Sexting & Adolescents: What Parents Should Consider

Sexting is a relatively new phenomenon where one person sends, receives, copies, shares, or even simply possesses explicit photos of oneself or someone else from an electronic device.  Sexting includes text messages, emails, pictures, videos, apps such as Kick, Twitter, Snap Chat, etc.  Sexting is a new taboo in our modern culture and it is a topic that needs to be addressed with our adolescents.

A study, entitled “Youth Sexting: Prevalence Rates, Driving Motivations, and the Deterrent Effect of Legal Consequences,” was published online in June 2014 by the journal entitled Sexuality Research and Social Policy.    From this study, some interesting statistics were discovered:

• 54% of minors reported sexting as a minor
• 28% stated they have sent a explicit picture
• 61% of minors were not aware that sending a sext is considered child pornography
• 71% reported knowing other teens who experienced negative consequences as a result from sexting
• 2% reported that they notified a parent or adult about a sext that they received.

In addition, more young females are subjected to sending and posting sexually explicit pictures, however males are not immune from sexting.  Often times, young men get into trouble regarding the distribution of texts, pictures, and videos. 

So... why do teens sext?   The majority of teens who have sexted have stated they did so because it was a way to date or strengthen their existing relationships.  Teens feel the need to sext to keep their boy/girlfriend happy and as a way to show trust and intimacy in their relationships.  Teens also are not thinking of the long-term implications, and often send pictures or videos "without thinking" in the heat of the moment.

So...what are the consequences of sexting?  Consequences include social, school, legal, and familial components.  Socially sexting can be devastating to a child's reputation and self-esteem.  It can lead to name calling, taunting, teasing, and abuse.  Viral is not fun socially, it's fast.  This means that one image can spread to thousands of people in a relatively short period of time.  Depending on the child's school and home-life environment, there may be consequences for the child who either takes or distributes sexts at school or at home.  And finally, there are legal consequences that can have life-altering affects.  See below for Louisiana Statutes on Sexting:

• Sexting: In Louisiana, people younger than 17 are prohibited from knowingly and voluntarily using a computer, cell phone, or other telecommunications device to transmit indecent images they take of themselves. It’s also a crime for someone younger the 17 to have or transmit an indecent image that was transmitted by another person younger than 17 who took the image of him or herself. (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:81.1.1.)
• Pornography Involving Juveniles: It’s also a crime in Louisiana to produce, promote, distribute, or possess any pornographic images or material that involve juveniles. This type of material includes any kind of film, image, photograph, or other reproduction that depicts people younger than 17 engaging in sexual conduct. Committing the crime of pornography involving juveniles in Louisiana is a felony offense. (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:81.1.)
• Indecent Behavior With Juveniles: Anyone in Louisiana who transmits or delivers an image or written communication to any person younger than 17 with the intent to arouse or gratify sexual desires commits the crime of indecent behavior with juveniles. However, if the age difference between the juvenile and the person sending the written communication or image is two years or less, no crime has occurred. (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:81.)
• Juvenile Penalties: A teen who commits a sexting crime (Louisiana Revised Statutes § 14:81.1.1) faces a number of possible penalties for a first offense. Louisiana juvenile courts have broad discretion in the types of penalties they can impose. For example, the court can order the teen to pay a fine, perform community service, or stay under house arrest, or it can impose other punishments as it deems appropriate. For second or third sexting offenses, more significant penalties such as higher fines and up to six months in jail are possible.
• Adult penalties. Louisiana is one of the handful of states that define a juvenile as anyone younger than 17. This means that a person who is 17 or older could face adult penalties if convicted of a sexting-related crime. Adult penalties for these types of crimes are much more significant. For example, someone convicted of indecent behavior with juveniles as a first-time offender faces up to $50,000 in fines and between five and 20 years in prison. You can read more about Louisiana’s adult criminal penalties by reading Louisiana Felony Crimes by Class and Sentences and Louisiana Misdemeanor Crimes by Class and Sentences.

