Understanding Burnout Part 3: Strategies and Therapeutic Solutions
Strategies for healing from burnout
This post is the final part of a three-part series I’m putting together about burnout. In the first post, I explored the definition and of burnout and some of the key symptoms that people experience. In the second post, we explored some of the more complex and perhaps less obvious causes for burnout.
In this post, we will look at some of the potential strategies that can help with healing from burnout. Some strategies are better for immediately managing burnout, while others focus more on long-term healing. All of the below strategies can be explored in therapy.
Strategies for healing from burnout:
Physical movement
Breathing
Affection
Nervous system awareness and regulation
Rest
Existential therapy
Strengths-based therapy
Retrieving cultural memory
Attachment-focussed therapy
1. Physical movement
Nagoski and Nagoski see burnout as being caused by chronic and ongoing accumulation of stress, which eventually turns into anxiety, and if left to build up long enough, creates dread within the individual. This chronic buildup of stress leaves your body in a constant state of fear, even if the stressor is dealt with or removed. Individuals get stuck in this constant state of fear because they face continuous stressors they either can’t or don’t take the time to process [1].
One strategy for dissipating the stress that gets stuck in our systems is by allowing your body to complete its stress cycle. Because unprocessed stress gets stored in and manifests through our physical bodies, any form physical movement is shown to be extremely effective in helping us to return to a state of calm. Going for a fast-paced walk, doing some yoga, standing up and shaking your hands, or even giving yourself a big hug can all be great strategies to help move yourself through a stressor as quickly as possible [1].
2. Breathing
In terms of breathing, this strategy is helpful both in dealing with minor and/or chronic stressors, as well as the aftermath of trauma. It helps to regulate the nervous system, and while it isn’t ideal for fully addressing super stressful or traumatic events, it can be very helpful for managing the worst parts of stress in that moment, and then utilize other coping strategies when you have more space, time, or safety to do so [1].
A simple exercise to practice is breathing in for a slow count of five, holding the breath for five, exhaling slowly for ten, and holding again for five, and ensuring that at the end of the breath the belly is fully emptied and contracts in order to experience the greatest regulating impact of the exercise [1].
3. Affection
Affection is another way we can help our bodies to complete stress cycles and return to a regulated state of being. Affection can be physical or non-physical, and it can take place with someone you love, trust, and respect. A connective conversation, a prolonged warm hug, or even snuggling with a pet for a few minutes are all ways to calm our nervous systems. For people with legacies of relational trauma who struggle to trust other human beings, connecting with animals can be a very effective first step towards establishing trust with other living beings [1].
4. Nervous system awareness and regulation
Another strategy for dealing with burnout is to build awareness around our nervous system. Simply speaking, this means becoming more aware of when we become triggered, and taking conscious steps to move ourselves from a triggered state to a calm and regulated state. A helpful tool in building this awareness is called the Window of Tolerance, which helps us understand our emotional state at any time.
There are three zones we exist in emotionally: Optimal (ie: window of tolerance), Hyperarousal, and Hypoarousal. The optimal zone is when we feel calm, grounded, and regulated. We feel safe and comfortable, and can make good rational decisions when we are in the optimal zone.
A simple illustration of the Window of Tolerance
Now let’s say that something happens that causes us to leave this optimal zone. Think of something that happened recently that made your heart race, made you feel rage or panic, made you defensive, or made your thoughts start racing uncontrollably. Chances are that you became hyperaroused. This is your body and brain’s way of trying to keep you safe when it detects a threat to your emotional or physical safety. These mechanisms exist because at some point in our past, they likely did keep us safe when we needed it, but often as adults they continue activating even if they aren’t actually helpful anymore.
Another thing that might happen is becoming hypoaroused. Think of a time when something happened and you immediately shut down, felt exhausted, numb, ashamed, or unable to think or say no. This is also your body and brain’s way of trying to protect you from a threat, in a different way from the hyperaroused state just discussed.
When we find ourselves in a hyperaroused or hypoaroused state, it means we are dysregulated. The first step is to recognize we are outside of the optimal zone. The next step is to do something to re-regulate yourself. Strategies 1-3 above are all great ways to bring yourself back into the window of tolerance.
Here are some additional strategies for self-regulation:
Sleep
Getting out into nature and sunshine
Massage
Meditation
Tech-free time
Journalling
Soothing rituals like making yourself a cup of tea
5. Rest
Tricia Hersey writes about how rest is a form of healing in a world that normalizes burnout [2]. She acknowledges the common belief that only those with privilege get to rest, and she writes, “You rest simply by believing that you deserve to rest.” In addition to regular and sufficient sleep, another way Hersey advocates for rest is by taking breaks from social media, and being sure to foster community and relationships in real life. She points out that social media is a form of labour that we are not being compensated for, and that online relationships and communication tend to lack accountability, which is a requirement for trusting relationships.
“You rest simply by believing that you deserve to rest.”
