Behavioural Therapy
Unfortunately, there is no standardised first-choice therapy method for a burnout syndrome. The therapy must always be tailored to the individual patient in order to be able to respond to his or her very special needs. An important element here is to rethink and review one’s own work and life situation.
So-called behavioural therapy can be helpful here. Behavioural therapy is based on the basic assumption that a problematic behaviour has often been learned consciously or unconsciously in the course of life and has become more and more entrenched through cognitive conditioning. Accordingly, it should also be possible to unlearn or rather to relearn these behaviours – and this is exactly the goal of behaviour therapy.
This means that, unlike a depth psychological method, behavioral therapy does not look for the reasons and causes for certain fears, but rather tries to fight these fears with the help of “training methods” such as self-observation, feedback, praise for desired behavior. A sub-form of behavioural therapy is cognitive behavioural therapy, in which very similar training methods are used to try to uncover and break through unfavourable patterns and ways of thinking. Together with the burnout patient, the therapist tries to understand how undesirable behaviour (compulsions, fears etc.)
is maintained and what can be done to unlearn it again. The so-called SORKC model is often used for this purpose: S (Stimulus): Which situation or circumstances trigger the particular behaviour? O (organism): What are the biological-psychological causes in the organism?
R (REACTION): How exactly does the unwanted behaviour manifest itself? K (contingency): How and according to which principle does the undesired behaviour lead to positive but also negative consequences? C (Consequences): And what are the consequences that ensure that the behaviour is maintained?
In order to examine the living and working situation of the person concerned, one looks above all at the following points: With regard to the patient’s attitude towards himself/herself, and in particular his/her attitude towards his/her workplace, the following aspects are considered: Patients often find it pleasant and supportive to learn new relaxation techniques and other ways to relax, such as shoulder and neck massages, gymnastic exercises, yoga, autogenic training or deep sensitization. – Sleep
- Luxury food
- Recreational needs
- Nutritional Behaviour
- Physical activities
- High expectations
- Overload
- Missing or insufficient support from colleagues and superiors
- Bullying
- Dissatisfaction
- Resignation and bitterness
- Other psychosocial factors
Self-help groups are an extremely practical help especially in the area of burnout. There are various types of self-help groups, for: The idea behind self-help groups is to promote a positive exchange of different people on a specific topic.
On the one hand, people with the same or similar problems and backgrounds, who would otherwise not have met each other so easily, come together and can exchange their experiences. Self-help in a burnout means above all to actively deal with one’s own situation, to recognize one’s own problems and to take their solution into one’s own hands. For many of the burnout patients it is initially unusual to talk openly about their problems.
However, in almost all cases, this kind of talking is then perceived as a great relief, as the affected persons finally have the feeling of being in a group of people who have similar problems as themselves and who understand them. In self-help groups, affected people from different social circles come together. Some of them may already have years of therapy behind them, others may not yet be so sure whether they are suffering from burnout or not, and would therefore like to get in touch with other affected people before they see a doctor.
However, it is by no means the case that only the “younger ones” benefit from the “older ones” here, since the exchange takes place in both directions and many different aspects of one and the same topic, namely burnout, can be illuminated by the large number of participants. For example, a person affected by burnout can be given the social support in a self-help group, which he or she may have lacked in his or her life, perhaps unconsciously. The awareness that others feel very similarly, that other people also have to struggle with adverse conditions at work, unbearable spouses, excessive demands in the household and financial existential fears, is a great relief for many.
They know that there are people who understand them and whom they can confide in without being stigmatized or even despised. Here their worries and fears are understood and even shared and it is possible to see how other patients deal with similar situations, what helps them and how they approach the problem. It is often the case that in a burnout you get a so-called tunnel vision for your own situation, you criticise yourself, you devalue yourself, you only look pessimistically into the future and put yourself under increasing pressure, which sooner or later you will not be able to withstand.
And there it is good to have someone to confide in, to whom you can tell about your fears and with whom you don’t have to worry about being judged. And this is exactly what is achieved in self-help groups. How those affected find their way to self-help groups can be quite different.
Some have received the address recommended by their doctor, others by acquaintances and relatives, yet others may have read a flyer or simply searched the Internet for possibilities of self-help for burnout in their city. In many cities there are now central offices that coordinate and mediate self-help groups on various topics. It is advisable to look for a local group, as this is the best way to ensure that you can attend the meetings regularly.
There are also numerous privately organised self-help groups on burnout on the Internet. In general it is good to attend the joint meetings two or three times before you decide to join the group. It is important that you feel comfortable, well looked after and understood and that you like the other participants – after all, burnout is an important and very intimate part of life and should be treated accordingly.
- Affected persons
- Relatives
- Mixed classes
- Already experienced therapists and “newcomers”
- And also those who are not yet sure if they suffer from burnout or not. Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of burnout are often difficult to reintegrate into their jobs. Due to the years of stress, even “normal” occupational stress or the demands of an average job continue to be a problem long after the onset of the illness and the end of the therapy, which can also lead to new states of exhaustion.
Therefore, a complete or partial inability to work after a burnout is not uncommon. By reducing the responsibility at the workplace and an accompanying therapy, however, many affected persons can be enabled to re-enter working life. In general, it can be said that a better recovery and subsequent return to work can be achieved if the burnout syndrome can be detected and treated at an early stage. The chances of recovery and prognosis are of course also dependent on personal characteristics and resources, as well as on the extent (strength and duration) of the chronic stress condition. A uniformly valid prognosis does not exist for burn-out, as it does for all mental illnesses.