Since sexting can be detrimental to your child's development, it is important that you talk to your children about sexting.  Remind your child  to keep texts, pictures, posts, etc. PG rated and that nothing is private once it is posted to the internet or transmitted through a phone.  Encourage your child to think before they post and to not succumb to peer or dating pressures.  Finally, here are some starter questions to help you frame your discussion with your child:

• How do you define sexting?
• What are some consequences that could happen if someone sexted?
• Why might someone ignore these consequences and send a picture/video?
• How is communicating through your phone different from in person?
• How might self-disclosure using digital technologies be even more risky than face-to-face self-disclosure?

Hopefully through this information, you will be able to talk to your child about sexting and help to keep your child safe and healthy as they develop into adolescence and adulthood!

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA. www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com 

New Year, New You? Practical Steps to Our Lofty Resolutions

A new year is upon us and with that many people are hopeful for change by making new year's resolutions.  There is something promising about a new start with a new year.  Come January 1st we feel like we can wipe the slate clean and start fresh.

Whether we are hopeful for a new job, to lose weight, find a love interest, or whatever else our hope may be, we often set ourselves up for failure with our shiny and bright new year's resolutions.  One study from 2007 found that out of 3000 people in the study, 88% of participants who made a new year's resolution failed to keep that resolution! So, why is it so hard to keep a new year's resolution?  Why can't we commit to our resolutions and promises to ourselves?

I believe it's because we do not make our resolutions practical!  Our resolutions are too lofty, too abstract, and too big to become realistic.  Our hopes are just too hopeful.  We make a great resolution while talking with friends, under the influence, or because we feel we need some change in our lives, yet come January 5th we've forgotten what that hopeful resolution was in the first place.

Instead of creating life-changing resolutions, we need to focus on small, practical daily changes that may not take a lot of effort to tweak.  Here are a couple of pieces of advice to consider as you are creating your own New Year's Resolution:

• Use SMART Goals! A resolution should be SPECIFIC, MEASURABLE, ATTAINABLE, RELEVANT, and TIME-ORIENTED.  

• Specific: What's expected? Why is it important? Think of the "W" questions: Who? What? Why? Which? Where?
• Measurable: If you can't measure a goal, how do you know it's working?  Think of questions such as How much? How will I know when I've achieved my goal?
• Attainable: This makes sure your goal is within reach and not too broad or lofty.  Is this goal possible with my skills and abilities? Is my goal realistic?
• Relevant: This stresses the concept to choice a goal that matters to you. Does this seem worthwhile? Is this goal right for me?
• Time Oriented: Give yourself a deadline or a time-bound goal. Think about When? What can I do today? Where do I want to be in a month?  Break your goals up into small, bearable pieces.
• For example, many might have a new year's resolution "to lose weight."  This is a great over-arching goal, yet it is not a SMART goal.  A revision to our example to meet thee qualifications of a SMART goal may look like, "I am going to join the Pilates Center the first week of January and attend 1 group class per week for the next month."  With this SMART goal, we are setting ourselves up for success by giving ourselves a deadline and starting with small changes.

• Make your goal public!  If we publicize our resolution to our family and friends, we gain a support network and become more accountable to our goals. Talk about your goal to anyone who will listen to it, this makes you more confident about your goal and builds your accountability.

• For example, last year I ran my first marathon.  In October 2013, I told my family and friends that I was going to run a marathon.  They all laughed and thought I was crazy, but every time I saw them from that point till the marathon, they asked how my training was going.  If I was on track with my training schedule, I felt great, and if I had missed a few runs, my guilt from telling them I hadn't trained got me back on track.  I was able to finish my first marathon in February 2014!

• Beware of challenges and road blocks.  Remember that life is not perfect, there are hiccups along the way!  Do not get down on yourself if you hit a roadblock.  The key will be to figure out how to rise above the challenge and move past it.  The key is to not give up because you hit a snag.

• For example, when I was training for the marathon, my mother ended up being hospitalized unexpectedly.  I didn't train for 2 weeks straight. I figured, oh well, maybe next time.  Yet as my mother recovered, I realized I could recover from this road block as well and I got back on track with my training.

