Let’s talk about Therapist Burnout

Let’s talk about Therapist Burnout

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An article in the APA's Monitor on Psychology showcasing stress and burnout levels updated with 2023 data show that therapist burnout is very much still prevalent. In this video, I take a look at the available data on therapist burnout and offer some practical tools to help us move towards health as a profession.

Links Mentioned:

APA Monitor Article: "When are psychologists most at risk of burnout?"

APA Definition of "Burnout"

APA Article: "Practitioners are overworked and burned out, and they need our support"

NIH Systematic Review: "Burnout and Psychological Wellbeing Among Psychotherapists: A Systematic Review"

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This video is geared toward therapists of all kinds, including psychologists, MFTs, LPCCs, social workers, and others in the clinical counseling field.

Welcome to Private Practice Skills! I’m Dr. Marie Fang, psychologist in private practice. I post videos offering tools I learned the hard way about starting and growing private practice so that you don’t have to.

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This video is not intended as professional or legal advice. Be sure to seek the services of a professional if you are in need of them.

[stefanieannerico]

Thank you for covering this topic Marie! Being honest with my energy level and capacity was how I coped with burnout. 4 clients a day is my max- it feels like a "full" day even if it may not look like one. I dropped comparison to my colleagues/supervisor's schedules and I think I've become a better, more present clinician.

[TheHopefulExistentialist]

I learned from watching your channel about how less than half of people who graduate go on to get their licenses to practice. I believe that one of the biggest issues is that this is not even factoring in systemic issues, such as the people who choose to not go into these programs due to requirements and demands. This includes understanding the people who drop out during the process of getting into and being in grad school and/or the people who experience discrimination and numerous hardships, that people from more privileged backgrounds (higher SES, more support, and more resources) often do not experience.

The jobs available to interns and new therapists are often exploitative, i.e. extremely underpaid & have too high of demand often leading to burn out. I personally believe this often leads to moral injury related burnout too due to the systemic failures at how high the case loads are and the exploitative dynamics put on these therapists.

There are many systemic financial blocks (3 required unpaid internships) that make it almost impossible if you don’t have the money, support and resources i.e. access to childcare, etc. So the people who often graduate and go on with no problems tend to come from high(er) privilege backgrounds (higher SES & more support) which then reflects a lack of diversity in the field.

[Coach.Meredith]

I am LMFT but I resonate with this. I’m in my 23rd year and I feel waaay less stress. Also having my own practice was a game changer. That’s a definite factor!

[henryhealing]

Burnout happened for me when I encountered too many behavioral/mental health practitioners who were bullying others in workspaces. It was too much & I've been in this field for over 25 years now.

[Prehknight]

Super interesting about the burnout levels amongst different stages of their careers. It brought to my mind how perhaps the association is stronger with the stages of life that a person usually is during those first 20 years of their career, that usually these years are more associated with raising kids. I'd love to see if these data points show something between those in this career that have children vs don't have children, and seeing if the burnout levels still look like that through the different stages in their careers?

Somewhat related, perhaps there is a stronger association with the amount of spending money they have at each life stage? There could be generational differences, lack of kids, more earning power, or similar things associated with money that could be contributing to burnout differences in these career stages.

[sejalsocial]

Problem solving coping strategies and resilience are a must

[georgwilliamfriedrichhegel]

I really like that "reality crash" perspective. It seems to me that a lot of new clinicians have high expectations about what their practice will be like. So many think they'll immediately step into a comfy private practice office with a leather couch and oak paneling and get a bunch of fun and exciting clients that all pay $300 per hour. Or they think that every client is ready to start "work" and will be fixed in 10-20 sessions. Then they go to an agency and are handed 40 clients who don't even want to be in therapy and that require tons of tedious paperwork. Especially since grad programs are usually entirely focused on the clinical side of things and never talk about the office and business side of things.

I would hypothesize that early career experiences heavily impact burnout, which is to say that a therapist who starts in a supportive agency with realistic expectations is less likely to burn out then a therapist who starts in a high-stress agency with high expectations (although you would have to study the impact of expectations separately).

Something else that occurs to me is that "burnout" != "quit, " so it might be interesting to look at the differences between therapist who burn out and leave the field and those who continue to plod along.

[williamkimmins]

Not every clinician has a doctorate. I wonder how this would look for therapists with masters degrees in clinical practice. Within my field the ROI for a doctorate is minimal unless you want to go into full time research. Just one of those things where not everyone defines the start of their career at the same point so that might change the data if considered.

[harlz]

Potentially a survivorship bias going on here too. Those early and mid career who were dragging the mean up likely quit after 30 years of stress and therefore the mean drops because those lower are all that are left and not because you develop any better skills over your career.

[inculcatetobemaudlin]

Therapists can work on grounding exercises and meditation

[our.secret]

Is this career even worth pursuing considering this???

[cvc]

Alot of therapists are awful at what they do. Many should just quit. Nowadays it's a coin flip between quality and instability.