Burnout is something almost every profession deals with, but for therapists, it hits differently. We’re not just exhausted from the long hours or the endless paperwork—it’s the emotional weight of holding space for others, the vicarious trauma we take on, and the unrelenting pressure to be “okay” so we can keep helping our clients.

In today’s episode, I dive into why burnout for therapists has its own unique layers, and why it often takes us much longer to admit we need help. I’ll share some of my personal struggles with burnout, how I got trapped in a cycle of overwork, and what finally made me realize I needed to make a big change.

Key Takeaways:

Caseload & Case Mix: It’s not just the number of clients, but the emotional toll of each case. Regularly auditing your caseload can help manage triggers and reduce stress.

The Payment Dilemma: Relying solely on client sessions for income adds pressure to maintain a full schedule. Diversifying revenue can ease this burden and reduce burnout.

Fear of Losing Your License: Ethical pressures and people-pleasing often cloud treatment decisions. Focusing on therapeutic outcomes instead of trying to keep everyone happy is key.

The Expectation to Be Superhuman: The pressure to seem emotionally resilient can be overwhelming. Setting boundaries and embracing vulnerability is essential for long-term sustainability.

Emotional Labor & Compassion Fatigue: Holding space for clients’ trauma can be exhausting. Understanding the nuances between burnout and compassion fatigue is important for healing.

Moral Injury: Dealing with systemic injustices can lead to moral injury, further deepening burnout.

Burnout Before the Profession: Burnout can start as early as graduate school, with heavy workloads and financial stress. Robust support systems are critical for students entering the field.

Get Support:

• Coaching for Therapists: Jennifer discusses her coaching services aimed at helping therapists navigate burnout, offering strategies like pausing, creating a 90-day game plan, and providing ongoing support. https://drjenblanchette.com/love-it-or-leave-it-coaching/

Resources Mentioned:

• Episode #38: Conversation with Kate Donovan, host of Fried: The Burnout Podcast.https://drjenblanchette.com/podcast/038-escaping-burnout-with-cait-donovan-the-host-of-fried/
• LinkedIn Poll Insights: Featuring quotes from Michael Rose, Colin Albrow, Tamara Hubbard, and Brittney Lindsay. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/drjenblanchette_therapists-and-mental-health-professionals-activity-7240405419452436480-UE6X?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop
• Compassion Fatigue Literature: Definitions and distinctions between burnout, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious traumatization. http://www.figleyinstitute.com/documents/Workbook_AMEDD_SanAntonio_2012July20_RevAugust2013.pdf
• National Center for PTSD: Information on moral injury and its implications beyond the military context. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/cooccurring/moral_injury.asp

In this episode, Dr. Jen Blanchette discusses the intersection of imposter syndrome and burnout. She shares her personal experience with burnout and how it made her question her career and worth as a therapist. Dr. Blanchette talks about the difficulty of leaving a private practice and the feelings of being an imposter in a new job. She emphasizes the importance of recognizing our accomplishments and giving ourselves permission to take time and space to recover from burnout. Dr. Blanchette also encourages therapists to explore alternative career options and not feel trapped in their current path.

keywordsimposter syndrome, burnout, career, worth, private practice, job, experience, time, space, choices

takeaways

• Imposter syndrome can be exacerbated by burnout and can make us question our abilities and worth as therapists.
• Taking time and space to recover from burnout is essential and can look different for each person.
• Therapists have choices and can explore alternative career options if they feel stuck in their current path.
• Recognizing our accomplishments and leaning into our experience can help combat imposter syndrome and build confidence.

titles

• The Intersection of Imposter Syndrome and Burnout
• Leaving a Private Practice: The Fear and Challenges

Sound Bites

• "I honestly didn't trust myself anymore."
• "Oh, I don't have to do therapy anymore."
• "I bring up all that experience in this role. Like, oh yeah, I worked residential. Oh yeah, well, I remember this one time I was working, da, da, da, da."

How to replace your 1:1 Therapy income Freebie link: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/tshwticuti

My Website: www.drjenblanchette.com

What is really going on with Gen Z's mental health? For Therapists that are parents or work with parents or youth, this is a must listen! This book is blowing my mind about the role of phones in the lives of children and for all humans.

Here are some the takeaways:

• The impact of smartphones and social media on the mental health of the younger generation.
• Evidence of a significant increase in mental health issues like depression and anxiety since the introduction of smartphones.
• The negative effects of a decline in play-based childhood and overprotection, leading to decreased socialization and physical activity among youth.
• Recommendations for parents include limiting screen time, promoting in-person activities, and fostering independence and responsibility.
• Emphasizes the need for therapists to address their own burnout and consider the impact of social media on their well-being.

All my stuff: https://linktr.ee/drjenblanchette

Email me, yes, I'll write you back: info@drjenblanchette.com

• Good therapist conditioning can lead to perfectionism and a fear of making mistakes as well as burnout.
• Therapists often feel a strong sense of responsibility for their clients' well-being.
• Cultural expectations and societal norms can reinforce traditional gender roles and influence therapists' perception of themselves and their careers.
• Attachment to the identity of being a therapist can make it difficult to consider alternative career paths.
• Therapists should prioritize their own needs and happiness and not be afraid to make changes.

Links to my stuff: https://linktr.ee/drjenblanchette

In this episode, therapist Susannah Horwitz shares her personal journey of burnout and the pivotal moments that led her to find joy again. She discusses the challenges she faced upon moving to a new location and the pressure she felt to maintain stability for her family.