• It takes 66 days on average to make a habit.  Most people think it takes 21 days to form a new habit, yet that is an old idea from Dr. Maxwell Maltz's self-help from the 1960s.  For some people it might take 16 days and other over 100 days, it just depends.  Give yourself some wiggle room and don't give up if by February 1st you are right where you were on January 1st!

• Enlist professional help!  Depending on what your goal is, you may need an expert to help you along your path.  We do not know everything and should seek help from others to make our goals easier.  For example, if you're wanting to run a marathon, seek out a personal trainer or a running coach, if you want to re-arrange your attitude, maybe seek a counselor or if you are wanting to eat healthier, seek out a nutritionist. 

Hopefully these tips will help you with your own new year's resolutions!  Good luck to all and may you all have a wonderful 2015 as we say goodbye to 2014!

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com

What is Mental Health? with Dr. Mike Condra

What is Imago Therapy?

Imago Therapy is an effective form of couples counseling created by Dr. Harville Hendrix.  The focus is on communication and dialogue to create emotional safety among the partners. "The term Imago is Latin for “image,” and refers to the “unconscious image of familiar love.” Using core constructs of intentionality, stretching, ownership, unconditional gifting, dialogue and wholeness (to name a few), partners realize that a conscious relationship is an ever-evolving journey - an unfolding process - rather than a destination.(http://pub.imagorelationships.org/)"

Imago Therapy tries to create a bridge between partners where they can be an advocate for each other's potential.  The form breaks down dialogue and even gives instructions for the sender and receiver of communication.  "The Couple's Dialogue" is key in this therapy style.  In this particular style of dialogue, one partner requests to the other partner that they need a Couple's Dialogue.  The person who requests the dialogue is the Sender and the partner is the Receiver.  Here are instructions for both parties:

• Instructions for the Receiver:
• Active Listening: As your partner talks, do not interrupt until the partner pauses
• Mirror & Summarize: Repeat back what your partner says without adding or taking away from the message.  Use the phrase, "What I heard you say is..."  Don't add questions, insert comments, or change the tone of voice.  You can check to make sure you mirrored correctly by asking your partner "Did I get that?" and also ask for more information if needed, "Is there more?"
• Validate: Validate the content, "What you've said makes sense because..." Through this you are showing your partner that he/she is making sense from his/her own point of view.
• Empathize: Imagine what the other person is feeling about what they just said, "I can imagine that you might feel..." 
• Instructions for the Sender
• Make an appointment: Ask you partner to meet at a specific time so that both partners can make the conversation a priority
• Intentions Statement: Use an introductory statement that lets your partner feel safe regarding what message you are about to send, "I want this to be a win win conversation"
• Stick to one topic: Don't have a hidden agenda with a laundry list of complaints.  The goal is to have a focused dialogue surrounding one concern
• Use "I" Statements: Describe how you feel and what you need.  "I feel anger and scared when I haven't heard from you" versus "You make me angry"
• Tone of Voice: It is important to keep a non-threatening, non-accusatory tone so that no one gets on the defensive.  If you are too angry, you should wait until you are calmer to have a couple's dialogue.
• Word selection: Be aware of the words you use and allow pauses in what you are saying so that your partner has the opportunity to mirror you words. Blaming, labeling, mind-reading, or using absolutes will not resolve the issue and do not belong in this dialogue.
• Actively Reinforce Positive Behaviors: After you partner mirrors what you have said, say something to demonstrate it, "Thanks for hearing me."

Through the Couple's Dialogue, partners can hear one another and come to deeply understand each other without judgement or fear.  If you're interested in learning more about Imago Therapy, review the videos below.



Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Adolescents Coping with Depression Group

Adolescents Coping with Depression Group

A 12 week group for depressed adolescents between 14-18 years old. The group will consist of lectures, discussions, role-plays, and activities surrounding relaxation techniques, identification of irrational/negative thoughts, social skills, communication, and problem solving.

