Boundaries and Burnout: How to Build Mental Wellness Outside of our Work as Counseling Psychologists and Graduate Students

Counseling psychologists and graduate students face unique stressors within their roles.  Treating clients, producing research, teaching, and attending classes are a few of their many responsibilities.

As if this was not stressful enough, counseling psychologists and graduate students are expected to do this while trying to survive a health pandemic, racial injustices, and socio-political unrest. If you come from a historically marginalized community, this adds another complex layer. Trying to manage these high demands, obligations, roles, and identities can lead to burnout.

Burnout is a psychological syndrome that results from a prolonged response to chronic interpersonal stressors on the job. Consequences of burnout are psychological withdrawal from work, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Burnout can also be due to or result in poor boundaries.

Boundaries

A boundary is a psychological demarcation that protects the integrity of an individual or group or that helps the person or group set realistic limits on participation in a relationship or activity. Setting clear and firm boundaries can help prevent and mitigate the effects of burnout. Some signs that you may need to establish some healthy boundaries are

  • burnout
  • resentment
  • feeling overwhelmed
  • feeling like you have no time for yourself

There are three types of boundaries: porous, rigid, and healthy. Porous boundaries are poorly expressed boundaries, Rigid boundaries are at the opposite end with no flexibility. Healthy boundaries are clear expectations about your values and needs

Striving for healthy boundaries is key for maintaining a realistic work-life flow as a counseling psychologist and graduate student. To achieve healthy boundaries one must communicate and take action. This can be uncomfortable, scary and will take practice, but eventually can help reduce the risk of burnout.

Ways to effectively communicate and respect your boundaries can include but are not limited to:

  • Identifying the areas in which you need limits.
  • Being consistent in upholding your boundaries.
  • Restating needs as necessary.
  • Correcting violations in real time when possible.

While there are certain aspects of our profession that we cannot change, we can try our best to be proactive and include self-care in our daily routines in order to build wellness. Being a counseling psychologist or a counseling psychologist in training can be a large portion of one’s identity. However, it is important to remember that we are more than work. We are human beings that have needs to be met outside of the professional and academic domain. It is imperative to adopt a work life balance or flow that includes other things we enjoy outside of work and school.

Building Wellness

  • Be intentional. Self-care is often talked about, not always prioritized. Taking a behavioral approach and scheduling self-care into your routine allows you to build wellness into your daily life at the forefront, before life gets even more stressful. Self-care can look different for everyone but some common activities include pursuing hobbies that you enjoy, journaling, resting, watching a show/movie, reading, taking care of household chores, or saying no things beyond your bandwidth.
  • Find your community. The saying it takes a village can be applied to counseling psychologists and graduate students. Community and connection allow you to create a support system that you can lean on in both moments of joy and stress. It is even more fruitful when the community has some shared identity or similar lived experiences (e.g. finding a women's group, connecting with other faculty, or creating relationships with alumni of your program).
  • Get active. Stress can often show up in the body and physical activity is good for overall health. Going for a walk, taking a hike, yoga, or even dancing gets your body moving and releases stress. It can also be a way to get a serotonin or endorphins boost!
  • Talk it out. As counseling psychologists and graduate students, we take so much on emotionally. Without an outlet, this can build up, putting folks at risk for burnout and compassion fatigue. Having a therapist is a good opportunity to process and release emotions. It can also help us increase other tools to prevent potential burnout.

When we are taking care of ourselves it allows us to be better counseling psychologists and students!

Myya is currently pursuing a PhD in Counseling Psychology at UT Austin, where she is a current Integrated Behavioral Health Scholar. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Sociology-Anthropology from Towson University, as well as her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology. Her research interests include racial and gendered racial microaggressions, race-related stressors, coping, and health outcomes. She has clinical interests in working with populations of color and other minoritized groups. Outside of school, Myya enjoys traveling and reading.




Posted on: January 11, 2022
Tags: tags: burnout; boundaries; coping; self-care