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Agnieszka Kalbarczyk When aiding is tiring: how to cope with stress and to prevent burn out syndrome in work with the unemployed and the job-seekers Workshop title inspired by Jörg Fengler’s book „For therapists, physicians and nurses, teachers, advocates, priests….. - Helfen macht mude” (1996) Relative terms and phenomena: oJob Stress oJob Depression oJob Strain Amount of demands, Opportunity to Control, Social Support Burn out – basic concept The term „burn out” in professional discourse 1974 - dr Herbert J. Freudenberger, an American psychiatrist 1980 - with G. Richelson - book „Burnout: How to Beat the High Cost of Achievement” 1976 - Christina Maslach – article in „Human Behavior” Definition „breakdown of the psychological defense (that) workers use to adapt and cope with intense job-related stressors” Herbert J. Freudenberger The Staff Burnout Syndrome in Alternative Institutions (1974) Active vs passive burning out: • An active burning out – caused by institutional aspects, external events and too many demands • A passive burning out – internal reaction to those external factors, as a result of too little resilience (some personality traits, lack of distance toward oneself, beliefs) What does it look like? „Workers are conceding their time. They are working longer hours. They are taking work home, often continuing after hours on computer equipment they have purchased themselves. They are devoting more time to tasks that are not personally rewarding, that is, that are not enjoyable and psychologically do not further their careers.” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) So as a consequence... „three things happen: 1. you become chronically exhausted; 2. you become cynical and detached from your work; 3. and you feel increasingly ineffective on the job.” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) Burnout process • begins from demands, pressure and amount of work exceeding one’s ability • trough the individual worker’s ineffective attempts to manage • the first burn out symptoms of an individual whose coping capacity becomes insufficient to the amount of stress one experiences • but at the end one’s clients suffer as well, because one is no longer able to give the best to the clients one serves. • • • • • 1. 2. 3. The nature of burnout Occurs gradually Processual - different number of stages (from 3 to 12) Lasting too long becomes chronic Wrong coping strategies, when adopted, make it deeper Circle of perceiving one’s job as a stressful applying destructive coping strategies stabilizing or even deepening of burnout Maslach’s burn out concept Psychological syndrome of • emotional exhaustion – caused by emotional overload • sense of low personal achievement – feeling of low competence and lack of success at work • depersonalization expressed in negative attitudes and reaction to recipients of one’s service that can concern - some people, - working in some professions - in some special way… Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) 1986 (together with Susan E. Jackson); contains three general scales: · of emotional exhaustion - assesses feelings of being emotionally exhausted by one's work · of personal accomplishment - assesses feelings of competence and achievement in one's work · of depersonalization - assesses an unfeeling and impersonal response toward recipients of one's service, care treatment, or instruction Burn out symptoms differ among individuals dependant on • individual physiological way of reacting • one’s resources – cognitive, social, material • stage of burn out process Different symptoms of burn out in different professions – dependant on the job specificity (for example among medical staff: being insincere, lying about patients chance of recovery, black humour especially about dying) General burn out symptoms Negative emotions • feelings of frustration, anxiety, • being angry, depressed, dissatisfied • become chronic emotional fatigue General burn out symptoms Psychosomatic or even health problems: • Chronic fatigue • Probable increased vulnerability to illness: colds, headaches backaches • Frequent or prolonged illness • Sleeping problems until insomnia General burn out symptoms Interpersonal problems • increasing communication difficulty with co-workers, friends and family members; • family stress – less time spent together • tendency to withdraw and neglect other relationships – very probable among „helping" professionals; General burn out symptoms Declining job performance: - quality and quantity of your work decrease - rather subjective than objective General burn out symptoms Feelings of meaninglessness • especially probable in the case of those, who at the beginning were very enthusiastic and dedicated to their job • the enthusiasm is replaced by cynicism Style of destructive coping Substance abuse (so treated usually as symptoms): • more alcohol and drugs, • poor eating, more or less than before, • drinking more coffee • if smoking - more cigarettes Developing or worsening of bad habits instead of giving help and relief, diminishes one’s physical resilience. Style of destructive coping Reacting emotionally • in extreme, exaggerated ways • not adequately to the situation – strong reaction to minor problems • misplaced Getting away physically but not mentally Style of destructive coping • withdrawal from or even breakdown of meaningful and important relationships and friendships • withdrawal from pleasant activities – because of tiredness and lack of motivation • working more but less effectively and worse Instead of helping, diminishes one’s psychological resilience. Burn out as an individual problem „The conventional wisdom is that burnout is primarily a problem of the individual. That is, people burn out because of flaws in their characters, behavior, or productivity. According to this perspective, people are the problem, and the solution is to change them or get rid of them …” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) Proposals of reducing burn out at the individual level: Taking care of one-self: practicing favorite (in the past) activities – even without motivation body exercise relaxing - rest, relaxation and sleep personal, individual methods of improving one’s mood Why just the so called „helping professions” are especially vulnerable to a job burn out? Are they special people or special professions? Both. Maslach conceptualizes a burn out as a process which combines the key relationships between personal, social, and