Initial group meeting will be Tuesday September 9, 2014 from 4:00-6:00 pm. The cost of the group is $80 per 2-hour group meeting. To register call Dr. Camelford at 504-390-9538 or email her at kcamelford@thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Click here for a flyer.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

How to Avoid Misunderstandings

Ever felt misunderstood?  Misunderstandings are a failure to clearly communicate and are pretty common in today's society.  We misunderstand others in conversations, emails, text messages, and social media. Personal and relationship problems often come from a lack of communication and understanding.  Effective communication is a two-way street in which we must be effective in sending messages, as well as we must be effective in receiving messages to avoid misunderstandings.

Conversation Misunderstandings can be cleared up with a few common tips:

• As the listener, utilize Active Listening
• Be engaged in conversations as the listener by using "following" words such as "ye, uh-huh, really"
• Think about your body language...make eye contact, nod, lean slightly forward towards the speaker
• Pay attention and ask follow up questions or clarity questions
• Paraphrase the message
• As the speaker, send clear and accurate messages by
• Be specific 
• Consider how your body language matches your words
• Look for non-verbal cues from the listener to see if they are understanding the message
• Say what you mean

For written communication, such as email, text messages, etc., misunderstandings may increase due to the lack of tone of voice and body language cues provided in the conversation.  In some ways, that is why emoticons are becoming increasingly popular because they can provide a visual cue to the written words.  Whether you approve of emoticons or not, here are some types for avoiding written misunderstandings:

• Read your message out-loud before sending the message
• Have a co-worker/friend read the message before sending as a tester
• Don't use all caps as it is considered yelling
• Use emoticons
• If the message sounds to harsh upon reading, don't send it! Maybe a phone call or in-person conversation would be more gentle
• Always re-read your work, especially with auto-correct

Hopefully these are easy tips (or most likely reminders) for you to consider and re-incorporate into your communicate skills.  With more mindfulness awareness misunderstandings should be limited!

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Stages of Change

Change is about mixing it up and doing something different or becoming someone different from the past. Sometimes change is forced upon a person, where other times a person may willingly change something. When one thinks about change, here are some general questions that come to mind: What did I do in the past when I made a change? What is it that I want to do differently? What kind of person will I become? etc. Depending on the type of change, different emotional responses may occur such as happiness, anger, fear, and even doubt.  The goal of this blog is to discuss change, locus of control, and then the stages of change to help anyone identify where he or she may be in the cycle of change.

First off, change can be internal or external.  Internal change is a change that one make's within oneself.  For example, "I am going to start waking up an hour early to work out in the morning."  Whereas, external change is change that is forced upon a person who has little-to-no control over the change.  For example, "My work establishment has changed my hours from 9-5 to 7:30-3:30."  Often times people cope better with internal change since they are intrinsically motivated, where as external change can cause concerns and resistance to change.

Secondly, everyone has a locus of control based on their personality and upbringing.  Locus of control can be defined as whether or not individuals believe that they can control events in their lives.  A person with an internal locus of control believes that they control their own destiny and are in charge of their fate.  A person with an external locus of control believes that others (people, environmental factors, etc.) control their destiny and that life is often left up to chance.  It is important for people to identify what type of locus of control they have because that will help them identify how they will approach change and if they might need more support to make changes than others.  Sometimes, people may identify that something is wrong, but they are not interested in change which is an important piece of awareness.

As a counselor, I like to view change in stages because it gives people the opportunity to make small steps to larger goals and allows for setbacks/slip-ups to occur with the gentle kindness to keep pursuing change.

• Pre-contemplation: Problematic behaviors may not be harmful in this stage, Individual may be in denial of problem, Not really interested in change, Thinking about change
• Contemplation: Problematic behaviors continue, Ambivalence occurs about a potential change, Individual can recognize motives for change, Thinking about change 
• Preparation: Minor adjustments in problematic behaviors may be viewed based on internal or external change, Individual decides to make a change and struggles with how to make change, Determination and planning take place
• Action: Action is taken to address problematic behaviors, Individual may avoid triggers, seek support, or find other ways to cope
• Maintenance: Changes made in action stage are maintained, Individual still faces challenges
• Relapse: Most individuals after making a change return to the problematic behaviors, Individual slips and has self-doubt of change

The stages of change could be viewed in a cycle, where after the relapse occurs, the individual faces pre-contemplation again.  It may take several cycles with the same problematic behavior in order to permanently end the problematic behavior.

