Therapist Burnout: Burning the Candle at Both Ends and Self-Care
By: Dr. Denise Renye
As a mental health professional who works with folx healing from high levels of trauma, I am creatively and stealthily coping with the onslaught of demand for mental healthcare while also balancing my own needs. Myself and many of my colleagues are burning the candle at both ends during this heightened level of national and global trauma. We want to help people, and we also have to take care of ourselves. Self-care is multifaceted: physically, emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually. It can be challenging. I’m not alone in this struggle – I’m hearing the refrain from not only mental health professionals, but anyone in a healing or helping profession. Our need for self-care during this time is high priority so we can continue to be of service.
Psychotherapist Elissa Tosi writes, “My work feels different since the onset of this global pandemic. Putting my own stuff aside is far from effortless, it’s sometimes impossible. It feels like I should join in my client’s pain and fear – not maintain the objectivity required to offer an alternate perspective. It would be pathetically inauthentic and patronizing to behave otherwise. We are all sitting in the muck trying to figure out what this all means and how to survive it.”
We are all trying to survive this pandemic and life is different. The nation and the world are experiencing intensely high levels of trauma right now not only for some, but for most. Because I’m trained specifically in trauma care and intervention, I feel extra pressure to help, well, everyone. I’m not helping everyone because that’s not possible, but I am noticing I’m working longer hours. I’m trying to cram more into the day.
NBC News reported on this recently. They profiled several therapists who are working more than usual, either longer days or more each week, for instance six days a week instead of five. The news article noted there’s pressure on mental health professionals to focus on others right now, inevitably neglecting themselves, but doing so would be, and is, detrimental.
“Therapists in particular have to prioritize self-care and avoid running themselves ragged so they can be fully present for other people, even if that means making the unpopular choice to say no to taking on extra sessions,” wrote journalist Doha Madani in the NBC News article. She quotes Lori Gottlieb, author of the book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone who said, “[W]e therapists very much are on the emotional front lines right now. And it is a crisis, and we are trying to treat it as much as possible."
Treating the mental health crisis will only continue to get worse if we look at the history of other traumatic events. About half of the people impacted by Hurricane Katrina, which hit Louisiana and the Gulf Coast in 2005, developed mental-health disorders due to the loss of homes, loved ones, income, or financial security, according to an article in the New Yorker.
Right now, emotional and mental health concerns are becoming more highlighted as depression, anxiety, relationship/marital challenges, and suicidal ideation are on the rise due to the pandemic. What about mental health professionals themselves though?
“Everyone knows a tsunami of mental health needs will happen but no one really thinks about how that will get handled,” writes therapist Yessenia Guglielmi. “Mental health workers are already overworked and underpaid, and I know many who have left the field prematurely because of the burnout.”
I don’t know of anyone personally who has left the field because of burnout due to the pandemic, but due to burnout in general, yes. And burnout risk right now is high because in addition to certain factors that make this pandemic different than other traumatic events, which I’ll get into below, we have other issues that are happening simultaneously. We have civil unrest where people are protesting not only restrictions due to COVID-19, but also social injustice. We see protestors on the streets livid about racism, with good reason. For instance, did you know Breonna Taylor’s murderers Jonathan Mattingly, Brett Hankison, and Myles Cosgrove still roam free? The sort of police brutality they displayed continues to be evident when police officers are dealing with protestors across the country.
In my hometown of Philadelphia, a high-ranking police department commander roughed up protesters with a baton in two separate incidents. In this instance, Staff Inspector Joseph Bologna Jr. has a history of misconduct and will be charged with aggravated assault.
Lastly, I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention even before the pandemic, society has been upending patriarchal systems (think #metoo) and continues to upend them. There’s a lot going on!
Everything I’ve mentioned above is traumatic and blends into something unique about the pandemic. Unlike events such as Hurricane Katrina, 9/11, or the tsunami in Japan, we don’t have a finite ending. Who knows how long COVID-19 will last (or the protests, or racism, or sexism or …)? What will happen even a week from now? Yes, we are always living in the bardos, the uncertain place between knowing and not-knowing, but this pandemic and everything else we’re dealing with at the same time brings uncertainty to a new level because it just keeps going and going. This pandemic is similar to an endless marathon, which sounds horrible when I say it, but it’s a good metaphor right now.
I think it’s a good metaphor because do you know what happens at a marathon? There are aid stations, places where runners receive water, can get first-aid materials, and take a break. Marathons also have port-a-potties stationed throughout the race for runners to use if they wish. Yes, some people run the entire race without stopping, merely sticking out their hands for a cup of water along the race route, but they build up to that. They train for that. And for other runners, they take walk breaks, which some coaches even recommend because it can make their time faster!
When I think about the pandemic from the perspective of a marathon, it’s absolutely crucial that anyone in a healing/helping profession paces themselves, that they take breaks, and also that they say no. I’m here for the long run (literally), running a long race so that means I must train accordingly. In these times although the temptation is to give more, more, more because there’s a need, I won’t be able to help anyone if I push past my limits. Therapist burnout is real and I’m doing my best to avoid it not only by practicing good self-care, but also resilience and energy conservation. Even if you’re not a professional healer or helper, I hope you are also taking good care of yourself because you, too, are running a marathon.
For ideas and self care tips, feel free to stay connected.
References
Guglielmi, Yessenia. “I’m A Therapist, And I’m Struggling With The COVID-19 Pandemic, Too.” Huffington Post. June 10, 2020. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/therapist-during-coronavirus-pandemic_n_5ed14b03c5b69b83820dfea6
Kuzma, Cindy. “Here’s Why You Should Take Walk Breaks During Your Next Race.” Runner’s World. October 20, 2017. https://www.runnersworld.com/training/a20862651/why-you-should-take-walk-breaks/
Madani, Doha. “Therapists are under strain in COVID-19 era, counseling clients on trauma they're also experiencing themselves.” NBC News. June 14, 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/therapists-are-under-strain-covid-era-counseling-clients-trauma-they-n1230956?fbclid=IwAR1cnkH2LQSOV93hOviEma-RwY151-WArl3TATUheb3l8vj3T9fVTL5CYIM
Marin, Max; Briggs, Ryan. “Philly police commander seen beating protesters faces aggravated assault charges.” NPR: Plan Philly. June 5, 2020. https://whyy.org/articles/philly-police-commander-videotaped-beating-protesters-linked-to-narcotics-scandal-misconduct/
Tosi, Elissa. “Therapist: Trauma Is An Experience Of The Body. And We're All Feeling It.” WBUR: Cognoscenti. May 14, 2020. https://amp-wbur-org.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2020/05/14/what-its-like-to-be-a-mental-health-professional-in-a-pandemic-elissa-tosi?fbclid=IwAR3myap8tsoG6UXcTegg97mKQEU8hSfNK4DyH6LCNuCWfybwym-61uH16Z0
Wright, Robin. “How Loneliness from Coronavirus Isolation Takes Its Own Toll.” The New Yorker. March 23, 2020. https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/how-loneliness-from-coronavirus-isolation-takes-its-own-toll