Susannah reflects on her beliefs around money and how she overcame scarcity mindset to increase her fees and create a more sustainable practice. She also explores the role of rest and play in finding abundance and shares her experience of shifting to offering intensives as a therapeutic approach. Susanna emphasizes the importance of collaboration and connection with other therapists and the need for a collective shift in the field of therapy.

She shares her passion for supporting young parents in STEM who are dealing with chronic illness or health anxiety. Susanna also introduces her coaching program for introverted therapists who struggle with networking and offers insights into somatic regulation as a tool for building relationships and referral bases.

More from Susannah: https://www.susannahhorwitz.com/

More from Jen: https://linktr.ee/drjenblanchette

Quick note: Enrollment is open for Love It or Leave It (Leaving the Chair).

Closes January 30 (at the time of recording).

Join Love It or Leave It (Open Enrollment):

https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/jhvxnbroxe

Book a consult call (limited availability):

https://calendar.app.google/JBkK3aUPXyvxr46F7

Micah Freeman interviews Jen for Episode 100.

We talk about milestones, burnout (in real life), cognitive overload, and why so many therapists are done with 1:1 as it’s currently structured.

• What 100 episodes actually feels like (and why “arrival” doesn’t land the way we expect)
• The arrival fallacy and the “have done list”
• Jen’s current relationship with burnout and learning to be gentler with herself
• Cognitive burnout: screens, tabs, constant input, nervous system fatigue
• The added layers for many therapists: caregiving, emotional labor, hormones/menopause
• Why Jen started studying burnout before becoming a psychologist (therapeutic foster care)
• Burnout vs depression and the overlap in symptoms
• Therapist isolation, clinical grief, and why support matters
• Community, meaning, and the messy middle of spirituality/faith
• Why listener emails and reviews matter more than you think

• “Earth School is very hard.”
• “There are only so many times you can walk through fire and not get burned.”
• “I wanted to give it the breadth of time. 100 felt like doing that.”

• What am I waiting to achieve so I can finally feel okay?
• What would be on my “have done list” this year?
• What’s burning me out most: work, life load, cognitive overload, or all of it?
• What would a sustainable next step look like (not a dramatic pivot)?

Micah Freeman

Website: egostrength.net

Podcast: the self-study lab

In this episode of the Therapist Burnout Podcast, Karen Conlon shares her personal journey navigating burnout as a therapist specializing in anxiety and trauma. She highlights the importance of setting boundaries and understanding the role of a therapist—not as a fixer but as a guide. Karen discusses her experiences across various stages of her career, including challenging environments like adolescent health centers and Mount Sinai Hospital. She addresses the unique impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health professionals and explores the notion of therapists becoming part of their clients' emotional lives.

Get Support:

• Are you ready to leave therapy? Jennifer discusses her coaching services aimed at helping therapists navigate burnout, offering strategies like pausing, creating a 90-day game plan, and providing ongoing support. https://drjenblanchette.com/love-it-or-leave-it-coaching/
• Join the list: I send weekly burnout tips and stories to my list. I write back :)

Karen's website: https://expressivetalks.com/

Ever felt that following your to become a therapist has led you to burning out and resenting your work? Or that you're not sure that becoming a therapist was the best choice for you. In today's episode, we're uncovering the truth behind the passion hypothesis and why your skills might trump your passion when it comes to finding career happiness.

We delve into the controversial ideas presented in Cal Newport's book, "So Good They Can't Ignore You," and explore why the common advice to "follow your passion" might actually be leading us astray. If you're a therapist thinking about quitting your role or significantly changing your career, this discussion is especially for you.

Key Takeaways:

1. Passion vs. Skills:
   • Cal Newport argues that following your passion is not the key to career satisfaction.
   • Most people do not have pre-existing passions related to work.
   • Developing skills and career capital is more important for job satisfaction.
2. The Reality of Burnout:
   • Burnout is a significant issue in the therapy profession, often exacerbated by the pressure to follow one's passion.
   • Therapists may find themselves paralyzed by too many ideas and directions, leading to burnout.
3. The Passion Hypothesis:
   • The assumption that everyone has a pre-existing passion waiting to be discovered is flawed.
   • Passions are often unrelated to work or education and tend to be hobby-like interests.
4. Steve Jobs’ Misinterpreted Advice:
   • While Steve Jobs advised to "do what you love," his own path to founding Apple was not driven by passion but by opportunity and skill development.
5. Autonomy, Competence, and Relatedness:
   • According to Self-Determination Theory, these three factors are essential for intrinsic motivation at work.
   • Therapists need to consider these elements to find fulfillment, especially in private practice where relatedness can be challenging.
6. Career Capital:
   • Building valuable skills and expertise in your field (career capital) is crucial.
   • Passion can develop from becoming skilled and achieving mastery in your work.
7. The Privilege of Choice:
   • The ability to follow one’s passion is a privilege not everyone has.
   • A more practical approach is to focus on developing skills that make you valuable in your career.

Resources Mentioned:

• Book: "So Good They Can't Ignore You" by Cal Newport
• Self-Determination Theory (SDT)

Episode Quote: “Follow your passion might just be terrible advice. Focus on developing valuable skills and career capital to find true job satisfaction.”

Send me an email I'd love to connect: info@drjenblanchette.com

Links to my freebie and connect with a free consult call to Un*uck Your Practice: https://linktr.ee/drjenblanchette