So if you are looking to make a change in your life, first consider what type of change it is, then consider your personality traits and your locus of control, and then cater the cycle's of change to your specific need.  If you feel that you are still struggling, then I encourage you to reach out for support from family, friends, or a certified counselor.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Adolescents Coping with Depression Group

Dr. Camelford will lead a 12-week group for adolescents coping with depression this fall.  For more information click here.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Thought Stopping Technique

Thought stopping is a cognitive behavioral therapy technique that can help anyone break free of continuous thoughts that may cause anxiety by using awareness and practice to change these thoughts.  Thought stopping can be a quick and effective method to distract yourself from your own anxiety by thinking about something else. One can practice thought stopping whenever anxious thoughts start to ruminate in one's mind. Once mastered, you will fill more in control of your thoughts and be able to stop anxious thoughts on command.

Here are some steps to practice thought stopping:

1. Think about what anxious thoughts you have struggled with or are currently struggling with and identify them so that you can have more awareness regarding your own anxiety.
2. Prepare a calming thought ahead of time that you will be able to use in times of anxiety.  For example, "I am peaceful and safe," "I'm on a beach and feel the sand under my feet," or "I am confident."
3. Be aware of your anxious thought.
4. Immediately tell yourself "STOP" in your mind.  For visual thinkers, you may want to visualize a stop sign and for kinesthetic thinkers, you may want to wear a rubber band and gently snap it on your wrist.
5. Exchange your anxious thought for a neutral/ calming thought.  The new thought can either be a general pre-planned thought or you can replace your current thought with something more accepting. For example, if you are anxious on a flight with turbulance and are thinking the plane is going down, a replacement thought could be "That was a bump in the road, we are in good hands with the pilot."
6. Continue to repeat your new thought in your mind, or even out loud if you need, until the anxious thought is extinguished.

Remember for this technique to work, you need to practice the technique! Also, if one visual or statement is not working for you, you may need to try different ones until you find what works best for you.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

New Logo

New Logo for the office:

Thrive Counseling Center LLC Office Pictures

Come sit on Dr. Camelford's couch at Thrive Counseling Center LLC, 6660 Riverside Drive Suite 202, Metairie, LA 70003.

Depression: A Powerful Risk Factor for Heart Disease in Young Women

Depression: A Powerful Risk Factor for Heart Disease in Young Women

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2014/06/19/depression-a-powerful-risk-factor-for-heart-disease-in-young-women/

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com

Part III: Reducing & Recovering from Burnout

Burnout affects your work performance, job satisfaction, and home life.  Burnout can lead to impairment in your social and interpersonal relationships if left untreated.  The sad part is that many people do not have enough self-awareness to realize they are burned out!  If you took the quiz in Part II and had a high level of burnout, here are some tips for how you can get back on track and demolish your burnout.

Since burnout stems from mainly 3 areas: personal, environmental, and organizational, the first step to combat burnout is to identify where your burnout is coming from our if it is balanced equally between these facets of your work life.  After you have identified what is draining your energy, you can see about making a change in that area.  At this time you may also want to become aware of your values and beliefs to make sure they are aligned with your goals.  This is when some "soul searching" may be beneficial to assess whether or not you are in the right job or career path.  After you have re-aligned yourself, you need to use SMART goals to make changes in your life. (See chart for creating SMART goals)

By creating specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals, you will be able to set yourself up for achievable success instead of disappointing failure.  Through achieving goals, your confidence should pick up and you should be headed on the path to recovery from burnout. In addition to making changes in your life, you should seek out some self-care activities to give yourself the time and space necessary to heal and recover.  Self-care techniques include exercise, meditation / relaxation exercises, walking the dog, hot bubble bath, etc.  So often when you are burned out, you do not take care of yourself and you are just taking care of everyone else which creates a vicious cycle that must be broken by healing from within first.

