Cause & Prevention Of Burnout In Human Services

683 Words3 Pages
Running head: CAUSES & PREVENTION OF BURNOUT IN HUMAN SERVICES Causes & Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Laura Alcala University of Phoenix Building Community in Human Service BSHS 46+1 Antoine Clayton July 06, 2011 Causes & Prevention of Burnout in Human Services Staff Every human service worker enters the field with great expectations of how they are going to change the world and really make a difference. It is not long, however, before the real world challenges of working in the human service field start to take a toll on even the most dedicated idealist. In this paper, the writer will define burnout, describe some causes of burnout and provide some methods to prevent burnout. She will also examine her own personality and identify the ways she reacts to personal and work related stress, including how she may reduce the effects of burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion resulting from working with people in emotionally demanding situations. It has three major components; emotional exhaustion, feelings of low personal accomplishments with clients and a dehumanizing, uncaring attitude towards clients (Lewis, Packard, & Lewis, 2007). A person experiencing burnout has a lack of autonomy and feels as if they cannot do as they want. This person tends to move away from idealism and concern for clients and begin more mechanical behaviors. A person's personality may play a role in their likelihood to experience burnout, for example a type A personality may have unrealistic expectations and may experience burnout more easily than someone with more realistic expectations. Cultural aspects, such as lack of community and decreasing feelings of self-actualization thru work can also contribute to burnout. Unrealistic or unclear role expectations and too great a work load in organizations can create an
Open Document