Did you know that a staggering one in two Australians experiences burnout?

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not a badge of productivity, a social media buzzword or a productivity issue that you can fix with better time management.

And it’s not just a workplace problem; it’s a systemic one. Burnout is a serious mental health condition rooted in chronic stress, long-term emotional exhaustion and being stuck in survival mode. 

It’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong – that you need to stop and reset. Burnout therapy can help you with just that.

If you’re wondering how to recover from burnout or how to support someone with burnout, you’ve come to the right place. 

Join us as we explore how burnout therapy helps and discuss how to support a friend or family member with work-related stress and burnout.

Understanding Work-Related Stress and Employee Burnout

Work-related stress refers to the detrimental emotional and physical effects that occur when an employee’s job requirements exceed their ability to cope with them. Left unaddressed, workplace stress may contribute to employee burnout. 

The 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) describes burnout as characterised by feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion, increased cynicism for or mental distance from one’s job, and reduced professional efficacy. These should not be caused by other stress disorders, such as disorders associated with anxiety and fear.

Many young Australians are now turning to burnout therapy to manage workplace stress and other burnout symptoms. In the following section, we explore various ways in which burnout therapy can aid in recovery.

How to Recover from Burnout: 5 Ways Burnout Therapy Can Help You Heal

If you’ve been feeling drained, disconnected or constantly overwhelmed for a long time without a clear reason, it may be time to pause. These may be signs of burnout.

So, can burnout therapy help you with healing from burnout? Absolutely. 

No matter whether you’re struggling with work-related stress or employee burnout, therapists in Australia can offer professional guidance and support.

Here’s what you can expect from therapy for burnout:

1) Identifying the Root Cause(s)

While you can often manage the outward burnout symptoms on your own, it’s only a temporary fix. Burnout therapy helps you dig deeper to understand the underlying causes.

Your therapist in Australia may guide you in exploring causes such as:

• Chronic work stress and extreme workloads
• Toxic work cultures and unhealthy leadership patterns
• Unrealistic self-expectations, people-pleasing tendencies or perfectionism
• Continuous emotional pressure in relationships, with no healthy outlet
• Lack of proper breaks and rest
• Misalignment and lack of satisfaction at work (one of the common signs of workplace burnout)

Understanding why you’re burned out is key to lasting recovery, and burnout therapy helps you do that.

2) Acknowledging & Validating Your Experience

Being a widely misunderstood mental health concern, burnout is shrouded in stigma and misconceptions. It’s often dismissed, minimised, or worse, romanticised.

It’s vital to acknowledge your feelings and validate your experiences. Burnout therapy creates a safe space for you to do that. 

Through regular burnout therapy sessions, your therapist can help:

• Validate what you’re feeling without judgment
• Understand that burnout and ensuing mental exhaustion are mental health struggles, not personal flaws
• Recognise the signs of burnout earlier next time

3) Creating a Recovery Plan

During burnout therapy, your therapist will work with you to curate a personalised recovery plan, a roadmap to healing from burnout. 

Here are some key aspects of a burnout recovery plan:

• Identifying practical steps for rest, healing and recovery
• Setting doable goals and drawing boundaries
• Learning coping strategies, tools and techniques
• Understanding what to do when you feel burned out or mentally exhausted 

4) Exploring Coping & Healing Strategies

Recovery isn’t just about taking a vacation. It’s about learning ways to cope with the effects and healing from burnout. 

Burnout therapy introduces various helpful tools and strategies to manage and recover from workplace stress and burnout. 

Some strategies you may explore in burnout therapy include:

• Mindfulness and grounding techniques
• Cognitive reframing for automatic negative thoughts
• Emotional regulation and release tools for anger, guilt, and anxiety
• Role-playing for boundary setting and assertive communication
• Behavioural activation techniques to unfreeze from numbness and apathy
• Journaling and reflecting to track triggers, emotions, energy levels and progress
• Somatic therapy techniques like body-based grounding, movement, breathing, etc

5) Setting Boundaries & Building Resilience

Burnout therapy doesn’t end with recovery; it also equips you with the resilience and tools to prevent future episodes of burnout. 

In burnout therapy, you’ll learn to:

• Spot the signs of burnout early and take action
• Set and communicate clear boundaries, especially at work
• Proactively prioritise your mental wellness
• Say no without feeling guilty or second-guessing yourself
• Prioritise yourself, your mental health, hobbies and personal time

Therapy can help you recover from burnout and work stress

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Being There for Friends & Family: How to Support Someone with Burnout

Learning how to support a friend or family member with work-related stress and burnout may not be easy, but it does not have to be complicated either. 

