Burnt Toast: When Jamming Leads to Burnout

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Burnt Toast When Jamming Leads to Burnout

• John C. Thomas, Ph.D., Ph.D., CEAP
• Associate Professor of Counseling

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• What is stressful about being an EAP
  professional?
• What is stressful about working with business and
  industry?

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What is Burnout?

• Not simply excessive stress
• A complex human reaction to on-going stress
• It is not so much a state or condition, but a
  process that can lead to impairment
• Occurs when the EAPs inner resources are
  inadequate for managing tasks and situations

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What is Burnout? (cont)

• A state of fatigue or frustration brought about
  by a devotion to a cause, a way of life, or a
  relationship that failed to produce the expected
  reward. (Freudenberger)
• Characterized by emotional exhaustion,
  depersonalization, and decreased sense of
  personal accomplishment (Maslach Jackson)

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What is Burnout?

• Condition of feeling wasted physically,
  emotionally, spiritually, interpersonally, and
  behaviorally (MacClusky Ingersoll)
• An erosion of the spirit

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Burnout Formula
High Ideals and Motivation
__
Depletion of Spirit and Faith in our Capacity to
make a Difference
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Hazards of the EAP
Professional Contributors

• Vicarious traumatization
• Dealing with significant client pathology
• One way intimacy and voyeuristic work
• Highly demanding profession (e.g., on call,
  ethical/legal)
• Conflicting clinical needs and insurance benefits

• Reputation assaults
• Threat of lawsuits
• Salary and perk issues
• Multiplicity of roles
• Administration vs. clinical overload
• Working alone / isolation
• Job security
• Interruptions

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Hazards of the EAP
Organizational Contributors

• Job intensity (workload)
• Administrative support
• Feedback
• Social support from colleagues
• Confidence in leadership
• Adequacy of supervision

• Politics
• Organizational climate
• Poor reward system
• Unfairness
• Hierarchically control decision-making
• Unethical

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Hazards of the EAP
Individual Vulnerability Contributors

• Pessimistic
• Lack of intimacy in personal life
• Workaholic mentality
• Confusion of role identity with self-image

• Fragile self-esteem
• Need to rescue others
• Perceived need for approval / acceptance
• Conscientiousness
• Attributional style

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Hazards of the EAP
Cognitive Contributors

• Unresolved countertransference
• Perceived control of work environment
• Identification with clients
• Psychological magnification

• Deriving too much self-esteem from work
• Disparity between expectations and reality
• Taking self too seriously
• Negativity

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Hazards of the EAP
Behavioral Contributors

• Inability to shut off therapeutic stance
• Interference from personal lives (balance)
• Poorly defined boundaries
• Time management problems
• Poor social support
• Poor coping strategies

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Hazards of the EAP
Emotional Contributors

• On-going feelings of frustration
• Level of anger and irritability
• Feelings associated with clients not getting
  better
• Overwhelmed

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Stages of Burnout
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Stages of Burnout
Irritable, Anxious, HBP, Increased Heart
Rate Bruxism, Insomnia, Headaches, Forgetful,
Poor Concentration,
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Stages of Burnout
Late for Work, Apathy, Procrastinate, Fatigue,
Cynical, Resentful, Need 3 Day Weekends,
Isolation, Drink More, Miss Deadlines
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Stages of Burnout
Chronic Sadness or Depression, Headaches, Mental
Fatigue, Desire to Drop Out, GI Problems, Numb
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Burnout Fallout
Physical Fallout

• Chronic fatigue
• Lower illness resistance
• Substance abuse
• Malaise
• GI problems
• Insomnia

• HBP
• Tachycardia
• Cholesterol problems
• Headaches
• Exhaustion
• Long term to rebound

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Burnout Fallout
Emotional Fallout

• Suppress emotion
• Discouraged
• Anxious
• Resentment
• Guilt / Shame
• Liability
• Chronic sadness

• Depression
• Emotional exhaustion
• Apathy
• Helplessness
• Powerless
• Despair

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Burnout Fallout
Cognitive Fallout

• Cynicism
• Sense of inefficiency
• Sense of failure
• Stereotyping
• Loss of creativity
• Resisting change
• Depersonalizing clients

• Wanting to drop out
• Resistance in going to work
• Self-preoccupation
• Rigidity in thinking
• Spiritual deadness
• Negativity

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Burnout Fallout
Behavioral Fallout

• Complaining
• Blaming
• Late to work
• Absenteeism
• Withdrawing / Isolation
• Clock watching
• Postponing phone calls

• Assuming additional responsibility
• Sacrifice life for work
• Cannot say no
• Substance abuse
• Relationship problems
• Act out

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The Fallout of Burnout

• Frustration replaces Challenge
• Fear replaces Courage
• Cynicism replace Compassion
• Carelessness replaces Caution
• Convention replaces Creativity
• Compromise replaces Conviction
• Disengagement replaces Collaboration
• Depersonalization replaces Community
• Liability replaces Control
• Exhaustion replaces Charge (Energy)
• Apathy replaces Commitment (Enthusiasm)
• Ineffectiveness replaces Competence

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Why Change Doesnt Occur

• We automatically follow our old unconscious
  maps
• These old maps continue to drive behavior since
• we have experience with them
• we do not have experience with alternate behavior
• Burned-out people do not believe they can change
  or need to change
• Low energy

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Preventing Burnout PREVENTIONS

• Probe (self-assess)
• Resourcefulness (commitment)
• Evolve (grow / counseling)
• Vitality (health)
• Entertainment (leisure / fun)
• Network (social support)
• Time-Out (relax refuel)
• Influence (locus of control)
• Off-Load (margin)
• Needs Met

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Personal Needs

• Acceptance
• Approval
• Affection
• Achievement
• Autonomy

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Preventing Burnout PREVENTIONS

• Probe (self-assess)
• Resourcefulness (commitment)
• Evolve (grow / counseling)
• Vitality (health)
• Entertainment (leisure / fun)
• Network (social support)
• Time-Out (relax refuel)
• Influence (locus of control)
• Off-Load (margin)
• Needs Met

• Spirituality (faith)

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Preventing Burnout at Work

• Job Fit
• Orientation to the Future
• Balanced Decision-Making
• Workload Allocation
• Engagement with Work
• Legitimacy (fairness)
• Limit Job Spillover
• Network (community)
• Evaluate the Organization
• Supervisory Support
• System of Reward