How to Avoid Social Work Burnout Problems

Social workers can easily get tired because their job involves constant listening, attention to detail and hearing challenging situations of clients. Often as soon as one session ends, another begins. In one day a therapist may speak to clients about a death in the family, job loss, relationship failure, rejection from friends and panic attack problems.

Without a way to rejuvenate oneself, this schedule day after day can result in feelings of being overwhelemed, frustration with clients and thoughts about changing professions. When this happens, remember what led you to the field to begin with. Why did you want to work with people? What do you love about your job? What was a moment you really felt joy about that involved a client making a personal change? What was your interest in social work school to begin with?

Try to set up your schedule so you can take some breaks and have a little time to meditate. This can help you to quiet the mind and not carry the emotions from one session into the next one. When you get frustrated that someone isn't changing, check within yourself if you have those tendencies yourself. Think about if you could make a big change in our life as well. This helps to cultivate compassion and will help wiht feelings of irritation. This doesn't mean that you shouldn't push people and challenge someone to stretch themselves beyond what they think they can do. Sometimes if the dynamic with the client seems to be unhealthy, you may also need to transfer the patient to a different counselor or social worker. We all have our own issues and projections and certain people may hit a trigger from our own background that makes us not the best person to help them process their emotions.