I’ll Trade Burnout for Burnt Ends Any Day.
Original artwork by Lisa Thomas entitled “dimmed candle” - tissue paper and oil pastel on paper, c. Jan 2021
There will be no BBQ in this blog post unfortunately. Whether or not you or someone you know have experienced it, burnout is a very real problem that occurs disturbingly frequently in American society. I have experienced burnout working in the mental health industry and have come out on the other side. This is what I have learned.
Let’s set the stage and acknowledge systemic issues.
I am no history teacher but I have witnessed and experienced firsthand the consequences of “standard” American work culture.
American society and the laws that govern it value corporate capitalism. Why things have to be this way and to a large extent remain status quo is another set of complex issues out of scope of this blog. I digress.
A corporation can expand as large as the market allows, as long as their is a demand for whatever product or service the business provides. Online retailer Amazon expanded from books to general goods due to low prices and fast 2-day shipping. A restaurant becomes a chain because there is a demand for the food, culture, and service of the restaurant.
Same for group practices, as long as clients and insurances are paying, there is a profit, and there is a need for whatever specialized mental health treatment the practice provides, the practice can hire more staff and expand to multiple locations in multiple states.
For businesses to survive in a capitalistic and individualistic society, businesses must be profitable and make money. The way this comes out in private practice and other mental health settings specifically is to see as many clients as possible to make the most money. Transpose seeing as many clients as possible with the “standard” 40-hour full-time workweek and you have a higher risk for burnout due to the mentally and emotionally demanding nature of our work as therapists.
What is full-time for a therapist in private practice?
The 40-hour full-time workweek is almost a century old practice and as a result there has been a recent bill introduced into the House of Representatives to reduce the standard workweek to 32 hours. Unfortunately, community agencies and some group practices will still require therapists to work 35+ or 40+ clinical hours to be considered full-time, neglecting to take into consideration all the administrative work like note-taking, care coordination, researching best-practice, responding to emails etc. necessary to do our job well. By seeing 35-40 clients and considering on average the 15 min/clinical hour needed for administrative work, it can feel like you’re actually working 45-50+ hours a week instead. Insane. Neurotically productive. Not sustainable long-term.
Some practices have established 25-30 clinical hours as standard for full-time private practice work. But even then, providing care for 25-30 hours a week can still be too much!
What is burnout?
Burnout is mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that results when an individual is unable to keep up with the constant demands and stressors encountered in the work environment, as acknowledged by both Mayo Clinic and Psychology Today.
As stated by the Mayo clinic:
Certain personality traits may affect the risk of burnout. Other factors, such as past work experiences, also can affect burnout risk. That helps explain why if two people are dealing with the same job issues, one might have job burnout while the other does not.
Stressors include:
lack of control and feeling powerless
lack of clarity of what is expected in your role
conflicts with others
too much to do
the nature of the work does not align with your values or sense of self
lack of support
over-accommodating with work hours and responsibilities
What does burnout look like?
I started noticing I was burned out when I deeply identified with burnout memes I found on social media, which I posted throughout this blog for your viewing pleasure.
I also noticed it in my artwork.
For others burnout can look like:
sleep disturbances
feeling powerless
fatigue
feeling sad, angry, irritable, cynical
using more alcohol, substances, food, or exercise to cope
experiencing physical symptoms such as headaches, high blood pressure, or heart issues
increased illnesses like cold and flu
Can you recover from burnout?
You sure can. How long does it take to recover? Depends on the person. It can take months or even years to fully recover. A weekend getaway or even a weeklong vacation is not nearly enough time to recover from burnout. Not even close. For me personally it took a little over a year.
One thing I noticed from the Mayo clinic article is that it suggests doing more to deal with burnout. Do more to feel better. When you are already exhausted, having to utilize what little energy you have left doesn’t make the most sense. Art therapist Jackie Schuld describes doing less to feel better in her article Self-care is Misleading Us and this Psychology Today article recommends ways to set boundaries for a better work-life balance.
Some of the ways I dealt with my burnout included decreasing my 1:1 clinical hours, setting firm boundaries with my work schedule, and, with my patient's consent, starting my notes during session so I could easily edit and complete them the same day to minimize taking work home with me. Ultimately, I left the work environment. I soon discovered that distancing myself from the source of my stress expedited my recovery process.
preventing burnout
If you have experienced burnout before, recognizing your limits and adhering to your boundaries is the best way to prevent burnout from reoccurring. If you find your needs are being neglected at work because “this is how things have always been” it might be time to make a change, advocate for yourself, and set some limits. You have a voice, it deserves to be heard.
Life After Burnout
Experiencing and recovering from burnout greatly influenced by decision to start my own group practice. Using what I’ve learned, I want to create a work environment that I would have wanted during my time as a Resident in Counseling in private practice. My goal is to create a sustainable work environment that feels safe and supportive to client, clinician, and admin staff, and where we can truly do our best work.
Read More on Our Values
Dive into the core values that drive our practice at Coastal Art Therapy Services.