Other Tips:

• If you can delegate responsibilities or advocate for help within your field, now is the time to do it! Don't make yourself a martyr to your workplace.
• Take a break during your work day.  It's important to get up and move around, take a 5 minute walk around the building or do some stretches in your cubicle to get the blood flowing.
• Schedule time for co-workers, family, and friends who can help support you through a difficult time.
• If your burnout is particularly surrounding your job, it may be time to look for something else more fulfilling or a similar position with a different company.
• Finally, anyone who is suffering from burnout might find it beneficial to seek professional help where they can explore the root causes of burnout with a counselor and practice new coping strategies to utilize when these feelings persist in the future.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Video: Anxiety Overview

Part II: Signs & Symptoms of Burnout

Based on research by Maslach, burnout is based on 3 areas of work:

• Emotional Exhaustion: Emotionally over-extended feelings create work exhaustion which is a depletion of energy causing distractions and mental fatigue.  Emotional exhaustion is a sign of distress in demanding work.
• Depersonalization: The feeling of detachment at work which creates impersonal responses to your work and a lack of care and commitment.
• Lack of Personal Accomplishment: The feelings of success and perceived competence at work are lacking which creates frustration.  

You may be wondering what Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Lack of Personal Accomplishment look like in actual people... So here are examples of signs of burnout:

• Physical Signs: 
• Low energy
• Headaches
• Fast heart-rate
• High blood pressure
• Upset stomach
• Rashes
• Muscle tension
• Sleep issues: either too much or too little
• Appetite issues: either too much or too little
  
• Emotional Signs:
• Boredom
• Loss of control
• Resistance
• Lack of concentration
• Frustration
• Overwhelmed
• Anxiety
• Forgetful
• Incompetence
  
• Behavioral Signs:
• Lack of production
• Increased use of alcohol/drugs
• Increased use of sick days
• Withdrawn from activities
• Change in relationships
• Unresponsive

If you feel that you have some of the above symptoms, you can go one step further and take a self-assessment.  Here is a wonderful quiz to find out if you are burned out or not: http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/take_test.php?idRegTest=1303.

If you have found out that you are burned out, you may want to seek support from family, friends, and even a counselor to help you manage your feelings, and to potentially look more deeply into your career and other available options.  Burn-out can be cured, but the first step is awareness and recognizing within one's self these feelings.  In my next post, I'll share some prevention strategies and coping strategies to combat burnout.

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Part I: Defining Burnout in the Workplace

Burnout is becoming a common word in the world of the work.  With longer hours and electronic access 24/7, people are getting "burnt-out" or "fried." But what does that really mean?  Well, read below for more information regarding the definition of burnout.

Freudenberger (1974) defined burnout as “to fail, wear out or become exhausted by making excessive demands on energy, strength or resources” (p. 159). Burnout develops over time and is based on interpersonal and institutional variables (Galek, Flannelly, Greene, & Kudler, 2011). According to Remley and Herlihy (2010), burnout is a process, not a state or condition. Maslach (2003) defined burnout as “a syndrome of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment that can occur among individuals who do ‘people-work’ of some kind” (p. 2). Furthermore, burnout occurs when there is a significant mismatch between the nature of the job and people in six different areas: work overload, lack of control, insufficient rewards, breakdown of workplace community, lack of fairness, and value differences (Maslach, 2003).

