Burnout in Professional Psychotherapists: Relationships with Self-Compassion, Work–Life Balance, and Telepressure

Abstract

Though negative impacts of COVID-19 on occupational mental health have been reported, the mental health of psychotherapists has not been evaluated in depth. As this occupational group treats ever-increasing mental health problems, it is essential to appraise key factors for their mental health. Accordingly, this study aimed to explore burnout of professional psychotherapists. A total of 110 participants completed self-report measures regarding burnout, self-compassion, work–life balance and telepressure. Correlation, regression and moderation analyses were conducted. Both of the burnout components—emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation—were positively associated with weekly working hours and telepressure, and negatively associated with age, self-compassion and work–life balance. Weekly working hours and work–life balance were significant predictors of emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Lastly, self-compassion partially mediated the relationship between work–life balance and emotional exhaustion but did not mediate the relationship between work–life balance and depersonalisation. The findings suggest that maintaining high work–life balance is particularly important for the mental health of psychotherapists, protecting them from burnout. Moreover, self-compassion needs to be cultivated to mitigate emotional exhaustion. Mental health care for this occupational group needs to be implemented to achieve sustainable mental health care for workers and the public.

The Benefits of Self-Compassion in Mental Health Professionals: A Systematic Review of Empirical Research

“… 43 Master’s counselling interns 152 SOFI; FFMQ Mindfulness (+); Compassion for others (+) Mindfulness → Self-compassion → Compassion for others Kotera et al (2021). 28 Psychotherapists 126 MBI (2-items); SCS-SF; WLBC; TS Emotional exhaustion (-); depersonalisation (-); work-life balance (+) Work-life balance → Self-compassion → Emotional exhaustion Latorre et al (2021). 41 Counselling and clinical psychology doctoral trainees 192 SCS-SF; MAAS; CSES; PCS-R Mindfulness (+); self-efficacy (+); professional competencies (+) Mindfulness → Self-compassion → Self-efficacy Mindfulness → Self-compassion → Self-assessed professional competency McCade et al (2021).…”

“… 29 In addition, self-compassion appeared linked to a better balance between professional and personal life, with self-compassion mediating the relationship between work-life balance and emotional exhaustion. 28 From a qualitative perspective, Patsiopoulos and Buchanan 45 have also mentioned, among the benefits of self-compassion, better management of occupational stress and challenges involved at therapeutic work. Here, compassion is a factor contributing to quality of working life.…”

Burnout and Psychological Wellbeing Among Psychotherapists: A Systematic Review

“…When it comes to sociodemographic correlates of burnout among psychotherapists, it appears that, in particular, age and gender play a significant role. Firstly, a total of nine relevant studies (i.e., those which provided data on the age-burnout association) revealed that younger psychotherapists tend to report increased levels of burnout symptoms in comparison to older and more experienced colleagues in that profession (Ackerley et al, 1988 ; Huberty and Huebner, 1988 ; van der Ploeg et al, 1990 ; Rupert and Kent, 2007 ; Rasmussen et al, 2016 ; Berjot et al, 2017 ; Allwood et al, 2020 ; Tsai et al, 2020 ; Kotera et al, 2021 ). This finding is consistent with the previous meta-analysis concerning the aforementioned relationship in various employment settings (Brewer and Shapard, 2004 ).…”

“…Finally, concerning work-related covariates, workload, and/or work experience, work settings and supervision/personal therapy exerted relatively homogenous effects on burnout. Six studies have revealed significant associations between high workload and increased levels of burnout (Huberty and Huebner, 1988 ; Raquepaw and Miller, 1989 ; Rupert and Kent, 2007 ; Rupert et al, 2009 ; Kim, 2017 ; Kotera et al, 2021 ). Similarly, four studies have suggested that less experienced psychotherapists were particularly vulnerable to burnout compared to their more experienced colleagues (van der Ploeg et al, 1990 ; Mills and Huebner, 1998 ; di Benedetto and Swadling, 2014 ; Kim, 2017 ).…”

Influence of Sociodemographic and Emotional Factors on the Relationship between Self-Compassion and Perceived Stress among Men Residing in Brazil during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The literature has shown positive associations between self-compassion and favorable mental health outcomes [27,[29][30][31]. Notably, studies carried out in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic indicate that self-compassion plays a critical protective role in the mental health of different populations [32,33]. For instance, Gutiérrez-Hernández et al (2021) [34] observed that self-compassion was associated with lower emotional problems during the COVID-19 lockdown in Spain.…”