The Elements of Burnout: How to repair and move through chronic stress
Date: Friday, June 28th, 2024
Time: 9:30 am PT / 11:30 am CT / 12:30 pm ET / 5:30 pm BST
Location: Zoom
Link to register (for free)
About this event:
“Burnout is a canary in the coal mine. It’s a warning of a toxic environment. What we shouldn’t do is question why the canary isn’t tougher.” -Christina Maslach, PhD
Join Kristine Claghorn & Elise Joseph in conversation about burnout and moving through chronic stress.
Burnout is the result of thousands of uncompleted stress cycles. Stress gives us the energy needed to fight or flee. For example, thousands of years ago, our stress response was responsible for keeping us alive. If we encountered a lion, our sympathetic nervous system acted as a gas pedal, providing the body with a burst of energy so that it could respond to perceived danger. Once the stress cycle was complete, when we ran and got to safety, the parasympathetic nervous system acted as a brake, promoting the rest and digest response that calmed the body down once the danger had passed.
The pacing of modern life is so fast — between emails and texts we read right when we wake up, to work meetings, social media, and a constant stream of news and information — we experience feelings of urgency and stress at every turn. Our bodies don’t know the difference between a threat to our physical safety and a threat to our self-concept. These stress cycles trigger our sympathetic nervous system, but the cycles never complete. Stressor after stressor causes our fight/flight/freeze/fawn response to activate, but we are never getting to the point where we rest and digest. Burnout is the result. Think of it as a death by thousands of paper cuts.
In this 30-minute session, we will discuss how to manage stress and share ways to complete the stress cycle. We’ll talk a little bit about the elements of burnout and how we can take better care of ourselves in the long run.*
This will include a conversation, a guided practice, and time for Q&A from attendees.
*This does not mean that the responsibility of burnout management is all on you – there is a hope that the environments we live and work in will also take responsibility for the well-being of all. We hope that with these skills, you’ll be better equipped to spot unhealthy behavior and see which stressors are worth keeping around when you have the choice.
The event will be recorded if you cannot attend live.
