Burnout Coaching
My Experience of Burnout
One fateful night during my graduate school years, I was on my way home when my car died. The check engine light had come on a couple of weeks before and in the overwhelm of a busy stretch in the semester, I hadn’t taken the time to get it checked. The timing belt slipped. The engine seized. And I was out of a car - or an engine, anyway. It took weeks for the mechanic to replace the engine, but those weeks felt like years.
My experience of burnout was like this. After a season of meaningful but intensive ministry, the check engine light on the dashboard of my soul was going off. I didn’t ignore it, but I didn’t address the root issues either. After a year of pushing through exhaustion, despair, and feelings of isolation, my timing belt finally slipped. My body began screaming at me - “enough is enough!”
Finally I listened. I rested. I made changes. Slowly I began the long work of replacing the engine of my life. I now see burnout as a gift. It was hard, yes, but it was necessary for me to find a better way to live.
My Training & Experience
Through my burnout experience, I have learned many valuable lessons about burnout recovery, and how to engage that process well. My own burnout sent me deep into exploration of the research behind burnout recovery. Recovering from burnout well takes getting to the roots of your life, and many of those roots are hard to uncover.
How do I Know if I am Experiencing Burnout?
If you feel like burnout caught you by surprise, join the club. The reality is that it is very difficult to self-identify a burnout experience until it has buried you deep in a state of exhaustion and emotional despondence. The research around burnout has offered us some excellent assessments that help identify if what you are experiencing is burnout, and that help you understand the source and severity of your burnout which is an important first step in the recovery process. Keep reading for a link to a free burnout assessment!
My Approach to Burnout Coaching
Narrative-based and Personalized
I hold a personal and narrative-based approach to guiding you through the burnout recovery process. I am committed to listening to your story and understanding your experience of burnout - all the way to the roots. I find that burnout education is an important part of the recovery process and have developed accessible and practical tools for you to engage that will help you rebuild the engine of your life as effectively as possible.Getting to the Roots
My desire in coaching for burnout recovery is to help you get to the roots of your burnout, to offer expert guidance as you rebuild the engine of your life. Every person’s burnout recovery will be different, but my pathway for burnout recovery will help you expose the hidden roots of your life, do the deep work of healing, and will equip you to enter the next season of your life with an engine that is ready for the road ahead.
Begin with a Free Burnout Assessment!
The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is probably the best research-based, comprehensive burnout assessment currently available. There are two versions of this assessment - one for working/non-working adults and one for students. Both are linked here. The assessments are straight-forward and will take 5-10 minutes.
The assessment for working/non-working adults contains two separate assessments - the first is work-related and the second is general. I would recommend completing both assessments. If you are not employed, consider whatever you give the most energy to vocationally (parenting, caring for an elderly parent, etc.) as your work for this assessment. This may help you better understand the source(s) of your potential burnout.
Spiritually Integrated
There are many burnout recovery resources out there, and very few of them are designed for people in ministry or caring professions. My take on burnout recovery integrates best practices from the secular burnout recovery coaching field with Christian spiritual formation. My desire is not just for you to get back on the road as soon as possible - it is to see God do a deeper work in the root system of your soul that you will someday look back on as a turning point in your life.
Getting Started
If you are interested in exploring burnout coaching, scheduling a free, 30-minute consultation is the first step! This helps me understand where you are in your journey, know what your goals are for coaching, and allows you to ask any questions as well.
I offer 60-minute burnout coaching sessions for $90.
You can invest as much or as little as you like in burnout coaching, but my standard process works you through a comprehensive analysis of all related areas of your and typically takes place over 6-8 sessions over a period of several months. I am currently offering coaching only online. Please use the contact form below to reach out and schedule your free consultation!
Get in Touch
Hello and thank you for reaching out! Drop me a note below and I will get back to you within 24 hours. I look forward to connecting with you!