Rekindling the Fire

for Addiction

Counseling:

Beyond Burnout

Jim Seckman, MAC, CACII, CCS

What do you like about this field?

?

What happened?

• Managed Care

• Government Funding

• Regulatory/Accreditation Bodies

• Evidenced Based Practices

In the old days we really began to see how we made a difference in people’s lives.

Gradually, we began to have to dance to the tune of different masters.

Crisis Counseling

• A crisis of hope• Probably led to a lack of energy

• A crisis of relationship• May have led to a decrease of

confidence

• A crisis of expectation• May be what led to burnout

Burnout

Feeling

robbed of vitality helpless betrayed

Overwhelmed immobilized depressed

Fatigued oppressed apathetic

discouraged resistant

Negative isolated like a failure

Causes of Burnout

• Doing the same type of work with little variation

• Giving personally but not getting back

• Being under constant pressure to perform

• Working with a difficult population

• Conflict and tension among staff

Causes of Burnout

• Lack of trust between staff members

• Not have opportunities for personal expression or initiative

• Jobs that are taxing without supervision

• Unresolved personal conflicts

Awareness

Knowing others is wisdom. Knowing oneself is enlightenment

What are you feeling?

What are your feelings telling you?

Awareness

Our feelings give us information about

What’s going on inside of us

What‘s going on around us

What we need to do

Suggestions

• Work on clearly identifying old messages

• Evaluate your goals, priorities, and expectations

• Let go of unrealistic expectations

• Learn to monitor the impact of stress

• Immediately process intense encounters

• Take responsibility for yourelf

Boundaries

The emotional/physical space you allow

What defines our roles

Who we are as a counselor

Protection

Taking care of ourselves

External Boundaries

Snow White and the Huntsman

Develop detached concern

How is your energy taken?

How do we protect it?

How do we give it away?

How do we replenish it?

External Boundaries

• Container Model

• Suggestions for working with clients• Get rid of any “me vs. them”• Be present in the present• Separate the urgent vs. the necessary• Be clear about our stuff vs. their stuff• Be realistic about outcomes and

expectations• Don’t act out their anxiety• Work with the team

Internal Boundaries

Helps protect ourselves from self-defeating thoughts and behaviors

Our focus shapes our feelings

Our purpose defines our priorities

Internal Boundaries

Don’t get caught up in:

Allowing yourself to complain

Picturing yourself in other circumstances

Comparing your situation to someone else’s

Allowing yourself to wish things had been otherwise

Dwelling on tomorrow

Choices

Who do we blame?

Responsibility and control

Concentration Camp mentality

What choices are we making, or not making, to keep ourselves

alive?

Choices

Care for yourself

Be deliberate about doing good things for yourself and renewing your energy

Change

Two types of activities in life

Those that lead to life and those that lead to death

Death is easy

Life takes deliberate, intentional, choices and

behaviors

Change

Individuals who experience burnout believe they cannot change their

situation. To revitalize a career and move away from a burnout state, individuals need to change their

thought processes and viewpoints about the people and things that

may be contributing to their burnout.

Change

Get busy living

or

Get busy dying

Change

God, grant me the serenity

To accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference