts.
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