Burnout is a serious public health challenge that affects a whopping 76 percent of workers worldwide. Technically speaking, it’s when a person’s strength and passion diminish over time in response to chronic workplace stress. While people can flourish in jobs in which they feel valued, feel appreciated, and have purpose, burnout can take root when stress increases and support and reward decrease. The consequences are high: Burnout can sap an individual physically, mentally, and emotionally.
For therapists, however, burnout is a major occupational hazard. It is a profession that focuses on others’ suffering, conflicts, loss, and trauma over the course of a given day. Clinicians process clients’ feelings and experiences, drawing heavily on emotional, cognitive, and physical resources. It’s no wonder, then, that therapists experience burnout at an estimated rate of 40 percent.
So how do mental health professionals manage burnout? This was the central question of a study conducted by researchers Sancia Duncan and Rachael Pond of Massey University in New Zealand. They performed a large-scale literature search of rigorous qualitative studies on burnout prevention for therapists. The search yielded nine studies, which together included 542 therapist participants.
What did the investigators find? The analyses yielded nine themes, for which a selective overview is provided below.
- Theme 1: Time Off. Therapists reported that vacations helped to ward off burnout, allowing practitioners to completely detach and support work-life balance. Taking breaks throughout the day was also helpful. One participant shared that they had “learned at least a few times a day to shut my office door and just kind of take a breather.”
- Theme 2: Leisure Activities. Respondents across the studies engaged in activities that were enjoyable—but unrelated to work. Pleasurable activities encompassed both socializing and solitude. Self-care was also important for therapists. An interviewee reflected: “I take care of me. Music. I get a massage every two weeks, a manicure every week. I do yoga.”
- Theme 3: Exercise. Participants cited various forms of exercise to decompress and relax, including yoga, walking, swimming, kayaking, and gardening. A participant remarked: “[It is helpful] doing things personally like physical kinds of things … There are some days when I just feel I need to go out and kick something and just kind of biking real hard or walking real fast.”
- Theme 4: Perspective. This theme reflected how therapists approach their work. Some therapists felt that being grounded in and knowing their values helped them navigate the ambiguity they encounter in their work with clients. Resilient therapists trusted the therapeutic process; felt hopeful, positive, and optimistic; and embraced humor. A respondent noted: “I feel like I have the ability to see beyond the suffering and see the beauty in people and wholeness.”
- Theme 5: Formal and Informal Support and Connections. Connecting with family, friends, colleagues, and supervisors helped keep burnout at bay and supported well-being and overall life satisfaction. Many felt that connection with the clinical community and support from supervisors, coworkers, and colleagues were most helpful. As one clinician put things: “If I cannot talk to people and be close to people, have friendships and close relationships with my family, I suffer for that. If I do those things, I am well connected, and my life is good.”
- Theme 6: Boundaries and Balance. Therapists felt that achieving a work/life balance and protecting it was vital for well-being. Maintaining boundaries, a reasonable caseload, leaving work at work, and self-care were essential practices in upholding resilience and balance in their lives.
- Theme 7: Awareness and Mindfulness. Being aware and/or mindful of the impacts of stress helped prevent clinicians from burning out. This awareness helped therapists work through internal and external issues and implement self-care and well-being practices in response. Similarly, mindfulness created a deeper self-connection. One participant expressed: “Mindfulness has helped me a great deal in terms of slowing down my thoughts at times and helping me get grounded.”
- Theme 8: Meditation and Spirituality. Respondents looked to relaxation and meditation when they were feeling burned out. Therapists across studies also embraced spirituality through their worldview and seeing themselves as healers. A clinician recounted: “There’s a spiritual belief in the wholeness of a person that is suffering … it keeps me very hopeful and grounded because it’s connection with beauty; it’s a connection with wholeness, and it’s spiritual.”
- Theme 9: Professional Growth and Use of Clinical Skills. Practitioners turned to professional activities, their own therapeutic knowledge, and love of learning to prevent burnout. And in a full-circle sentiment, a participant shared: “I always try to do the same things I recommend to clients.”
Self-care for therapists is often cited as an ethical imperative. But the results of this study demonstrate that cultivating a professional life that is grounded in boundaries, meaningful relationships, self-awareness, and practices that restore both energy and perspective has benefits for us all.