Freudenberger (1974) first used the term burnout to describe a loss of will at work. Over the latter part of the 20th century, burnout has become a popular term to describe exhaustion and discontent at work (Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2011). According to Maslach and Leiter (1997), burnout is more likely to occur when there is a mismatch between the nature of the job and the nature of the person doing the job. Seven sources of burnout from the workplace environment include workload, control, reward, community, fairness, values, and job-person incongruity (Maslach & Leiter, 2008). The workplace environment is often believed to be the cause of burnout, rather than the individual professional (Skovholt & Trotter-Mathison, 2011). Symptoms of burnout can include deficient energy, being easily irritable, sleep difficulties, headaches, feelings of hopelessness or helplessness, and increased dissatisfaction and depersonalization (Lambie, 2007; Moyer, 2011). These symptoms can lead to inefficient and negligent delivery of work services. Burnout is associated with low morale, increased absenteeism, exhaustion, substance abuse, and isolation (Florio, 2010; Maslach, 2003; Remley & Herlihy, 2010; Skorupa & Agresti, 1993).

Burnout occurs when the needs of the professional and the demands of the job conflict, and it can be defined by three key terms: (a) emotional exhaustion, (b) depersonalization, and (c) reduced personal accomplishment (Maslach, 2003). According to Maslach and Leiter (1997), burnout occurs when professionals experience an erosion of engagement and compassion in the work setting. Emotional exhaustion occurs when there is an over-extension in the job and is often the first reaction to stress of job demands (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Depersonalization often transpires with emotional exhaustion, creating cynicism and negativity in the workplace which damages a professional's capacity to work effectively (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). Finally, reduced personal accomplishments occur from the feelings of ineffectiveness, inadequacy, and a loss of confidence in one's capabilities (Maslach & Leiter, 1997). As a result of these three processes, burnout impacts the professional, the client, and the work environment.

Now that you have an idea of what burnout is, my next post will explore how does one know if they're burnt-out in Part II and then Part III will explore self-care techniques that may reduce or prevent future burnout in the workplace!

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

References:

Florio, C. (2010). Burnout & compassion fatigue: A guide for mental health professionals and care givers. Lexington, KY.

Freudenberger, H. J. (1974). Staff burnout. Journal of Social Issues, 30(1), 159-165.

Galek, K., Flannelly, K. J., Green, P. B., & Kudler, T. (2011). Burnout, secondary traumatic
stress, and social support. Pastoral Psychology, 60, 633-649. Doi: 10.1007/s11089-011-
0346-7

Lambie, G.W. (2007). The contribution of ego development level to burnout in school counselors: Implications for professional school counseling. Journal of Counseling & Development, 85, 82-88.

Maslach, C. (2003). Burnout: The cost of caring. Cambridge, MA: Malor Books.

Maslach, C. & Leiter, M.P. (1997). The truth about burnout: How organizations cause personal stress and what to do about it. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass A Wiley Company.

Maslach, C. & Leiter, M. P. (2008). Early predictors of job burnout and engagement. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 93(3), 498-512.

Moyer, M. (2011). Effects of non-guidance activities, supervision, and student-to-counselor
ratios on school counselor burnout. Journal of School Counseling, 9(5), 31 pp.

Remley, T. P., & Herlihy, B. (2010). Ethical, legal, and professional issues in counseling (3rd
ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Skorupa, J. & Agresti, A. A. (1993). Ethical beliefs about burnout and continued professional
practice. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24(3), 281-285.

Skovholt, T. M., & Trotter-Mathison, M. (2011). The resilient practitioner: Burnout prevention and self-care strategies for counselors, therapists, teachers, and health professionals (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.

Should Obesity be a Psychiatric Disorder?

Check out this interesting story on whether or not obesity should be considered a psychiatric disorder: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/psych-unseen/201406/is-obesity-psychiatric-disorder

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com

Folklore About Anxiety | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA

Check out common myths about anxiety and read about how to find factual information from the web regarding anxiety:



“Myth-Conceptions,” or Common Fabrications, Fibs, and Folklore About Anxiety | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA



Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

Healthy Relationships

There is a great website called Love Is Respect that focuses on healthy relationships.  Here are a couple of their handouts on dating:

Dating Basics
What is Dating?
Dating FAQs
What Should I Be Looking For in a GF/BF?

Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.

What is Happiness? Learn How to Be Happy In Life

Are you the one?  Do you choose happiness?



Brought to you by Thrive Counseling Center LLC in Metairie, LA at www.thrivecounselingcenterllc.com.