Burnout Relief via Compassionate Self-Development

Professional burnout can significantly impact individuals and organizations. Fortunately, there are compassion-focused strategies to alleviate and prevent professional burnout, such as developing a compassionate self, connecting with others, and finding professional meaning and purpose.

The Power of Compassion: “Being Helpful, Not Harmful”

Compassion as an evolved human motivation is essential for different reasons. For example, it can lead to increased job satisfaction and engagement. When motivated by compassion, we are more likely to proactively focus on what’s “helpful, not harmful’ to self and others.

This compassionate way of living informs our professional activities and interactions, making our workdays more meaningful, rewarding, and grounded in sound, ethical practices.

Accessing our compassion motives can also help us develop our compassionate self through what Gilbert describes as the three flows of compassion: (1) compassion toward self or self-compassion, (2) compassion toward others, and (3) receiving compassion from others.

By cultivating all three flows of compassion, we can create a positive feedback loop that promotes well-being, resilience, and growth.

Are You Your Best Friend?

Compassion toward self, or self-compassion, can be described as (a) being sensitive to our needs and distress and (b) acting in helpful ways to fulfill our needs and relief and prevent distress. How would this work in the context of burnout prevention and healing?

Case Illustration: Your best friend is in their early 30s and has worked in a highly demanding, competitive job for seven years. Although successful, their professional life consists of a long commute and a hybrid work model with three office days and two remote work days.

They wake up at 5:30 a.m. and may not get to sleep until 11:00 p.m. Consider that before the pandemic, they performed five days in the office, went fully remote during the pandemic, and started the hybrid model a year ago.

In a conversation, they share how they have not had time to exercise in the last six months and often feel too tired to have proper dinner. Because in-office days are unpredictable, lunchtime is also a "hit or miss."

They are having difficulties socializing because they are concerned they will not get enough sleep and be able to perform well at work the next day.

Adopting a compassion-motivation stance, in which you are sensitive to your friend’s distress and are committed to trying to help them alleviate and prevent their distress...

1. How would you feel about their challenging journey?
2. What would you feel like saying to them?
3. Are you inclined to offer any concrete ways to help?

In my professional experience, I have heard from patients, "I would feel empathy for them"; "I would express my concerns”; and “Yes! I would definitely offer to help in any way I could.”

Then, my next exploratory question is: What if that person were you? Would you show similar levels of compassion toward yourself as you would toward your best friend? Or would you keep "pushing through" the hectic professional life?

Giving and Receiving Compassion

The other two flows of compassion consist of giving compassion to others and receiving compassion from others through kindness, support, and understanding, as long as it does not harm you.

If being helpful to others is causing you harm (e.g., vicarious traumatization, compassion fatigue), then it is essential to reflect on what’s motivating your helping behaviors (e.g., please and appease responses) and, if necessary, to create healthy boundaries.

Ideally, individuals have balanced flows of compassion. However, it is not always like that. In fact, many individuals are great at giving compassion to others, but when it comes to self-compassion or receiving compassion from others, they may face challenges and resistance.

Some challenges and resistance may include inner beliefs such as “I am not deserving of compassion” or “Receiving compassion from others makes me feel weak and vulnerable.”

By reflecting on our challenges and resistances to compassion and acting in helpful ways toward ourselves and others, we can eventually rewire inner beliefs that hinder the development and strengthening of our compassionate self.

Burnout and How Compassion Can Help

Professional burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged or excessive stress. Fundamentally, burnout occurs when occupational demands exceed an individual's capacity to handle anxiety.

Overly demanding employment eventually breeds pessimistic and gloomy sentiments as workers struggle to achieve impossibly tight deadlines, put up with impolite clients, or handle the emotional strain of providing professional care.

It's a frequent assumption that working long hours is the only thing causing burnout; however, research shows that organizational and individual factors, such as effort-reward imbalance, can be equally detrimental.

Burnout and the Brain

Research from an integrative team of psychological scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden provides striking evidence that workplace burnout can alter neural circuits, ultimately causing a vicious cycle of neurological dysfunction and significant reductions in gray matter volumes in the brain.

Those diagnosed with burnout reported more difficulties modulating their negative emotional responses than the healthy control group, as confirmed by their physiological reactivity.

Compassion and the Brain

While burnout may lead to neurological dysfunction and a decrease in gray matter, compassion boosts activity in brain areas involved in dopaminergic reward and oxytocin-related affiliative processes, which improves positive emotions in response to adversity and stress.

Compassion can lead to health benefits, such as reducing inflammation linked to cancer and other diseases. Another way compassion can boost well-being is by increasing a sense of connection to others.

Strong social connections lead to a 50 percent increased chance of longevity, as individuals who feel more connected to others have lower rates of anxiety and depression, better immune responses, and higher self-esteem, empathy, trust, and cooperation.

In the context of Gilbert's three flows of compassion, mitigating professional burnout through the compassionate self involves skills such as clarity and competence in recovering from setbacks, openness to feeling supported and cared for in the face of occupational stress, patience, perspective, and curiosity in interpersonal relationships.

Developing the Compassionate Self

Developing the compassionate self is a journey, not a destination. We can work on it daily by becoming mindful of our inner motives, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; connecting with others; and finding meaning and purpose in our lives.

Here are some valuable practices to start your compassionate self development journey:

1. Compassionate self-talk involves talking to oneself in a kind and understanding way, without judgment and harshness.
2. A self-compassionate break involves taking a break from challenging thoughts and feelings and offering oneself compassion and kindness.
3. Loving-kindness meditation practice involves sending loving-kindness to oneself, others, and all beings.
4. Compassionate listening involves listening to others with empathy, curiosity, understanding, and nonjudgment.
5. Compassionate imagery involves visualizing oneself receiving compassion from a compassionate figure.

Cultivating Compassion for a Burnout-Free Future

Burnout has become a pervasive issue in a fast-paced and demanding world. It affects individuals, organizations, and society as a whole. While the factors contributing to burnout are complex, one potential solution is cultivating compassion.

Compassion, as an innate human motivator, can be a powerful tool for preventing and mitigating burnout. By fostering self-compassion, extending compassion to others, and receiving compassion in return, we can create a more supportive environment that prioritizes well-being and resilience.

Developing the compassionate self is an ongoing process but offers significant benefits. By incorporating compassion-focused practices, we can pave the way for a future when individuals and organizations thrive, fueled by the power of compassion.