Are You A Clinician Or Caregiver Struggling With Healthcare Burnout And Stress?

Is it becoming harder and harder to feel motivated to go to work and face the inevitable challenges of your day? Do you feel worn down by the demands of your work, from the pressure to excel in your career to the high stakes of offering your patients the care they need? You may be wondering if all of the student loans, long hours and hard work has been worth it. Perhaps you had a vision of what your life would be like and high hopes for the good you could do in the world, but now you feel increasingly disillusioned and inadequate. Do you tell yourself you could manage it all if you just pushed further and worked harder? Do you wish you could get caught up with everything you need to do, renew your passion for your career and find time to rest?

Whether you are a nurse, doctor, therapist, social worker, med student, caregiver or any other kind of healthcare professional, burnout symptoms and work stress can affect your entire life. Whether you’re at work, at home or out running errands in between, you may feel like your whole life is made up of endless demands. Perhaps your loved ones are pulling you in one direction while your work responsibilities pull you in another, leaving you with little energy or time for yourself. And even as cut sleep, neglect self-care and watch your own physical and mental health decline, you may still feel like you are always letting someone down—including yourself. You may feel guilty and overwhelmed, worried that you’re just not good enough to live up to everyone’s expectations.

Stress And Burnout In Healthcare Workers Is Extremely Common

Regardless of your particular field, as a healthcare professional, you undeniably have a lot on your plate. And even though it may sometimes seem as though your colleagues can handle stress and hectic schedules with greater ease, in truth, everyone struggles from time to time. You are not alone, and you are not a failure in your career just things are difficult right now.

In your both career and home life, it can feel as though everyone is counting on you. At times, it may feel easier to exhaust yourself than to deal with the pain of letting anyone done. And in all that multitasking and rushing around, you likely forget yourself. You likely have little time to stop and remember that you are human, and like anyone else, you have need and limits.

There is no shame in that. No one can do it all and neglect themselves forever. Everyone needs to sleep, eat real meals and find time to relax. Self-care and healthy work-life balance are not luxuries; instead—and especially if you have a high-pressure job—they are necessities. No matter how smart, dedicated and capable you are, you can’t take care of anyone else if your resources have run dry.

Thankfully, it is possible to learn effective stress reduction techniques for nurses, doctors, therapists and more. With the help of an experienced therapist and former nurse who understands what you’re going through, you can stop feeling stuck, rediscover your values and develop practical strategies to create balance in your overall life.

Therapy For Healthcare Burnout Can Help You Cultivate Peace And Purpose

For 20 years, I have helped a wide variety of physical and mental health professionals develop the stress management skills needed to stop struggling and start thriving. From our very first session, I can help you understand that the overwhelm you might be feeling is completely normal. And, while stress in healthcare professionals is nearly universal, you don’t have to go on feel exhausted and unhappy. With individualized guidance and support, it is possible to enact positive change in every part of your life.

In sessions, you can claim time to sit, take a break and assess where you are. Once you are able to more clearly identify how you are feeling, we can explore where these burnout symptoms are coming from. I will prompt you to look beyond work stress to consider your life as a whole so we can develop a clear picture of who you are caring for and how. Together, we can investigate the source of the pressures pushing you down. Then, you can feel better equipped to distinguish between real and imagined expectations, as well as clarify your authentic values and needs. You can remember what you really want and develop actionable strategies to honor what’s important to you.

I will adapt my approach to fit your needs, offering a variety of tools you can practice until we find something that works for you. For example, if you often find yourself taking on too many patients and assignments, we might talk about setting healthy boundaries at work. In the safe space of my office, you get comfortable using the word “no” without feeling guilty.

Or, we might go over what self-care for healthcare professionals can look like. I might ask you to think about the last time you went on a date with your partner, spent time alone or had a full night’s sleep. If the answer surprises or alarms you, we can collaboratively identify ways you can prioritize your wellbeing in your day-to-day life.

No matter how thinly stretched you may be feeling right now, you are not stuck. You can change how you experience each day. This doesn’t have to mean revamping your whole schedule or letting go of ambitions. Instead, I can help you shift your perspective and tweak your routine so you are part of your own life again. I can help you believe that you matter—that you are enough, and you deserve to feel better.

You may have questions or concerns about therapy for therapists, doctors, nurses and more…

• Won’t people judge me for seeking therapy?

Many people fear that seeking help will make them appear weak. Healthcare professionals, especially, feel immense pressure to seem strong and capable. But, in truth, there is nothing weak about reaching out to work with a therapist. It takes tremendous courage to pick up the phone and talk to someone about the challenges you’re facing.

I welcome everyone into my office, without judgment. Throughout my career as a nurse and now as a therapist, I have been continuously amazed by what people have been able to get through. I am always in awe of the strength of my clients, even if they don’t see it in themselves at first. Over the course of our work together, you can see your own resilience reflected back at you. You can fully realize just how capable you are.

• Stress management counseling is too expensive.

I will work with you to figure out the best way to make therapy fit into your budget. Today, many insurance companies cover mental health services, and I can offer some guidance to make sure your sessions fall under your insurance guidelines.

And, although therapy does have a cost, I encourage you to think of it as an investment in your wellbeing, including your personal life and career. By seeking help now, you can find ways to feel better over the long-term.

• Therapy won’t fit into my schedule.

I understand how hectic a healthcare provider’s schedule can be, so I am more than happy to work with you and your needs. You don’t have to plan to be in therapy forever. As you learn ways to productively address and manage stress, you can also develop tools for achieving a healthy, sustainable work-life balance. The time you dedicate to therapy can help you make better use of your time overall, offering you the freedom to prioritize your values and create a more fulfilling life.

You Don’t Have to Keep Struggling Alone

Please reach out to me at (785) 851-4343 or send me an email to schedule a free 15- to 30-minute consultation, and I invite all questions about how I can help with healthcare burnout in the State of KS.