34. DBT Skills for Burnout

"Burnout" has become a buzzword since the start of the pandemic, for good reason. Many of us are feeling burnt out, in many areas of life, and could benefit from using DBT skills to cope.

In this episode, Molly and Liza start by defining burnout (i.e. chronic depletion, apathy, a feeling of ineffectiveness no matter how hard you work). We then identify factors that typically lead to burnout, like feeling that your day-to-day lacks meaning or that you lack control over your daily decisions. We explain how to tell the difference between burnout, depression, and stress, and why these distinctions matter.

We respond to an email from a listener who wants to know how seriously to take feelings of burnout, and when to consider making a change. Pulling from Emily and Amelia Nagoski's work, we describe the science behind what burnout does to our bodies and how we can effectively complete the body's stress response cycle. We outline various DBT skills to apply both during extreme moments of burnout (i.e. intense exercise, mindfulness, urge surfing, self-validation, vacation), and when making larger life decisions in response to burnout (i.e. taking an inventory using mindfulness skills, problem-solving, and focusing on values). We hope you enjoy!

We will be taking next month off and, in the meantime, will be re-releasing an old episode on March 1. We look forward to being back on April 1 for our final episode of the season!

*Check out our website at therapistsinthewild.com. And follow us on Instagram and Facebook @TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. If you'd like to support TITW, we would be very grateful for donations of any amount you feel comfortable via Venmo @MollyStDenis. If a donation is not possible at this time, you can still support our work by leaving a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. Thank you!