On June 16th, Out and Equal hosted our final Practitioner Well-being Session led by Zander Keig, LCSW. This session focused on the stress in our lives and how to mitigate its impact. This stress, if unmanaged, can lead to burnout. Burnout is physical and mental exhaustion, a sense of dread about work, and frequent feelings of cynicism, anger, or irritability. Zander shared how to identify burnout in yourself and others as well as common causes of burnout.  

In order to identify burnout, it is important to first identify the signs of stress in our lives. Stress can impact not only our mental health, but also our body’s ability to function. Being overstressed can lead to a trauma-response state which impacts every aspect of our body and mind. There are important ways we can avoid this and care for ourselves before reaching burnout. Zander shared tips such as getting good sleep, building emotional fitness, and restructuring our work and life balance.  

After a break out discussion about stress, Zander shifted the discussion into boundaries. Boundaries are the limits that we communicate to others regarding what we do and do not accept in our lives. Boundaries are essential in avoiding burnout before you reach your limit. Zander shared tips for identifying our own needs and then communicating them to others. He also shared the importance of upholding boundaries and what to do if someone violates your boundaries. Boundary setting is an essential form of self-care that can help protect us from further stress.  

This was our final Wellbeing Presentation, but you can continue to share and rewatch all of the sessions on our website: PfC WellBeing Series.

Resources

https://quietkit.com/box-breathing

https://www.das.nh.gov/wellness/docs/percieved%20stress%20scale.pdf

https://www.lifehack.org/874872/personal-boundaries