Burnout has an impact on work culture. Behavioral healthcare professionals may face higher risks of burnout compared to other professions. This blog post will discuss factors that may contribute to burnout in substance use and mental health treatment service providers and strategies to manage burnout in the workplace.
Burnout is observed in service-oriented vocations and is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), as an occupational phenomenon characterized by high levels of stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, a sense of detachment, and a feeling of emptiness or numbness.
Fifty percent of behavioral health providers reported experiencing burnout symptoms due to high levels of stress in their organization. There are several factors that can contribute to burnout:
| Burnout Causes | Workplace Environmental Factors |
| Lack of perceived control | - Receiving email, calls, or other communications after working hours - Lacking necessary resources to perform duties; lacking appropriate resources to work efficiently - Feeling pressured, required, or expected to work weekends or at other times outside of established/standard working hours |
| Excessive workloads | - Being required to manage a high number of cases and/or highly complex cases - Needing to complete extra paperwork - Working more hours per day or days per week to manage workload |
| Lack of fairness | - Not receiving equitable wages, benefits, and/or treatment by leadership/colleagues (e.g., being assigned more cases, exclusion from team activities, etc.) - No consideration for promotion |
| Lack of rewards for effort | Underpayment for duties, effort, experience, and workload that can lead to “quiet quitting” |
| Lack of psychological safety | Feeling unable to speak up about mistakes, ideas, questions, or concerns without being reprimanded |
Implement Evidenced-Based Practices (EBP’s), such as: Availability, Responsiveness, and Continuity Intervention (ARC). ARC focuses on organizational change by improving the workplace culture and the professional support services provided by the agency or organization. Some of the benefits of implementing ARC include improving job satisfaction, workplace wellness, and attitudes toward using EBP’s, as well as reducing staff turnover, provision of treatment fatigue, and the risk of moral injury.
Provide engaging and ongoing workforce training about burnout. It’s recommended that the leadership and staff first conduct an organizational needs assessment that includes factors related to burnout. Then, coordinate targeted training using the responses from the assessment. Additional discussion topics beyond those generated from the needs assessment that could be incorporated into training are: profession-specific statistics, burnout symptoms, how to identify factors leading to burnout, communication strategies to help individuals who may be experiencing burnout, and sharing lessons learned from training.
Promote psychological safety in the workplace. Psychological safety refers to the sensation of being accepted and comfortable in the presence of others. It is created by fostering an open and trusting culture within an organization. It is created by promoting a culture of openness and trust within an organization.
Kelly, R. J., & Hearld, L. R. (2020). Burnout and leadership style in behavioral health care: A literature review. The Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 47(4). https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11414-019-09679-z
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2022). Evidence-Based Resource Guide Series: Addressing Bur nout in the Behavioral Health Workforce Through Organizational Strategies. https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep22-06-02-005.pdf
Wiley, A. (2018). The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace for Learning, Innovation, and Growth.
World Health Organization. (2019, May 28). Burn-out an “occupational phenomenon”: International classification of diseases. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-05-2019-burn-out-an-occupational-phenomenon-international-classification-of-diseases
Mark Sanders, LCSW, CADC, is an international speaker in behavioral health whose presentations have reached thousands throughout the United States, England, Canada, Spain, Lithuania, West Indies, and Guam. He is the recipient of five behavioral health lifetime achievement awards, including the prestigious NAADAC Enlightenment Award. He is the founder of The Museum of African American Addictions, Treatment and Recovery, which was honored as the 2023 winner of the Faces and Voices of Recovery Innovations In Recovery Award. He is the author of 5 books on recovery and has enjoyed a 30-year career as a university educator.
Isa Vélez Echevarria, PsyD, is a Puerto Rican clinical psychologist. She is the Ohio State Project Manager for the Great Lakes Addiction, Mental Health, and Prevention Technology Transfer Centers managed by the Center for Health Enhancement Systems Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. During her pre-doctoral internship at Children’s Institute in Los Angeles, CA, she was certified as an Interpersonal Psychotherapy Clinician. She was trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Family Therapy. In addition, she provides telehealth services to communities of color in Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. Her clinical work has focused on culturally tailored and trauma-informed services for Latinx communities.
