Professional Ethics:
Avoiding Burnout
Presented By
Chip Abernathy, LPC, MAC
Competence Is the Issue
Avoiding burnout and professionals’ self-care is
often discussed in the area of professional ethics
Competence to perform our work is the issue
How well we take care of ourselves affects the
client who seeks our help
Professionals
For the sake of consistency in this presentation,
counselors will be the professionals noted in
the examples given. However, any helping
professional could be used in the examples,
i.e. doctors, pharmacists, nurses, lawyers,
etc.
Burnout Syndrome
Maslach and Jackson (1981) define burnout as
 a syndrome characterized by emotional
exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced
feelings of accomplishment that affects
individuals in the helping professions
Emotional Exhaustion
Emotional exhaustion involves feelings of being
emotionally drained by one’s job
Emotional Exhaustion – Patient
Perceptions
What does emotional exhaustion look like or sound
like to patients? My counselor…
 Has mentioned changing careers
 Seems depressed
 Seems drained and fatigued
 Seems frustrated by his job
 Seems to be at the end of her rope
Depersonalization
Depersonalization involves the development of
negative, cynical attitudes towards clients
Depersonalization – Patient Perceptions
What does depersonalization look like or sound
like to patients? My counselor…
 Doesn’t seem to care about me
 Seems to view patients negatively
 Blames me for my problems
 Cuts interactions short
 Doesn’t listen very closely to me
Reduced Personal Accomplishment
Reduced personal accomplishment is
characterized by feelings of ineffectiveness in
one’s professional role
Reduced Personal Accomplishment –
Patient Perceptions
What does reduced personal accomplishment look
like or sound like to patients? My counselor…
 Doesn’t seem very energetic
 Is tense during interactions
 Gets rattled easily by the problems I bring up
 Is sometimes sarcastic towards me
 Frowns, sighs, rolls his eyes at me
 Leans away from me and seems disinterested in
my problems
Expectations of the Professional
Clients come to professionals with hope that
the relationship with the professional will help
to make their lives better
That is a reasonable expectation
We are expected to be competent to do our job
Potential Consequences of Burnout
Burned out professionals provide ineffective
treatment
That ineffective treatment leads to
 High drop-out rates
 Lack of progress in treatment
 Legal and ethical liabilities
 Danger to health, safety and welfare of
clients
Burnout and Perception
Burnout affects how professionals view patients
and themselves, and this affects how
professionals interact with clients
Additionally, burnout affects how patients view
professionals, view themselves, and view the
therapeutic relationship
What Kind of Shape Are You In?
Our ability to put forth the energy, attentiveness,
and best use of our skills towards helping a
client is largely determined by what kind of
shape we are in…
Physically

Mentally

Spiritually
We can reduce stress and enhance our
effectiveness, both personally and
professionally, by attending to all these life areas

How Does Burnout Happen?
Helping professionals become burned out the
same way people in other professions do…



We take on too much,
We feel underappreciated, and
We feel helpless to change things
We reach a state of mental exhaustion caused by
the perception of being overwhelmed
Burnout is a reaction to stress
Warning Signs of Professional Burnout
Some signs of burnout include…

Losing interest and meaning in your work

Distancing from others

Increasing irritability

Reduced productivity

Feeling trapped and unable to do anything about it

Cynicism, fatigue, feeling drained

Feeling “oppressed” by the system at work
Job Burnout Symptoms
Questions



Are you more cynical,
critical and sarcastic
at work?
Do you drag yourself
into work and have
trouble getting started
once you arrive?
Are you less patient
and more irritable with
co-workers?


Are you using food,
alcohol/other drugs,
or compulsive
behaviors to feel
better or to not feel?
Have your sleep
habits or appetite
changed?
Job Burnout Symptoms
Questions (Continued)



Do you feel
insurmountable
barriers at work?
Do you lack the
energy to be
productive?
Do you have a hard
time laughing at
yourself?

Do you have
unexplained
headaches, neck pain
or lower back pain?
A ‘yes’ could indicate
burnout - or a mental
health issue such as
depression which needs
professional attention
What I Can Do
In order to avoid or to recover from burnout, we
need to look at
 what we can do
 rather than what
we cannot do to deal with our problems
Burnout Prevention
Taking steps to prevent burnout is the best way to
avoid it



Practice good stress management on a daily
basis
Know the warning signs for burnout
Have management strategies in place should
warning signs appear
Management Strategies for Burnout –
Professional Area of Your Life
Professional Area
 Consult with colleagues and have clinical or
peer supervision regularly
 Have a variety of therapeutic approaches
 Belong to a professional organization
 Stay current on ethical standards and changes
in laws
Management Strategies – Professional
Area (Continued)




Avoid dual relationships
Document well
Have continuing education
Seek therapy as needed
Management Strategies for Burnout –
Personal Area of Your Life
Personal Area
 Be aware of how you are doing physically,
mentally and spiritually
 Make the effort to take care of yourself when
concerns arise
 Pay attention especially to learning sound stress
management skills and practice those skills
Taking Care of Myself –Physically
Some ways that I can take care or myself
physically are to
 Eat a nutritious diet
 Exercise
 Get plenty of rest
 Drink enough water
 Have regular checkups with my doctors and my
dentist - follow their advice – and see other
practitioners as needed
Taking Care of Myself – Mentally
I can take care of my mental health by
 Making time for family and friends
 Expressing my thoughts, feelings and needs
 Taking vacations, honoring time off planned
 Having hobbies
 Making fun a priority
 Doing enjoyable things
 Being open to new learning
 So many other ways – name a few of your own
Taking Care of Myself –Spiritually
Some ways I can enhance my spiritual health are
to
 Be flexible
 Be honest
 Be curious – remain teachable
 Practice spiritual principles, esp. love, kindness,
open-mindedness, willingness
 Practice prayer and meditation
 Help others
It All Works Together
Body, mind, and spirit all work together
When I am taking care of my body, my mind and
my spirit, I am less likely to become burned out
and more likely to be effective and competent as
a professional
Growth
In his book The Road Less Traveled (p. 11)
M. Scott Peck, M.D. asserts that there is “no
distinction between the process of achieving
spiritual growth and achieving mental growth.
They are one and the same.”
Stress Management
Learning and practicing sound stress management
skills are key factors in preventing and
recovering from burnout. Some tried and true
stress management skills include…
 Exercising regularly
 Meditation
 Conscious contact with a Higher Power
 Connecting with people I enjoy
 Massage
 Changing my thinking and attitude
Balance
Creating balance in life enhances burnout
prevention and management. Create balance
between…
 Giving and receiving
 Attention to family and attention to work
 Involvement and detachment
 Awareness of power and awareness of
powerlessness
 The client’s needs and my needs
 Time spent with people and time spent alone
References
Keith-Speigel, P., & Koocher, G.P. Ethics in psychology: Professional
standards and cases. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1985, p. 241
McCarthy, W.C. Negative aspects of therapy: Client perceptions of
therapists’ social influence, burnout, and quality of care. Journal of
Social Issues, Spring, 1999
Maslach, C.,& Jackson, S.E. The measurement of experienced
burnout. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 2(2), 99-113, 1981
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Job burnout:
Understand symptoms and take action. www.mayoclinic.com
References
National Institutes of Health. Stress management.
www.medlineplus.gov, updated 2-6-08
Peck, M.S. The road less traveled: A new psychology of love, traditional
values, and spiritual growth. New York: Simon and Schuster, p. 1,
1978
Zur, O. Taking care of the caretaker: How to avoid psychotherapists’
burnout. www.zurinstitute.com