Reflecting on Burnout:
How burnout impacts spiritual wellbeing
On a recent break, I took time out from my usual schedule to recharge my batteries. During this time, I came across a book which caught my interest: Burnout: a spiritual crisis by Stephen G. Wright. Published in 2021, the book pays particular attention to how people in the Health Care sector can be at risk of Burnout, and factors in the impact Covid-19 had on people in caring and Health Care professionals as they tried to keep services running in the face of the Pandemic. Wright explored holistically how stress and pressure imapcts our mental, physical and emotional health, as well as our spiritual wellbeing. I’ve previously reflected on some of the causes, symptoms and ways of managing and preventing burnout in my previous blogs. Here, I want to consider some of the additional insights around the spiritual impact of burnout that I’ve taken from Wright’s book. Whilst Wright’s book draws on the experience of those working in the Health Care sector, anyone working in a situation that leads to prolong stress is at risk of the spiritual impact of burnout:
“Extremes of stress are nothing new to those in caring work. Despair and exhaustion can set in. It’s especially common in the caring professions – nurses, teachers, doctors, social workers, ministers, police and fire personnel and so on, but it also occurs among those in industry and commerce” (Wright, 2021, introduction).
You don’t need to be involved in the Social or Health Care sector to experience burnout.
Office, retail, corporate and third sector employees are at risk of burnout too, including the ways that burnout impacts us spiritually.
Burnout: A meaning and purpose crisis
In the introduction to his (2021) book, Wright reflects on burnout, commenting:
“Something deeper is going on. Burnout is what happens when we not only reach our limits of coping, but also find ourselves thrust into a fierce landscape where old certainties seem to fall away, life’s meaning and purpose change seems to seem lost, confusion about who we really are and what on earth we are doing sets in – the very stuff of spirituality and spiritual crisis”
Wright speaks about the Essence that makes us who we are. Rediscovering our true Essence in the face of the confusion of Burnout is a Spiritual Quest. Yes, we can – and indeed will need to – attend to physical, mental and emotional needs if we are to recover from Burnout. However, for Wright, to neglect attending to those questions about our purpose or Essence is to miss the mark. Wright makes the point that for holistic healing from burnout, we must also come face-to-face with questions of ultimate meaning:
What is the purpose of my life?
Who am I, at my core, without reference to my work, or my career or my doing?
What is the meaning of my life?
How can I live with purpose when I’m exhausted, spent and empty?
Burnout can provoke existential questions about our meaning and purpose in life
Burnout can challenge us spiritually
Questioning your meaning and purpose
These existential questions are of real interest to me. So often, as I meet with clients, we come to rest upon questions of meaning and purpose, questions about our very existence as a human. Finding meaning and purpose in life often helps provide some sense of certainty and solidity in the face of difficulty. In fact, I often think of these questions as a type of Quest – a chance to go in search of something that has the potential to be transformative. As I chat with friends about the frustrations in life, meaning and purpose seems to be the thing that we can “hold firm” onto as we navigate the complexity that is modern life. I also know from my own experience - it is when I am straying too far away from my own values and my own sense of purpose and meaning in life that I most feel at risk of overwhelm.
So, as I read through Wright’s book, I returned to questions that I have asked myself before – and often support clients to address for themselves:
What is it that matters to me?
What do I value in life?
Where do I find meaning?
Which environments, tasks and people, support me in feeling like I am living a life with purpose?
What are my next steps as a result?
Burnout prompts reflection of who we are, and our meaning and purpose
Navigating these questions can feel like a labyrinth as you twist and turn around the question of who you’re called to be.
The pain and potential of burnout
Wright makes the point that whilst burnout is painful, it can be a turning point and a chance for growth:
“Although burnout is a terribly painful experience, it is also full of potential for living a happier, truthful and more fulfilling life”.
Of course, when someone in is the midst of burnout, it can seem trite to adopt a pollyannaish approach that says “don’t worry!” or “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. In fact, that’s an example of toxic positivity. But it’s also possible, with empathic and compassionate support, to integrate that sense of painful brokenness. Along with the breaking down, there can be a rebuilding and a reshaping – a breaking through. Counselling and psychotherapy can be a chance to explore what, or rather who, remains when the external identity forged and shaped through work, activity and business is removed. Burnout offers chance to reconnect with the essence of who we are and how we want to live our life. Burnout can, for example, help a person to recognise their limits, or their neurodivergence. Burnout can also help a person to connect with their values if their burnout is a result of “moral injury” - a response that can occur following events that violate a person's moral or ethical code (Williamson, et. al., 2021). Burnout is chance to expand our awareness of self and to consider how to embrace transformation in the face of that pain.
