Therapy for Burnout: Understanding What Burnout Really Is

Esther Dietrichsen-Farley
Apr 26, 2024
5 min read

Updated: 6 days ago

You’re still showing up. You’re still doing what’s expected. But something inside feels thin, or absent altogether.

Burnout isn’t always loud. It often appears as quiet exhaustion, a slow fading of your energy and hope.

This post unpacks what burnout really is, why it goes unrecognised, and how therapy - especially a person-centred, trauma-informed approach - can help you recover and reconnect with yourself.

A man sits across from his therapist, rubbing his hands together as he looks deep in thought. The image reflects the quiet tension and emotional processing often seen in therapy for burnout.

What Burnout Actually Means (And Why It’s Different from Ordinary Stress)

Burnout is more than having too much to do. According to the World Health Organisation, it is an “occupational phenomenon” caused by prolonged stress that hasn’t been successfully managed. Burnout is marked by three core features:

Profound fatigue that rest doesn’t fully relieve
Mental distance or cynicism about work and life roles
A sense that you’re no longer effective, no matter how hard you try

Unlike everyday stress, which can feel activating and urgent, burnout often feels like emptiness. Where stress heightens your alertness, burnout drains it. Researchers have called burnout a state of “emotional depletion and loss of concern,” which can lead to physical illness, depression, and impaired memory.

One study found burnout can even cause measurable changes in the brain’s hippocampus, the region involved in learning and memory. Chronic stress elevates cortisol, which over time contributes to these changes. This is why you may feel foggy, detached, or unable to concentrate, even if you used to thrive under pressure.

Why Burnout Often Goes Unrecognised

Burnout tends to build gradually, which makes it hard to spot. Many people minimise their symptoms, telling themselves it’s just a busy season or that they should be able to cope. If you value reliability and hard work, admitting you feel spent can feel like failure.

You may notice yourself thinking:

“I just need to push through.”
“Others have it worse.”
“If I can keep going, it can’t be that serious.”

But research consistently shows that ignoring chronic exhaustion increases the risk of developing depression, anxiety, and long-term health problems. One meta-analysis in Occupational Medicine confirmed that burnout is linked with immune dysfunction and higher rates of cardiovascular disease.

Burnout doesn’t mean you are weak. It means your system has been under strain for too long.

Why Therapy - Not Just Coaching - Helps Burnout Recover at the Roots

When you feel depleted, you may wonder whether a self-help program or coaching could be enough. Sometimes they can help with skill-building. But therapy has a distinct role: it supports not just behaviour change, but emotional processing, self-understanding, and nervous system regulation.

Here’s what the research says about why therapy is often essential:

1. Therapy addresses underlying patterns and self-concept.

Burnout rarely happens only because you work too much. Often, perfectionism, chronic people-pleasing, or fear of disappointing others play a hidden role. A 2020 study in the International Journal of Stress Management found that people with certain attachment styles - especially anxious or avoidant - are significantly more prone to burnout.

Coaching focuses on goals and accountability, but therapy helps you see and gently shift the deeper beliefs that keep you overextending yourself. Over time, this can change your relationship to work and rest in a lasting way.

2. Therapy supports emotional processing, not just problem-solving.

Avoiding or numbing feelings is strongly linked with burnout severity. A recent systematic review showed that emotional suppression contributes to chronic stress and fatigue. Therapy offers a safe space to unpack these feelings - disappointment, resentment, grief - so they no longer accumulate beneath the surface.

3. Therapy helps regulate your nervous system.

Burnout often locks your body in survival mode. Studies have shown that therapeutic relationships can improve “vagal tone,” the body’s ability to shift into a calm state. Person-centred and trauma-informed therapy can help your nervous system learn that it is safe to slow down and rest.

4. Therapy heals relational patterns.

When you feel you have to be “the strong one” or constantly available to others, it can be hard to receive support. Relational therapy provides a new experience of being accepted without having to perform. Over time, this helps you build healthier boundaries and more nourishing connections outside therapy.

How Person-Centred and Trauma-Informed Therapy Works

At The Farley, therapy isn’t about fixing you. It’s about meeting you as you are.

A person-centred approach means you set the pace. Instead of offering strategies you haven’t asked for, therapy begins by listening deeply to your experience. This can be profoundly relieving if you’re used to feeling judged or pressured to improve.

A trauma-informed approach acknowledges that burnout can be tied to past experiences - like childhood patterns where you had to earn love through achievement. Trauma-informed therapy prioritises safety, choice, and collaboration, so you never feel pushed beyond what feels manageable.

A relational approach means the therapeutic relationship itself becomes a source of healing. Research shows that having one consistent, compassionate relationship can help restore a sense of trust and belonging, both with yourself and others.

FAQs About Burnout and Therapy

How do I know if I’m burned out?

If you feel persistently exhausted, emotionally flat, and unable to recover with rest, you may be experiencing burnout. Signs include memory lapses, irritability, cynicism, and a loss of joy. If these symptoms have lasted weeks or months, it’s worth reaching out for support.

Is burnout a mental health disorder?

Burnout is not a formal diagnosis like depression, but it can lead to serious mental and physical health issues. That’s why many clinicians treat it with the same seriousness as other conditions.

Can therapy help if I can’t change my circumstances?

Yes. Therapy can help you process what’s happening, identify where you do have agency, and develop a healthier relationship to your limits - even if external demands remain high.

How long does it take to recover?

Recovery depends on severity and how long burnout has been building. Some people start to feel relief within weeks of therapy; for others, it can take several months to restore energy and hope. Progress is rarely linear, but each step matters.

Burnout doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’ve been trying to manage more than any one person can carry alone. Therapy can help you feel human again.

If you’d like to explore therapy for burnout, you’re welcome to book a free consultation. Whether in Southampton or online, you don’t have to keep doing this alone.

The Farley