Regain a sense of balance and fulfillment in your life by building stress management strategies and overcoming burnout.

Burnout is a state of chronic physical and emotional exhaustion, usually following prolonged stress. Its effects are not limited to professional settings, it can also appear in areas such as, parenting, caregiving, and relationships.

Signs you may be experiencing burnout (or heading there):

• Persistent fatigue/exhaustion

• Feeling more irritable or angry

• Experiencing headaches, gastrointestinal issues, or other health concerns that have been cleared medically by a doctor

• Difficulty concentrating and focusing on your job

• Increase in cynicism regarding your job; feeling a sense of dread about work

• Feeling like you are working harder, but are less productive/effective

• Experiencing compassion fatigue

• Noticing yourself isolating from friends and family

In 2021, the American Psychological Association completed a Work and Well-being survey of 1,501 U.S. adult workers. They found that 79% experienced work related stress 1 month before; 60% reported having negative impacts related to the work stress; 36% reported having difficulty focusing; 26% lack of interest, motivation and energy; 32% emotional exhaustion; and 44% emotional exhaustion.

Read the full APA article here

How can counselling help with stress management and burnout?

Counselling can help you learn how to overcome burnout by creating awareness of it, determining the root cause, and working on tools to cope or prevent it from reoccurring. Stress management skills are helpful in preventing burnout. We all need a little support sometimes.

Research indicates that Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is an effective approach for reducing burnout in the workplace. Those who underwent therapy for burnout utilizing this approach reported experiencing a decrease in psychological distress (see article here).

“Exhaustion means going to the point where you can’t go any further; burnout means reaching that point and pushing yourself to keep going, whether for days or weeks or years.”

Petersen, 2021