Clinician burnout: 5 signs you want to be aware of
Clinicians, do you have sessions where you feel emotionally drained, frustrated and wanna shut down from the world? Let me guess! You’re dealing with clients who are super difficult to work with. The ones who get triggered with anger, who take their frustrations out on you and they don’t take accountability for their actions.
We want to feel like we can help anyone, who walks through our door. Somewhere we got “the message,” that we must take everyone who wants our help. I know that insurance companies make us feel this way. They expect us to accept every referral, because of our contract. This is not true. If you have the wrong fit client, it doesn’t make sense to work with them! We are allowed to have specialities or niches, due to our own professional interests, experience and development. So when we take on too many clients, we are overworked and overwhelmed with trying to “do it all.” This only leads to high burnout and I know we don’t want to stay in this pattern.
By preventing burnout, we can show up to our sessions with energy and empathy! So let’s set up daily self care practices, to return to our passion helping people! This is why I love working with Clinicians like you, so you can get the support needed, so you don’t burnout of this field!
Here’s 5 signs of burnout to be aware of:
Emotionally you’re depleted and taxed out. You’re not coping in healthy ways. You might be turning to substances to cope.
You have an “I don’t care attitude.” You’re feeling indifferent about the things that used to mean a lot to you. It’s harder to have empathy towards your clients. Your motivation is down. You’re not as productive, or effective in your day to day tasks.
You’re starting to isolate. You’re no longer interested in social events, or making dates with your friends. You’d rather spend time alone at home.
You’re experiencing more physical symptoms, such as headaches, gut issues, or other stress related symptoms. You’re not running as strong these days, because your body is hurting.
You’re experiencing more frequent anxiety and depression symptoms. You’re having anxious thoughts that come “out of the blue.” You’re having difficulty controlling your anxiety and it’s affecting your sleep at night. You have little joy in the things that once lit you up. You just want to get through your work day, so you can hop into bed and pull the covers over your head.
So if you want to prevent burning out of your career, be aware of the above burnout signs. Ask yourself, is it worth your mental and physical health, to keep the wrong fit client? Remember that we do not have to take on every client who needs help. We also have the option to refer them out, to protect our mental and physical health.