Case Study – Stress Management and Burnout

Client: Delia
Session Sharings and Findings:

Delia is a 58 year old Senior Manager in Healthcare. She came to me after having been off work on sick leave for three days. She said she was dreading returning and believed she was suffering workplace stress. She had a very demanding job and worked on a shift roster.

In the first two sessions she outlined her symptoms and opened up about her feelings. She said she was in a constant state of exhaustion and “hated everything” about her job. She had physical symptoms of an upset stomach and was grinding her teeth at night and had a sore jaw.

At work and home she was short tempered and felt overwhelmed about everything.

There had been an increase in responsibilities at work, but no support she said. She felt she had no “friends” at work. Nobody she had a close relationship with.

By session two she could see she had workplace BURNOUT. This would need reducing and managing.

She agreed to try some exercises with me and do after-care at home to continue these techniques in order to get it under control. One technique I shared with Delia is called a bodily felt senses session, or BFS. This is useful in locating where in your body you are feeling stress, then deep breathing through it and thus releasing.

We discussed other ways of managing stress through self-awareness, self-regulation and balance. Such as prioritising rest breaks for lunch (calms the mind) and light exercise daily (defuses stress). This would bring her more balance

* Stress or burnout are not psychological disorders but a natural state or phase that needs controlling. The sufferer is the only one that can do this with the right techniques and tools for them.

Session Progress: At session four: (7 weeks into therapy)

Delia had successfully negotiated two weeks off work on stress leave after our first session. This helped to give her some healing and re-balancing time.

She wrote up some clear work/life boundaries to adhere to and put these up at home and close to her desk at work. Such as mobile phone on/off time for example.

Upon returning to work she felt calm enough and confident in requesting more support.

She said she felt “back in control” and “less cynical” about work.

Delia took a break from our sessions after session 4.

On her healing path