In addition to massage therapy in our downtown studio, we also provide corporate wellness solutions to companies. The reason we call them solutions is that they are not services to “wow” employees or to be considered a luxury, they are a solution for – or the prevention of – a serious problem.

 

We’re talking specifically about burnout.

Did you know that burnout isn’t just a popular term that people use to describe stress? It has an official definition, and there are three components that must be met for an individual to be considered to be experiencing burnout.

 

These components are:

 

  • emotional exhaustion
  • depersonalization
  • reduced personal efficacy

 

Emotional exhaustion refers to that feeling of dread, numbness, or apathy that seems to grow the longer you continue to work in the same way. The feeling may not lift even after taking some time off.

 

Depersonalization is the sense of detachment those suffering from burnout often experience. They become increasingly detached from the “why” behind their work and lose any sense of purpose or enjoyment they once got from their job. They may also become increasingly irritable, cynical, and resentful.

 

Finally, reduced personal efficacy refers to the lower productivity, fulfillment, and confidence that people experience when suffering from burnout. While an individual may have once been very good at their job, experiencing burnout may override this.

We recently stumbled upon an incredibly impactful TedTalk. In the talk, Emily and Amelia Nagoski state that “The cure for burnout is not self-care. It is all of us caring for each other. We can’t do it alone. We need each other.”  

 

In other words, while self-care is widely regarded as the cure for burnout, the experts think there’s more to it than that. In fact, it turns out the cure for burnout is kindness, connection support, help, AND self-care.

 

With our wellness programs we encourage employees to connect. It’s an opportunity for the sponsoring company to extend an invitation and a helping hand to their workers; to let employees know it’s OKAY to take a break, to focus on one’s wellness, and to enjoy a moment of peace and joy before getting back to work.

 

Even if your office isn’t partaking in a wellness program, we urge you to be mindful of your own (and others’) symptoms of burnout. And we hope that by reading this, you’ll know where to start to begin the healing process.