By now, everyone is tired of hearing about the COVID-19 pandemic. It had far-reaching effects on practically everyone and every industry. One area that was severely impacted was the medical industry. We all saw what happened when nurses, doctors, and other providers worked long shifts and at times worked without proper protection due to shortages.
Similarly, we are now seeing a mental health pandemic as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. People are tired, lonely, and struggling with the stresses of life. This means the demand for mental health services has increased to major levels, therefore, causing an increased burden for Therapists and other mental health providers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC reported that nearly ⅓ of Americans reported symptoms of anxiety and/or depression. Therapists are struggling to meet the demand and have never-ending waitlists of patients waiting to be seen. Therapists are good people that genuinely want to help others, which means there are countless stories of those working overtime to try and help just one more person. However, that can lead to high levels of burnout.
Therapists are often some of the most caring people you will ever meet. They often give a lot of themselves away to patients, whether that’s being empathetic, emotionally connecting, or even just giving up their time. All of that means they can get burnt out very easily in just trying to help more people and accepting high caseloads.
Thus the greatest epidemic facing Therapists is burnout.
What is burnout?
Burnout is a term first coined by Freudenberger and has three components:
Emotional exhaustion,
Depersonalization (loss of empathy, caring, and compassion), and
A decreased sense of accomplishment
Each of these impacts therapists on a more personal basis. If a therapist is emotionally exhausted, they will not be able to perform to the best of their abilities. Perhaps an even scarier phenomenon for therapists is depersonalization. Therapists get fulfillment from being able to connect with others and help them make progress, so the moment they aren’t able to relate to their clients can suddenly make their job more difficult.
Amanda Rocheleau, a Compassion Fatigue Specialist, describes how burnout affects therapists and others in similar jobs. Compassion fatigue is a real problem for many. Amanda’s main point is that individuals need to care for themselves and refuel, just as lamps run fuel, we do as well. If you do not refuel a lamp - the lamp itself will burn. The same goes for us; we will literally burn ourselves if we do not refuel.
Amanda added, “...for some it comes on fast, for others, it’s a slow build and some never see it coming until they feel broken in bed wondering how it got so bad….Right now, if it feels too much then cut back. Right now, if it feels too heavy then find relief. Right now, if you feel depleted then refuel.”
How is it affecting therapists?
It was found that 78% of psychotherapists showed high levels of burnout and that 16.1% screened positive for Major Depression.
An even more concerning statistic showed that 29% of those surveyed felt suicidal in the past and 4% reported having attempted suicide. After seeing these statistics, we need to make an effort to give mental health professionals more support, love, and appreciation. Countless lives have been impacted for the better by this community, mental health professionals deserve more love, support, and appreciation.
What Therapists have to say about Burnout
In a recent survey, therapists shared their first-hand experiences with burnout and how their workload directly impacts their overall wellbeing. One of them shared, “I have two children under three and they are with me throughout the day until I start work in the evening. I think I’m already burnt out before ven adding work to the mix.” Not only do therapists have to manage their workload stress but they have families and commitments outside of work that their burnout symptoms are seeping into.
Katie Tessin, a therapist at Play Therapy Omaha, shared that she had to change careers several times to finally find one that she loved. Similarly, she had to learn that it was important for her to better balance her workload and day with self-care in order to put herself in the best place possible more efficiently serve her clients.
These are just a few stories of many individuals that struggle and have to learn to adapt to such intense careers. This goes to show that therapists need support and need to be appreciated more often for the important work they are doing.
Why Therapists need to see more support and appreciation
As mentioned before, everyone was so quick to support our healthcare workers during the pandemic. That was needed after all the hours of work they put in. Therapists do a lot of unseen work that isn’t always recognized. It’s time we give more appreciation to those taking care of our mental health.
Anne Totero is the therapist that established May 12th as National Mental Health Provider Appreciation Day. She shared that she did so because she “wanted to show appreciation for those who are using heroes treating unsung heroes. Helping keep waves manageable in a time of unexpected change.” It was her way of “saying the same thing we say to our clients and patients every day: You matter.” Anne exemplifies the impact a good therapist can have on their community.
However, the irony in this situation is that a therapist had to start a national appreciation day for therapists. No one else was there to step up for them, so Anne had to do it herself. It’s time that we stand up for our therapists and change the stigma surrounding therapy.
Another reason why Anne felt the need to bring more attention to therapists is the fact that therapists are expected to be superhuman. A therapist seeing a therapist is a taboo topic. Burnout or any other mental illness should not exist. In reality, everyone is doing the best they can. If we are truly going to see a change in the world and move towards bringing about better mental health for everyone, we need to start with appreciating our therapists.
What you can do about it
There is so much to be done to change the mental health space and the way we treat therapists. However, a simple way to start is to simply show and express appreciation to therapists! It really is that simple. Don’t let these praises go unsung any longer. Write your therapist a note or tell them how they are making a difference. Be sure to brag to your friends how much therapy has changed your life and break the stigma.
Another simple way to show appreciation is to celebrate May 12th, or better yet, join in the #THANKYOURTHERAPIST initiative, supported by Ascendant Tracker. Rather than limiting appreciation to just one day, the goal is to spend a whole month showing our support for therapists in the hope that everyone will remember to spend the other 11 months of the year cheering on their therapists.