Social Workers Burnout

 "Burnout is the index of the dislocation between what people are and what they have to do. It represents an erosion in values, dignity, spirit, and will...It is a malady that spreads gradually and continuously over time, putting people into a downward spiral from which it's hard to recover"(Maslach & Leiter, 1997, p.17). Burnout has also been associated with lack of feelings of personal accomplishment and significance. Those that enter clinical practice often do so because they are willing to sacrifice a larger pay scale in exchange for doing a job that gives them a sense of accomplishment. Many social workers enter the field with an idealistic view the impact that they will have on the lives of their clients. When this view

Burnout is a response to job stress that results in a detachment in the worker-client relationship that dehumanizes the client and decreases worker effectiveness. The source of this stress is the interpersonal

Blau, Tatum, and Goldberg (2013) indicated that burnout has been studied in various mental health workers, including; case managers, psychologist, psychotherapist, social workers, rehabilitation counselor, and intensive care workers. Due to the nature of the field and high involvement with the others, mental health workers are likely to experience burnout (Sangganjanavanich & Balkin, 2010). Multiple job duties can cause unnecessary stress within the work environment when daily task is not managed properly among mental health professionals. In a survey completed by the American Counseling Association (ACA) 75.7% of mental health professionals that colleagues coping with burnout are significant threat to the profession of counseling (Puig, Baggs, Mixon, Park, Kim, & Lee, 2011). Of those professional, 63.5% indicated that they are aware of colleagues who cope with burnout (Puig, Baggs, Mixon, Park, Kim & Lee, 2011).

Social workers are often put in emotionally tiring and stressful situations; due to this, social workers are especially prone to burnout (Arrington, 2008). Burnout is considered a defense response to stressful workplace experiences accompanied by inadequate support (Ackerson & Marks, 2016). Burnout can lead to fatigue, sleep disorders, heart problems, irritability, decrease in work performance, impaired immune and cognitive functions, and even workplace injury (Arrington, 2008). Although burnout can be common amongst social workers, there are ways to prevent and alleviate burnout (Ackerson & Marks, 2016).

One reason emotional distress is an issue in social work is because social workers deal with emotional exhaustion. According to Marglin, burnout is the natural emotional exhaustion that results from spending forty or more hours per week giving to others and forgetting to take care of themselves (Marglin). Social workers give most of their time to their patients and not enough time to themselves. This causes them to lose sleep and it makes their health go down. They worry too much about the cases they have and that is also a result of emotional exhaustion, they will spend sleepless nights thinking about the children or adults they are dealing with and they think about the things that are being done. Often

In recent years, medical experts have expressed alarm about the growing problem of burnout in the human services field. Burnout is a state of being mentally, physically, or emotionally exhausted as a result of various kinds of stress. These stressors could vary but it most likely to be job related. Some of the negative symptoms of burnout include feeling drained, having a sense of failure or isolating oneself. It occurs cross culturally and can affect professionals in a variety of occupations. However, burnout is not inevitable. This paper examines the various symptoms that indicate burnout and also how to implement a plan to help avoid stress and combat burnout while working in the field of human services.

The overall theme presented throughout the literature and past research studies is that workplace stress is a major issue and health concern, particularly within the social worker profession. Stress is a correlating factor to job satisfaction, promotions, growth, and applicable resources within the culture of the organization (Pindek & Spector, 2016). Stress can occur as a positive reaction to make an individual work harder, but it can be a negative experience that drives an individual to burnout, depression, and anxiety. Literature shows that there are different strategies or interventions that can reduce or help eliminate workplace stress, but there is limited data that shows a consistent strategy.

Social workers work at many levels, including policy work. If we are going to change something, sometimes the policy behind it needs to be looked out. When it comes to addiction we need to take a long look and then speak up. Social workers have the ability to advocate and influence change in many ways. They could go to the capitol and talk to elected officials. They could hold workshops and invite the public to educate them on addiction. They could take part in research that could be used in the future. They could talk to their clients about these issues. The ways they could do it are endless. Vaughn and Perron (2013) suggest three way: be the social change agent by use harm reduction while educating the public about it, offer alternatives

In the article it discusses that social work is a very demanding field of work. Workers experience high levels of stress and burnout rates. The authors goes on to explain that the high expectations that social workers have on themselves from others and the expectations that they hold themselves to, ultimately affects their well-being (Graham & Shier, 2014). The article explains that social workers experience a lot of different situations and all of these situations take a toll on the social workers well-being. Graham and Shier explain that social workers experience violence, dangerous situations, burnout, vicarious trauma exposure and so much more. All of those things play a major role in what can lead to a social worker to become overwhelmed

Becoming a master’s level social worker would enable me the credentials and opportunity to do what I want as a macro social worker. In order to get a career in this field you really need to have a master’s in order to be taken seriously and to get the position you want. I really want to work with an agency on an administration level developing programs and grant fundraising. Creating a program to fill the needs of others is something that I am passionate about along with changing policies that hinder clients.

This is, of course, the case with social work. Although the emotional and financial rewards are good, dealing with crisis all the time can be emotionally draining. It is important to have a good work-life balance and find some strategies for coping with stress efficiently and constructively.

What a week you had a field placement. Your supervisor made an interesting comment, “stay in Social Worker role”. I had to reflect upon this statement and wonder if this meant to stay professional and not to allow emotions effect the situation. Just as you, I have no way of knowing what was meant by this confusing statement. When the events of this week calm, will ask your supervisor what was meant by the statement or will you opt to leave the situation alone? I am familiar with and intrigued with the Johari Window model, yet have never utilized the model. One of the key components of the model is build trust by disclosing information about yourself to others. I, personally, I have a difficult time opening up to strangers or others

Employees of social service agencies are subject to a highly stressful work environment with demanding expectations. Due to recent changes to healthcare reform in the United States, there are more people in Los Angeles with health care coverage now seeking treatment for physical, emotional and mental wellbeing, leading to rising caseloads for local social service agencies. This means that community demands are increasing and workers take on more client’s, deadlines, and increased accountability. This study seeks to explore employee perception of the job requirements at social service agencies in regards to the demands, organizational support and satisfaction.

When people are not engaged or satisfied in something which would benefit and enable to improve their situation such as employment training, then a person’s sense of life satisfaction is affected. Encouraging a high level of life satisfaction in SWB would be essential in introducing relevant policy that would work towards improving a population’s situation in life. For example, relating this to social work practice, it is well documented that there is a risk in working in social work of professional ‘burnout’ (emotional exhaustion, reduced performance), more so than many other careers. Researchers consider burnout to be a job-related stress condition or even a “work-related mental health impairment” (Awa et al. 2010, p. 184). This means that social workers are more likely to experience ill health as shown in the studies conducted by Siebert (2005, pp. 25 - 44). In this study 751 respondents, 36% scored in the high range of emotional exhaustion linked to burnout or stress related concern due to their role in social work. SWB measures would be an effective

The potential problem of social workers and lawyers/magistrates or judges working together is that social worker might not be mindful of legal expectations and requirements (Kennedy & Richards, 2007). The roles and functions of lawyer and social worker are very dissimilar as well as their histories, cultures and rituals (Kennedy & Richards, 2007). Lawyer’s purposes are limited and tangible so they find it difficult to understand that social worker’s purposes are not (Rice & Day, 2014). Social workers find law as a part of their solution but not the complete resolution of the problem (Dickens, 2008). Their main goal is to pursuit equitable access to social, economic, environmental and political resources (Kennedy & Richards, 2007). Law