The COVID-19 era: How therapists can diminish burnout symptoms through self-care
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The COVID-19 era: How therapists can diminish burnout symptoms through self-care Ami Rokach 1
&
Samir Boulazreg 2
Accepted: 23 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract COVID-19 is a frightening, stress-inducing, and unchartered territory for all. It is suggested that stress, loneliness, and the emotional toll of the pandemic will result in increased numbers of those who will seek psychological intervention, need support, and guidance on how to cope with a time period that none of us were prepared for. Psychologists, in general, are trained in and know how to help others. They are less effective in taking care of themselves, so that they can be their best in helping others. The article, which aims to heighten clinicians’ awareness of the need for self-care, especially now in the post-pandemic era, describes the demanding nature of psychotherapy and the initial resistance by therapists to engage in self-care, and outlines the consequences of neglecting to care for themselves. We covered the demanding nature of psychotherapy and its grinding trajectory, the loneliness and isolation felt by clinicians in private practice, the professional hazards faced by those caring for others, and the creative and insightful ways that mental health practitioners can care for themselves for the good of their clients, their families, and obviously, themselves. Keywords Psychologist . Self-care . Burnout . Occupational hazards . Competence constellation . Mindfulness
Mental health work, especially now doing the COVID-19 period, is stressful and may trigger burnout related to chronic work-related stress, resulting in emotional exhaustion and loneliness (Luther et al., 2017). Partly due to positive intentions of helping as many clients as possible, clinicians make for an especially vulnerable crowd. For example, Luther et al. (2017) conducted a study examining work experiences of 182 clinicians and showcased the tendency for clinicians to overextend themselves with work. Another example comes from a survey of 474 psychotherapists, which indicated that 61% of clinicians meet the criteria for clinical depression (Pope & Tabachnick, 1994). While there are various positive aspects to being mental health workers, there are also others that can be frustrating for clinicians while they accommodate and adjust to the post-COVID-19 era given its especially strenuous demands (Sander & Bauman, 2020). Self-care, defined as the deliberate and self-initiated attempt to take care of oneself, is widely accepted today as an essential
* Ami Rokach [email protected] 1
York University, Toronto, ON, Canada
2
Western University, London, ON, Canada
tool to enhance clinician wellbeing and overall efficacy of treatment (Kottler, 2011; Norcross & VandenBos, 2018; Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2016). Though research on self-care surged around the 1970s (Levin, Katz, & Holst, 1976), selfcare’s initial conceptualization stirred debate amongst health care workers and was not initially unanimously seen through a
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