Hersey suggests that rest can be found in resistance to societal norms. She suggests strategies such as not responding to work emails immediately, honouring both your own and others’ work boundaries, taking time to heal from individual trauma, taking leisurely walks, dancing, and journaling; in essence, anything that rejects the pressure to be productive constantly [2].
Philosopher Byung-Chul Han refers to something called “deep contemplative attention”, which involves simply spending time with yourself or with others where you can simply be, and have a break from doing, producing and performing [3]. Han describes how the great achievements of humanity are owed to deep, contemplative attention, and how it is in this state that imagination can exist and new possibilities can be explored [3]. Spending an hour a week with a therapist is a great way to set aside time for deep contemplation.
On a similar note, Hersey proposes that the active use of our imagination, which is only possible in a state of rest, can allow us to envision alternative ways of being. She writes, “Everything we see on Earth today, all the systems we’re living under, were created by someone. They didn’t exist until people sat down and imagined a way to make sense in their world,” [2]. Setting aside time to rest and imagine alternative futures for ourselves can help us find different perspectives and options related to our jobs and relationships.
6. Existential therapy
Existential therapy is a therapeutic approach where the client and therapist work together to explore universally relevant human themes such as meaning, isolation, death, and freedom. This can be a great approach for understanding and recovering from burnout because often we choose our roles in life—career, family, partner, and more—with unconscious motivations that relate to these larger themes. The therapist works with the client to explore inner conflicts that may create anxiety in day-to-day life, developing strategies to resolve these inner conflicts.
There is also on taking responsibility in existential therapy, and so there are often highly tangible solutions that the client can then go out and practice in their day-to-day life.
7. Strengths-based therapy
A strengths-based approach in therapy acknowledges our struggles within broader systems, so it can be another great fit for working with burnout because it places our coping mechanisms and symptoms within the context of capitalism and societal norms.
Strengths-based therapy works from a place of gratitude and respect for our coping mechanisms and focuses on our resilience in the face of hardship. This can be a welcome approach because of it’s positivity and compassion, and can be soothing and comforting for people who struggle with perfectionism and deep feelings of inadequacy.
8. Retrieving cultural memory
Retrieving cultural memory involves exploring ways that societal norms and power structures have erased, altered, or distorted cultural values and histories, and finding our ways back to those values and histories. Social psychologist Malherbe writes that “through visceral, collective knowledge of how capitalism has been established systematically, [we] can confront neoliberal ideology’s legitimizing of brutality and violence” [4].
Exploring what parts of our culture have possibly been forgotten or repressed by dominant systems can be difficult but healing work. It can give us a different perspective on why we might feel so exhausted and empty; maybe it’s because we’ve been systematically disconnected from ourselves and our culture. Perhaps we have internalized cultural trauma. We can connect to our history and culture in a variety of ways, whether through fiction or non-fiction reading or writing, community groups, or other forms of remembering.
In the 2022 historical fiction novel “Daughters of the Deer”, author Danielle Daniels imagines what the lives of her Indigenous ancestors might have been like in the 1600s when the French began settling in Quebec. This work of fiction empathetically explores life for Indigenous women and French and British settlers, and the early roots of capitalism and Catholicism that were pushed onto Indigenous communities in ways that were often extremely violent and traumatic [5].
This sort of work can be challenging, and should be done gently. It can be helpful to have a compassionate therapist walk alongside us and witness us in the remembering process.
9. Attachment-focussed therapy
Attachment therapy can be very helpful in understanding our patterns when it comes to burnout. Attachment therapy might explore how individuals unconsciously choose jobs or partners that reenact childhood dynamics.
Here’s an example of how an attachment lens can help us understand burnout. Let’s say someone named Jamie grew up in a household where she was often praised for getting good grades and being a top athlete. While these achievements got her positive attention, she rarely received any attention for just being herself. As an adult, Jamie regularly works 70-hour work weeks, makes lots of money, but feels exhausted and purposeless in her life. Through an attachment lens, a therapist might look at how Jamie has grown to be an adult who is unconsciously seeking love and approval from her parents by working herself to exhaustion. A therapist might work with Jamie to process the sadness, anger, and grief from her childhood, so Jamie can begin making more conscious decisions around how she wants to spend her time and energy.
Which of these strategies appeals more to you? Therapy is a great place to explore these and other methods for recovering from burnout, and I’d be happy to chat about these approaches in a free consultation.
Also, if you haven’t already, check out the other posts about burnout in this three-part series:
References:
[1] Nagoski, E., & Nagoski, A. (2020). Burnout: The secret to unlocking the stress cycle. Ballantine Books.
[2] Hersey, T. (2022). Rest is resistance: Free yourself from Grind Culture and Reclaim Your Life. Aster.
[3] Han, B.-C., & Butler, E. (2015). The Burnout Society. Stanford Briefs, an imprint of Stanford University Press.
[4] Malherbe, N. (2023). For an anti-capitalist psychology of Community. Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
[5] Daniels, Danielle. (2022). Daughters of the Deer.
