The Burnout

A Coaching Model By Karin-Ann Holley, Life Coaching for Educators, NETHERLANDS

From Sunset to Sunrise the Burnout Coaching Model

With special thanks to my peer coach, Carrie Cullen, who helped me come up with the visual and metaphor.

Burnout is defined by WHO as a “syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed”. Another definition of burnout from experts Maslach and Leiter is “Burnout is a mismatch between the nature of the job and the nature of the person who does the job”. The result is an “erosion of the human soul”. The word erosion refers to the gradual wearing down of a person’s spirit, which is why burnout is so difficult to catch.

People suffering from burnout can have the following symptoms:

• Feeling exhausted physically and mentally – causing a myriad of stress-related physical and mental problems such as headaches, high blood pressure, a chronic lack of energy, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, insomnia, low immune system, and depression. People in this state find it very difficult to recover from a day’s work, wake up tired, and never feel rested. Self-care may be lacking, and concentration and focus are difficult. People find themselves feeling hopeless, irritable, worthless, and tense. Coping mechanisms may include behaviors such as overeating or drug and alcohol abuse, causing a cascade of other issues.
• Feeling cynical, negative, and detached towards their job and/or career. A job that used to be meaningful, interesting, and fun now unfulfilling, and causes misery and unhappiness. People start distancing themselves from the job in order to protect themselves emotionally, and they stop involving themselves in order not to feel disappointed.
• Personal inefficacy – being less productive, and efficient and feeling that they are not making a difference. This also may mean that people develop a lack of confidence in themselves and their abilities.

(Burn-out an ‘Occupational Phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases; Kelly; Maslach and Leiter)

Overall, people experiencing burnout symptoms lose their essence, and who they are, they become a fraction of the person they used to be. They no longer recognize the person they have become or the person they see in the mirror. Their inner light and shine have dimmed. Their body and mind are no longer working well, and their soul is lost and in despair. They feel unhappy, and alone, are physically and mentally unwell, and their relationships and performance in work and life suffer.

Even though burnout refers specifically to work, I have noticed parallels with clients (and myself) who have been in unhealthy relationships. These circumstances can also cause symptoms that are similar to burnout and particularly that feeling of having lost oneself, feeling alone and unhappy.

The model I have created reflects these ideas in a sunset, disappearing, becoming dimmer as the night falls.

The Burnout Coaching Model Explanation

The areas I believe a person needs to work on to prevent and/or recover from burnout, out are the following:

1. Self-love – This is the foundation of any personal change and growth, and therefore it is at the center of the sun. It’s that belief in self-worth, empathy for the self, and the strong motivation to care for and nurture the self. If you love yourself unconditionally, you want to bring back your essence, and your true self, and find the motivation to do something about your situation.
2. Mind – When working on the mind we identify beliefs that feel like truths such as “I can only achieve success if I work hard and long hours” or “I am a victim”, but these truths are no longer serving you, are damaging you, and holding you back. With the 6-week Positive Intelligence program by Shirzad Chamine (that I will be certified in), clients will start rewiring their brain to 1) catch and stop the negative self-talk such as “I don’t have the self-discipline” “I’m a failure”, 2) learn how to focus the mind in order to find peace and calmness, and 3) choose positive narratives and ways to move forward. Clients will learn how to deal with negative feelings such as stress and anxiety; how to respond to challenging situations instead of reacting; how to focus the mind and make choices from a positive mindset instead of a negative one.
3. Body – Burnout, and stress have a huge impact on the body and yet it is our vehicle through life, so we must take care of it with proper sleep, nutrition, exercise, and rest. Our bodies tell us clearly when something is wrong, but we’ve often lost the ability to listen. So to begin with, it’s about creating healthy habits to optimize our energy and mood and working on letting go of destructive and negative habits (such as substance abuse). Secondly, this area is about learning to do regular body check-ins to gauge what is going on at that moment, in order to avoid stress building up till the body malfunctions or even collapses.
4. Soul – With “soul” I refer to who YOU are, identifying a client’s strengths, skills, personal attributes, values, mission, and vision for life. The gift of burnout is that it makes us reflect on our choices and re-evaluate where we are and in which direction we want to go. Self-confidence improves and clients are on their way to finding meaning again in their life.

These areas are deeply interconnected and they influence each other. Our changing behaviors and action points resulting from insights in these areas.

The Way I Would Like to Use This Model Is

1. At the start of the coaching relationship, ask clients where they feel they are in these four areas and use it as a model to evaluate how far the sun has sunk below the horizon.
2. As the coaching progresses, we will talk about the sun metaphor and see if it’s starting to rise and if the glow and light coming back to their lives.
3. We can refer to all 4 areas specifically throughout the coaching journey, analyzing where they are, what goals they have in these areas, and taking action steps to reach their goals.

The Outcome for the Client Is: A Sun That Has Risen Above the Horizon and Is Fully Shining Bright

• A new-found awareness of self-love and self-worth, and who you are.
• A healthier and stronger body
• A calmer, more peaceful, positive, and happy mind, one that will have the tools to deal better with setbacks and challenges
• A clearer understanding of how you want to live your life, figuring out what is important to you, and living a life according to your values.
• Improvements in relationships and personal and professional performance.

References

Chamine, Shirzad. 6-Week Foundation Positive Intelligence Program. 
Kelly, Helen. “The Myth of the Resiliant Educator.” Wellbeing in International Schools Magazine, Mar. 2022, pp. 10–11. https://doi.org/
“Burn-Out an ‘Occupational Phenomenon’: International Classification of Diseases.” World Health Organization, World Health Organization, 28 May 2019.
Maslach, Christina, and Michael P. Leiter. The Truth About Burnout: How Organizations Cause Personal Stress and What to Do About It. Jossey-Bass, a Wiley Imprint, 1997.