Preventing Counselor Burn Out

Chelette Stephenson, Director of College Counseling & Alumni Programs

Yes Prep North Central

#TXCollegeLady @NC2College

Who am I?

Chelette Stephenson

@TxCollegeLady #NC2College

• Mother of 2 children under the age of 7& wife.

• Yes Prep-North Central, Director of College

Counseling & Alumni Program-2 1/2 years

• Magnolia ISD College and Career

Advisor, 8 years

• LPC

• ACA, TACAC & NACAC member

• 2012 NSI Innovative Program

• Presentor at NSI, ACA, TACAC

• Texas A&M Class of 2001

What is burnout?

difference between stress and burnout

Burnout may be the result of unrelenting stress, but it isn’t the same as too much stress. Stress, by and large,

involves too much: too many pressures that demand too much of you physically and psychologically.

Stressed people can still imagine, though, that if they can just get everything under control, they’ll feel

better.

Burnout, on the other hand, is about not enough. Being burned

out means feeling empty, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring. People experiencing burnout often don’t see any hope of positive change in their situations. burnout is being all dried up. One other difference between stress and burnout: While you’re usually aware of being under a lot of stress, you don’t always

notice burnout when it happens.

Burnout prevention tipsStart the day with a relaxing ritual. Rather jumping out of bed as soon as you wake up, spend at least fifteen minutes meditating, writing in your journal, doing gentle stretches, or reading something that inspires you.

Adopt healthy eating, exercising, and sleeping habits. When you eat right, engage in regular physical activity, and get plenty of rest, you have the energy and resilience to deal with life’s hassles and demands.

Set boundaries. Don’t overextend yourself. Learn how to say “no” to requests on your time. If you find this difficult, remind yourself that saying “no” allows you to say “yes” to the things that you truly want to do.

Take a daily break from technology. Set a time each day when you completely disconnect. Put away your laptop, turn off your phone, and stop checking email.

Nourish your creative side. Creativity is a powerful antidote to burnout. Try something new, start a fun project, or resume a favorite hobby. Choose activities that have nothing to do with work.

Learn how to manage stress. When you’re on the road to burnout, you may feel helpless. But you have a lot more control over stress than you may think. Learning how to manage stress can help you regain your balance.

-Dr. Pink Insan

What I do

Engagement Activity

List the 10 things you spend most of your time doing (high impact responsibilities, regular tasks you complete, recurring meetings you attend or lead, duties, relationships or check ins with others, etc.)

Bucket your list

“Engaged” “Not Engaged” “Actively Disengaged”

Think about what you love to do/what brings you energy; where you perform your best; where you are a proactive contributor

Not necessarily positive or negative; where you do not fully commit

What parts of your job do you wish you didn’t have to do?

Strengths: Gallup

Non-Negotiables

Daily

Team

Team Support: Structured Check Ins

Agenda Item Notes

Action Required (Whom/When)

Temperature Check

(5 minutes)

Highs/Lows (opportunity to share personal/professional successes and challenges)

AR

Chelette

Looping You In…

(5 minutes)

FYIs (This is where you provide me with quick written updates on things you want to loop me in on/I want to be looped in on, which we might engage in during the meeting)

AR

Chelette

Date Owner Item

Old Business (10 minutes)

Next Steps Review / Status Updates from Previous Meetings (This is where you capture our next steps from the last meeting (for both of us!) and update on progress)

AR

Chelette

Personal Professional Development

1. Join a professional organization and become

active! (NACAC, ACA, ASCA, etc)

2. Serve on a board or volunteer advisory group

with the local college or community organization.

3. Attend conferences outside the box.

1. Examples: Texas Conference for Women,

SXSWedu, Camp College, ASI

4. READ and encourage a book club among your

counseling team, admin team, teachers, etc.

Next stepsGreat Books

Keeping the Fire by Ruth Luban

Work Simply by Carson Tatke

Follow Me

@TXCollegeLady

@NC2College

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