When in a state of (or approaching) burnout, one of the greatest challenges comes from the negative feedback loop that provides a consistent and damaging narrative in one’s brain. Over and over, the message of “this will never end” teams up with the message “you are powerless,” leaving a person in a state where it becomes more and more difficult to take the first step to recovery.
Another factor is when the stressors that have led to burnout continue to add pressure and deplete emotional and mental reserves. These internal resources would typically help to buffer and support a person. Still, when they are routinely deployed to address a critical or repeated stressful event, they are less and less effective and take longer to replenish.
Therefore, it is important for us to examine what we can do to begin to silence the negative messages and claim the truth that we do have power in the situation, even if the only power is to organize our brains and develop methods to respond instead of react.
Here is our Roadmap for this course:
- Identifying Stressors
- Understanding One's Choice and Control
- Reframing Negative Feedback
- Assessments
- Next Steps
Please download the attached workbook. The pdf version of this workbook is fillable if you want to save paper and your coursework digitally.
Discussion #1
- What do you usually think of when considering the process of changing your mindset? Is this something you look forward to, a process that adds to your stress level and makes you want to avoid it, or do you have a different reaction? Why do you think that is?