Kintsugi: A visual representation of burnout
It is this interplay of both pain and potential that the Japanese art form of Kintsugi embraces. Kintsugi developed as way of mending damaged ceramics by putting shattered pottery pieces back together with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold. Instead of hiding evidence of the cracks, they are highlighted and honored. The pain of the damanged pottery is transformed into its potential as a work of art. Kintsugi offers a creative and visual insight to both the pain and potential of burnout and seems to me to be a visual example of what Wright speaks about. With gentle, careful and compassionate responses to burnout, both the pain and potential of this life experience can be integrated – becoming far more than the sum of its parts in the process.
A piece of Kintsugi pottery once on display at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston.
A visual reminder of the pain and potential burnout offers.
There’s hope in this message. Burnout need not be a permanent or fixed state of being, and can, in fact, point us towards change and adaptation towards a healthier and more balanced existence. Your pain can be transformed so you experience a thriving (rather than surviving) mindset.
Rest, Re-energize, Recuperate
Wright’s focus on the Spiritual aspect from burnout does not negate a care for the physical body. Healthy eating, gentle exercise and sleeping better are all ways that Wright encourages when recovering from burnout. Indeed, when we consider human experience of burnout, it makes sense to think of our physical and spiritual wellbeing, as well as our mental and emotional wellbeing as all contributing to the whole. It doesn’t have to be an either-or thing! Finding ways to integrate these different aspects of self-care are essential when looking to address burnout from a holistic perspective.
To take the example of gentle exercise. Movement and gentle stretches can help us to physically feel healthier. Exercise allows us an experience of taking ownership of our own recovery and a sense of agency. That can help us mentally, and emotionally – after all, one of the known factors that can increase risk of burnout is a feeling of having little control or autonomy in the workplace. Physical movement can also remind us that one of the constants of life is change – we are always in a state of flux and movement whilst we are alive – our heart beats, out blood flows through the network of veins, the weather and seasons change, and we move through time each day. In this way, movement can become a Spiritual Teacher – supporting us to reflect on the constancy of change in life and our own relationship to that change. In this way, signing up to that Tai-Chi class, taking a gentle stroll each day or even trying a Yoga video on YouTube can be a way that we rest, re-energize and recuperate physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.
So, as I reflect upon Wright’s focus on rest, re-energizing and recuperation, I’ve been considering how simple acts of self-care in my daily life might support me physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. For me, I’ve been cycling that bit more, and enjoying nature as I do so. Which is always easier in the sunshine! Surprisingly (for Preston) I’ve even had the delight, as I idly cycled by, of spotting Parakeets nesting in a tree along the Lancaster Canal! This for me is a way to safeguard against burnout. Of course, if I was in the grips of overwhelm and burnout, a cycle ride might feel too much. Wright addresses that pervasive sense that physical care for the body equates to movement by recognizing that rest, re-energizing and recuperation for the physical can also include not “doing”. It’s okay to allow ourselves to be passive participants as part of that re-energizing, and we can do that physically through a massage, some gentle breathing and mindfulness practice or attending to noticing in our body where we feel ease and relaxation.
My trusty bike
Ally in my quest to safeguard against burnout.
So, resting, re-energizing and recuperating in ways that seem a good fit for us and our own needs in the here-and-now – and, with big doses of self-compassion, are part of Wright’s advice for managing and also guarding against Burnout. I agree with him!
Resting, re-energizing and recuperating looks different for different people, which is why there can never be any one single “remedy” for Burnout. Knowing yourself and your own needs, and –importantly – trusting yourself, and tuning into your own sense of self and Essence in the process is more of an attitude and approach than a specific “treatment” for Burnout.
And, if you feel that you’d find it helpful to explore your own experiences of burnout, and resting, re-energizing and recuperating, consider whether counselling (either online, or face-to-face in Preston) might also be part of your support plan to moving forwards. I’d be glad to hear from you if you do want to make contact.
References:
Williamson, Victoria et al. (2021). Moral injury: the effect on mental health and implications for treatment. The Lancet Psychiatry, Volume 8, Issue 6, 453 - 455
Wright, Stephen G. (2021). Burnout: A spiritual crisis: From stress to transformation. Sacred Space Publications.