Try to patiently and gently help your loved one increase their awareness of their burnout or workplace stress, and encourage them to explore options like burnout therapy. Sometimes, simply being there for them can make a huge difference. 

However, if you notice your loved one being increasingly affected by work-related stress, talk to them about how to recover from burnout. Do your best to encourage your loved one to seek burnout therapy early to start healing from burnout. 

Remind them that asking for help does not signal weakness; it's a sign of strength.

Below are five ways in which you can support someone with burnout:

1) Share Your Observations Respectfully

What is obvious to you may not be obvious to your loved one. It is often much easier for a family member or friend to notice their loved one’s symptoms of work-related stress than it is for the affected individual to notice it themselves. 

Be mindful not to push them too fast by suggesting options like burnout therapy right off the bat. It may take your loved one some time to open up to you.

Pick a good time. Try not to raise your concerns about your loved one’s situation in the middle of a heated argument. Instead, pick a time when your loved one is available, calmer and more relaxed. You can also check whether they’re okay to talk about it at the moment. 

If your loved one’s workplace stress and employee burnout are affecting you, let them know respectfully. 

Here's a Tip

‘I statements’ can help you to take ownership of your feelings and can help avoid coming across as blaming your loved one.

Eg: ‘I feel upset and unimportant when you respond to work emails in the middle of our family dinners.’

2) Ask How You May Be of Help

Don’t assume that your loved one wants advice or solutions on how to recover from burnout. 

Telling your loved one how they should address their workplace stress or what they should do is both dismissive and undermines their autonomy. Unsolicited advice may also indirectly suggest that you know better than them. 

There could be various underlying reasons for your loved one’s burnout symptoms, which you may not be aware of. Instead of assuming, ask them directly how you can be of help. Does your loved one need a solution? A listening ear? Advice? Resources? Help with scheduling a burnout therapy session? A hug? Moral support? A meal? Let them tell you.

3) Encourage Them Not to Neglect Other Aspects of Life

Encourage your loved one not to neglect their physical health. This includes eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising, all of which affect their overall well-being. It can be easy for these aspects of life to fall to the wayside when someone struggles with burnout and work-related stress.

Staying socially connected is also a crucial aspect of healing from burnout. Gently encourage your loved one to continue spending quality time with family and friends, so that work doesn’t consume their life.

4) Be Patient and Understanding

Although you might have noticed your loved one’s burnout symptoms and work-related stress for quite some time, they may be unaware and perhaps even unable to recognise it themselves at this point. 

Also, your loved one may not be ready to acknowledge workplace stress or explore confrontational options like burnout therapy. Don’t expect them to change immediately just because you have pointed it out. 

Insisting that they make changes immediately may invite defensiveness, denial, and interpersonal conflict. Instead, be patient and understand that what they are doing is likely not personal towards you. 

Let them know that you are there to support them if and when they feel like talking about it.
 

5) Encourage Them to Seek Help

Encourage your loved one to seek help for their work-related stress and burnout in a way that feels suitable and comfortable for them. Some common options include:

• Speaking to a supervisor about their workplace stress and other burnout symptoms
• Checking if the company has an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Seeking in-person therapy for burnout (or online burnout therapy) 

As we saw earlier, burnout therapy can gently guide your loved one in healing from burnout.
That being said, it’s important to remember that recovery takes time, and burnout therapy isn’t just about quick fixes but about learning to rebuild gently.

However, if your loved one has talked about suicide or self-harm, this needs immediate attention. We strongly encourage you or your loved one to reach out to a mental health crisis helpline. Alternatively, you can accompany your loved one to their primary healthcare provider or an emergency department of a hospital.

Key Takeaways

Burnout can often leave you feeling unproductive and as if you're failing or not strong enough. In reality, burnout is a very human response to long-term pressure. It’s your body’s way of shielding you from further harm.

Here are some key takeaways about workplace stress, employee burnout, burnout therapy and how to support someone with burnout:

• Burnout is more than just tiredness; it’s a state of chronic mental and physical exhaustion.

• Common burnout symptoms include fatigue, detachment, apathy and lack of motivation.

• Workplace burnout is most common, but burnout can occur in any area of life, such as caregiver burnout .

• If you notice your loved one struggling with signs of burnout, offer non-judgmental support and encourage them to seek burnout therapy in Australia.

• Burnout therapy helps you navigate work-related stress and employee burnout with clarity, validation and support.

Therapists in Australia can guide you through burnout recovery with proven strategies and professional support.

Begin your journey towards healing from burnout. Book your burnout therapy session with Talk Your Heart Out (TYHO) today.