Burnout

Running on Empty

Burnout isn’t simply being tired after a busy period. It’s a state of deep exhaustion - emotional, mental, and physical - that develops when demands consistently outstrip your resources to meet them.

Recognising Burnout

Burnout typically builds gradually, making it easy to dismiss early warning signs. By the time many people seek help, they’re experiencing:

Exhaustion that rest doesn’t fix: Sleep and weekends don’t restore you. You wake up tired and stay that way.

Emotional depletion: Feeling numb, cynical, or detached. Struggling to care about things that used to matter.

Reduced effectiveness: Difficulty concentrating, making decisions, or completing tasks. Work that once felt manageable now seems overwhelming.

Physical symptoms: Frequent illness, headaches, muscle tension, sleep disturbance, changes in appetite.

Withdrawal: Pulling back from colleagues, friends, and activities. Isolating because you have nothing left to give.

More Than Just Stress

Ordinary stress, while unpleasant, typically eases when the pressure lifts. Burnout is different - it represents a deeper depletion that doesn’t resolve with a holiday or a quieter week. Something more fundamental has shifted.

Burnout often affects those who care most: high achievers, perfectionists, dedicated professionals, and people who habitually put others’ needs before their own. The very qualities that made you successful can make you vulnerable.

What Drives Burnout

Burnout rarely has a single cause. Common contributing factors include:

• Chronic work overload with insufficient recovery time
• Lack of control over your work or schedule
• Insufficient recognition or reward
• Conflict between your values and what’s expected of you
• Perfectionism or difficulty setting boundaries
• Neglecting your own needs while caring for others
• Life circumstances that pile stress on top of work demands

Finding Your Way Back

Recovery from burnout requires more than rest - though rest is certainly part of it. Our approach addresses multiple levels:

Understanding your patterns: Identifying the habits, beliefs, and circumstances that contributed to burnout - perfectionism, people-pleasing, difficulty saying no, or ignoring early warning signs.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Challenging unhelpful thinking patterns around work, achievement, and self-worth.

Compassion-Focused Therapy: Developing a kinder relationship with yourself, particularly if self-criticism has been driving you.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Reconnecting with your values and building a life that sustains rather than depletes you.

Practical changes: Working on boundaries, prioritisation, and sustainable routines.

Rebuilding Sustainably

Burnout can feel like a personal failure, but it’s often a signal that something needs to change - in your circumstances, your approach, or both. Therapy offers space to understand what happened and build a more sustainable path forward.

Contact us to begin your recovery.

Related Reading

• The Unseen Toll of Burnout in the Modern Workplace - Understanding workplace burnout
• Navigating Postnatal Burnout with Compassion and Practical Support - Burnout in the parenting context
• The Power of Routine: How Daily Structure Supports Mental Health - Building sustainable habits