| Burnout in psychologists |
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| Ilse Jordaan |
| Posted: 2009 February 18 at 4:39pm | IP Logged
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Some years back I did some research on the topic of stress and burnout in psychologists. The burnout rate was alarming and saddening. It would be interesting to get some anecdotal reports on how psychologists perceive their work and the stressors that go with working as a psychologist. A lot of poeple in the caring professions report loneliness, problems with payment, feeling exhausted, not being able to handle patients' projections, etc. etc. as significant issues leading to and associated with burnout. Many psychologists leave the profession (or the country). I would like to open up this topic and to get feedback on how much this issue really leads to professional impairment, etc. I also wonder about how therapeutic modality affects professional functioning.
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| workaholic |
| Posted: 2009 February 26 at 1:30pm | IP Logged
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Hi Ilse
I am currently completing my PhD on this topic. Statistical analysis is currently being done but once my results are complete I would be happy to send you a synopsis. I will contact you again when the information is available.
Burnout in psychologists is a concern given the demands inherent in the profession. It was hypothesized that South African psychologists, especially, are at risk due to the severity of the presenting problems arising from psycho-socio-political stressors affecting the population, in addition to recent changes to the profession with the introduction of registered counselors, CPD/CEU implementation and so on.
Interestingly, despite extensive invitations to participate, relatively few psychologists responded. I am still wondering whether this reflected a lack of interest in research, a lack of interest in this research or whether many were too burnt out to reply! 
If interested, I'll contact you shortly with the information.
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| Ilse Jordaan |
| Posted: 2009 February 26 at 1:55pm | IP Logged
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Dear Workaholic
Please contact me - I did my Master's on this topic and it seems as if we both struggled to get psychologists to reply! I certainly did not receive anything from you otherwise I would have responded! It would be interesting to read your thesis.
Regards,
Ilse
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| DavidvdW |
| Posted: 2009 February 26 at 5:38pm | IP Logged
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Dr Aharon Segal has just written a piece on burnout and submitted it to the articles section of the site. It is available here - On Burnout
Dr Segal's profile on psychotherapy.co.za is available here
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| workaholic |
| Posted: 2009 March 03 at 8:53am | IP Logged
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Thanks to Dr Segal for this informative piece and to David for pointing it out. I would offer that Burnout strikes fear in the heart of most psychologists as it calls up uncomfortable questions but, at the same time, the profession itself so easily lends itself to Burnout.
My research into the topic has been extremely rewarding and a real eye-opener. I have always loved my profession but have an increased respect for colleagues (and myself too, I guess  )! To Ilse, I have sent a Personal Message to you regarding contact details. However, given my limited technical skills I am just as likely to have sent a mail to Madonna by mistake so please check and let me know if I actually got it right!
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| Ilse Jordaan |
| Posted: 2009 March 03 at 10:57am | IP Logged
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Dear Workaholic
Please contact me by email at ilsejordaan@iafrica.com. Somehow I have misplaced or deleted the email you sent me.
Thanks
Ilse
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| shrinkelaine |
| Posted: 2009 March 05 at 6:29am | IP Logged
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Going by my experiences, burnout is endemic in the profession. I have often wondered how it feels not to tired all the time! But, in general, colleagues avoid the topic. We have raised it a number of times in our CPD group and that and countertranseference issues raise the most defensiveness.
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| Belgarath |
| Posted: 2009 October 26 at 12:29am | IP Logged
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Has anyone yet considered doing research on teachers. I would think that teachers experience the same stress as people in other caring professions. And I'm sure that many teachers would only be too happy to share their stories of the neverending struggle to deal with children and their problems in a South African context.
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| workaholic |
| Posted: 2009 October 26 at 9:07am | IP Logged
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Hi Belgarath
The literature on burnout is extensively focused on the nursing and the teaching professions. I am not certain how much local research has been done regarding these professions but certainly internationally there is a wealth of information pertaining to these fields.
I agree that given the recent changes within the South African education system it would be interesting to research the effects on educators. I suspect that burnout levels would be high. Anecdotal information suggests that many teachers are feeling disempowered and overloaded, both precipitating factors for burnout.
If you like, you are welcome to PM me and I can forward whatever relevant articles I have to you.
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Welcome!
Topic: Burnout in psychologists
