What do you do if your supervisor is unaware of your burnout?

You might be able to recognize your own burnout. But honestly, many of us can't. If the very first step involves you needing to be highly self aware and proactive while in the midst of burnout, compassion fatigue, and vicarious trauma, that is a huge barrier to actually getting help. Your supervisor should actually be the one to check in on you. And if they're oblivious to how you're doing, that's not a good supervisor.

Often as clinicians who offer their skillsets to their clients, it is very easy to undermine our own signs and symptoms of burnout, even if we see alarm bells ringing (re- self- reflective practices). It would take a skilled supervisor to make note of that and if the supervisor cannot do so, then the very first step to take would be to consider discussing it with them, and then finding a better supervisor-supervisee match. As suggested by other experts, it is never the supervisor solely responsible to identify it, it takes the manager, colleagues and the systems in place to be accountable for someone's burnout too- more of a shared responsibility to identify and prevent it.

Self-reflective practice is so important. It helps us understand ourselves and our responses better. It also helps us recognize if we are experiencing signs of burnout. A key sign for me when I was practicing as a therapist was exhaustion and dreading going into work.

I was experiencing burnout and my supervisor wasn’t aware how severe it was becoming. I did initiate a conversation. She was open to listen and heard me. We problem-solved together and eventually came up with multiple solutions. I’m grateful my supervisor was open to hear me and understand.

I wonder how much of the $7.1ml will get to the front line where we need peer support workers, across community mental health services, primary health service and in the Head to Health model. Agree also with @victoriapalmer, why do we need to change the name?

Engaging in conversation with your supervisor about burnout is so important. You may want to prepare yourself for the conversation. Jotting down symptoms and how it may be affecting your work is helpful. I often would also come up with suggestions to help my burnout. For example, extra supervision or limiting new cases for a period of time.

After experiencing burnout myself I can say the shame prevented me from being able to ask for what I needed (which I could not have identified). This proposes that a burned out clinician would have perpective at a time when basic living feels like survival, let alone being able to continue clinical work. Perhaps people who cannot see or have compassion for burn out in the mental health professions should not be in leadership positions. This question also frames the clinician as responsible for their own burnout which is inherently shame inducing.

The unfortunate thing, as mentioned by another post is that, the system is designed to burnout workers. If an agency or organization has to choose between the health and well-being of the workers and the bottom line, the bottom line wins every time. Not many agencies are willing to forego profits to reduce workloads. Something serious needs to shift or the entire industry is in trouble. We need to stop reinforcing and accepting the narrative that burnout is “normal and a part of the work” because it doesn’t have to be. We need to stop being martyrs. We are being exploited

I was a new supervisor in a new lab, where 80% of my team had less than a year experience. I didn’t recognize burnout. Many things had to be done. I went to leadership classes, my schedule was random, attending meetings in the mornings some days (I was an evening supervisor). I was trained three weeks in the morning and switched to evenings with one day a week of training. I had to develop a plan to cross train my team, I also answered questions about workflows I hadnt had the opportunity to read. I worked 14-15 hours some days. I was give a plan of action… but I wasn’t given time. I didn’t recognize this. I just needed time to learn my workflows. Instruments broke on mornings and we had to fix them, when customer service was hard to find.

I would say the best first step is to make a serious, logical, and planned assessment of the environment and what’s is specifically causing burnout. Find evidence or data which supports that burnout is a serious issue and that it needs be addressed. Use your experiences to bolster that evidence or data. From there, the best solutions center on changes to the work environment and culture. This could mean proposing more check-ins, trainings on workplace wellness, awareness from leaders of workloads, better feedback systems, and spaces where solutions can be shared safely. It’s important to remember that it may take a series of approaches. If that’s not possible then shift to establishing boundaries, self care routines etc.

Advocacy is one to the principle tenets of social work, and this includes not only advocating for others but also for ourselves. First, if we are not communicating openly and honestly about our challenges in a specific role, we are creating a barrier to change. Bring your concerns to your supervisor, but also come with proposals and suggestions on how you can feel more supported in your role. We can not do our best work as social workers if we are not caring and advocating for our individual needs. Negotiate for yourself as would for your clients.

Support is so important for the work we do. It's important to seek support regularly and it can be helpful to seek additional support when you are experiencing signs of burnout. Debriefing with colleagues and being able to review cases can decrease symptoms of burnout.

Burnout is characteristic of organizations and systems, not individuals. The original question should be focused toward supervisors, managers, and higher ups, not toward the staff experiencing the burnout. It should be "how can we support our staff?"

Burnout !!!! Is usually a multitude of downward spiralling factors from the Top of the Hierarchy of Controls that is/has been failing & left unchecked with only devastating results as residue. Left unchecked/unbalanced the consequences of repeating burnouts is still a likely consequence. In many contracting/mining instances I’ve witnessed this fact so many times, with many differing factors being of a major flaw cause, but generally from Under-qualifiedTop Tier Managers or Wannabe’s

I think if your supervisor seems to be unaware of your “burnout” - I think the supervisor needs to be examined first. It’s one of the imperative duties of a supervisor to identify if any employee or subordinate is struggling with work/any issue(s)/ in general. And if they are unaware for any xyz reason, it needs to be expressed at an urgent basis. Most often, supervisors are themselves complicit with the exploitative systems which reinforce burnout, or they may be quick to judge & call employees out on their “weakness” or inability to handle workload. As pointed out in other contributions, it’s not just on the individual to identify and rectify their burnout - it’s also on the organisation & the supervisor to make sure no employee suffers.