contextual variables. Special people – An individual risk factors • Primary personality predispositions as factors of burn out risk - Type A of personality • Some personal needs - of being - outstanding - special or - popular and liked by everyone An individual risk factors • Some elements of one’s self image I should always manage I am indispensable I have to do this or everything will fall apart I should do everything by myself I must finish jobs with accuracy and perfection An individual risk factors • Some primary attitudes towards the job and clients: Being extraordinarily enthusiastic, optimistic, devoted and ……. unrealistic Putting the focus on personal adequacy instead of organizational roles and responsibilities An individual risk factors • Personal beliefs producing burn out syndrome: I am not allowed to neglect somebody asking for help I am a person with a mission I feel personally responsible for my clients’ progress Success of clients’ carriers depends on my efforts Counsellors’ attitudes towards relationship with the unemployed client • Understanding help as reaching concrete result – „objectively good” • Projecting the counsellor's value system on the client • Not respecting the client as an independent person with free will • Taking responsibilities for the client Unemployed clients’ attitudes towards relationship with counsellors Some clients don’t understand • that - to succeed in their carrier they must decide by themselves; - they need time to reach success in their carrier; - real help needs time, their involvement and activity. and demand to be helped directly and immediately. Some advice for counsellors – to take as soon and as often as possible 1. Be aware of your own expectations and assumptions 2. Learn to set limits and learn to say NO – negotiate new/ temporary job schedule 3. Don’t hesitate to ask for help: be more willing to ask for help and share ideas with someone else 4. Recognize priorities and delegate tasks 5. Appreciate your co-operators’ competence: use their knowledge and experience Some advice for counsellors – to take as soon and as often as possible 7. Don’t bear somebody else’s stress 8. Notice positive side of your job and even smaller successes in job 9. Recognize when you need help in coping with yourself 10.……? Burn out as an organizational problem „burnout is not a problem of the people themselves but of the social environment in which people work ...” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) An institutional risk factors „..burnout in individual workers says more about the conditions of their job than it does about them. Contrary to popular opinion, it's not the individual but the organization that needs to change …” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) What is so special about vocational counsellors work? • People with problems as typical recipients of service – unemployed seeking for a job • Frequent contact with their negative emotions, behavior • Demand of being in a psychological contact with clients as they are • Persistent contact with clients burned out because of unemployment What is so special about vocational counsellors work? • Help and assistance as a basic form of a job • Expected behavior - requiring the control and use of one’s own body, verbal and non verbal expression in an „appropriate way” to meet goals oriented to client needs • Goals of clients - being employed - rarely reached Burn out as a result of a relationship between job and a person – result of mismatching „Burnout is the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do.” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) Primary conditions of burn out • on the stage of selection for the counsellor’s job: being - badly educated - too optimistic about the counsellor’s job - not prepared for job conditions - not prepared for job difficulties and troubles - not informed about real job conditions or informed inadequately • at work - not being trained further - being underpaid At organizational level „Contrary to popular opinion, it's not the individual but the organization that needs to change …” Maslach & Leiter The Truth About Burnout (1997) The My Relationship with Work Test (by Maslach) evaluates : • Workload: working alone or with others, amount of work to be completed, deadlines • Control: authority, decision making, professional judgment • Reward: salary, benefits, perks, recognition of achievement • Community: organizational communication, employee interaction My Relationship with Work Test • Fairness: diversity, cultural sensitivity, disciplinary procedures, management's treatment of staff • Values: management's commitment to the organization's values and mission, justice, honesty Leiter & Maslach (2005) Banishing Burnout: Six Strategies for Improving Your Relationship with Work What is the relation of „helping professionals” i.e. social workers, medical staff or vocational counsellors to their job? Some general features of bad job description overloaded work schedule no opportunity to control treatment of workers perceived as unfair or unjust weakness of community conflict of values Research has demonstrated that lack of control is extremely stressful Some general features of good job description participation in the setting of goals clarity of goals, demands, instructions, feedback on progress, meeting deadlines acknowledgement for job performance Basic ways and methods of coping with and prevention of job burning Different proposals for diminishing job burn out • more self-management, • stress control, • building social support network and using it, • developing skills: professional as well as social and coping skills • job adapting, • changing jobs, • neutral thoughtfulness – „detached concern” – keeping emotional distance but behavioral involvement Change of thinking Do you want to be helping? If you appreciate help as a virtue, let other people be helpful for you If you forget, that you are a human being, consider: you use your own body and mind to help others, so you are kind of helping tools – you take care of your machines and domestic tools, don’t you? To cope or to prevent? Programs were quite successful for less burned out participants. Those with stronger symptoms of burn out syndrome didn’t take as big an advantage. Especially difficult to reduce and change is depersonalization – core dimension of burn out at the counsellor’s job Conclusions: • It is absolutely necessary to prevent burn out syndrome, before it occurs, • It is too difficult to cure or at least reduce it.