Burnout as a Therapist

Protecting Your Energy as a Woman Who Holds Others

Burnout in therapists rarely comes from one big event.
It grows quietly through years of holding, listening, regulating, absorbing.

As women, many of us were conditioned early to be the emotional container.
To be attuned.
To be available.
To stay soft even when we are depleted.

In therapy work, this conditioning can become dangerous if it goes unexamined.

We are trained in technique.
We are trained in ethics.
We are trained to hold space.

What we are rarely taught is how to protect our own nervous system while doing so.

Without this awareness, the body becomes the holding place for everything the system cannot process. Over time, this shows up as exhaustion, emotional flatness, resentment, anxiety, autoimmune symptoms, hormonal disruption or a quiet loss of joy in the work we once loved.

Burnout is not a personal failure.
It is a nervous system response to prolonged responsibility without adequate repair.

Why therapists are especially vulnerable

Therapists often work inside systems that reward over giving.
We are praised for resilience.
For flexibility.
For coping.

Many therapists sense when something is off but keep going anyway.
Especially in midlife, when hormonal change amplifies stress responses and reduces our tolerance for constant demand.

Menopause does not cause burnout…it reveals it.

Gentle ways to protect your energy as a therapist

1. Stop carrying what is not yours
Empathy does not require absorption.
If you feel drained after every session, your nervous system may be staying activated long after the work ends. Create a clear internal ritual for returning responsibility to the client where it belongs.

2. Honour your nervous system first
Your capacity to support others depends on your own regulation.
This might mean fewer sessions, longer gaps, quieter days or changing how you work entirely. This is not weakness. It is wisdom.

3. Build closing rituals into your day
Therapists need endings, not just beginnings.A short walk, washing hands with intention, breathwork, a grounding oil or simply silence can help the body complete the stress cycle.

4. Watch the midlife layer
Hormonal change can lower resilience to chronic stress.
If you are more sensitive, more emotional or more tired than before, listen. This is not something to push through.

5. Let your identity evolve
You are allowed to change how you practice.
To teach instead of treat.
To mentor instead of hold.
To write, educate, create or step back for a while.

Your worth is not measured by how much you carry.

Burnout is often the body asking for a new relationship with work, responsibility and self.

For therapists, healing does not mean leaving the profession.
It means learning to include yourself in the care you offer so freely to others.

Written by Rose Washington
🌍 Global Therapist | Educator | Mentor
𖤓 Trauma Informed Menopause Coach
🎓 BSc Hons | 40 yrs in Practice