Somatic Experiencing Therapy and Burnout
About Somatic Experiencing Therapy
Developed by Dr. Peter Levine, Somatic Experiencing (SE) is a therapy that guides people to gradually encounter and resolve the physical symptoms of trauma and other forms of chronic stress within a supportive social context. It is based on the idea that trauma is stored in the body, and that by paying attention to and releasing these stored sensations, a person can relieve the symptoms of trauma and other stress related conditions. In the context of job burnout, especially those in the helping professions, Somatic Experiencing can help by addressing the underlying physiology of burnout, restoring vitality and presence to the body and mind. This can be an important step in returning a sense of agency and resilience to either change the conditions leading to burnout or knowing when to set boundaries.
Job Burnout and Its Effects on the Body
Burnout is a condition of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion mixed with a compromised sense of one’s identity and effectiveness. It often affects people who work in the helping professions, such as therapists, doctors, nurses, teachers, activists, caregivers and social workers. That said, anyone overwhelmed and pushed to their limits or working under deeply unfair conditions can experience burnout. It can be brought on by a range of factors, including chronic stress, lack of support, a sense of powerlessness, excessive workload and a lack of boundaries.
Being burnt out often includes physical sensations such as fatigue, headaches, difficulty sleeping, and a felt sense of futility. It can look like irritability and problems with focus and maintaining relationships. In the helping professions, burnout is often closely associated with compassion fatigue, vicarious and secondary trauma – close encounters with the suffering of others that can seep into the nervous systems of those providing care. It is intensified by working conditions or contexts that put people in the position of compromising their values, in which they feel they have no say and/or in which their contributions and efforts go unnoticed or unsupported. A history of trauma can contribute to one’s susceptibility to burnout but anyone can become burned out under the “right” conditions. In their article “Have We Been Thinking About Burnout All Wrong?,” writer Eve Ettinger shows how closely the symptoms of burnout and Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) mirror one another.
Somatic Experiencing Therapy for Job Burnout
Somatic Experiencing can help a person who is experiencing burnout by addressing its effect on the body and by working directly with its symptoms. Body awareness, gentle movement, and visualization all play a role in this process. A Somatic Experiencing Practitioner guides clients in safely connecting with their bodies, strengthening and developing places of resilience and gently releasing the stored survival energies that overwhelm leaves in its wake. In this way, a person can begin to heal from the effects of burnout and reduce its grip on their sense of self and well-being. Clients build or reclaim a sense of possibility - a confidence in their capacities and intuitions. This might mean recovering or developing a sense of assertiveness and social connection to make changes in the situation either personally or in collaboration with others. It may also mean an easier time recognizing limits and finding a deeper clarity of when and how to move on with dignity. In either case, tuning into the body offers the chance to find a more reliable compass - pointing one’s own way through the turmoil.
If you’ve been affected by job burnout and are interested in how Somatic Experiencing Therapy can help, contact us for a free consultation.
