Stress and Burnout:

Recognizing the Signs and Finding Your Way Back to Balance

When was the last time you truly felt rested?
If stress has become your default setting and exhaustion feels like the norm, you may be experiencing burnout. Whether it’s career demands, personal responsibilities, or the relentless pressure to always be "on," burnout can silently drain your energy, motivation, and joy.

We help you develop sustainable strategies to manage stress, set healthy boundaries, and reconnect with what truly matters.

In this blog, we’ll cover the symptoms of stress and burnout, popular screening tools, and how therapy can support your recovery and resilience.

What is Burnout?

Burnout is more than everyday stress. It’s a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress. It often arises when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.

Unlike ordinary fatigue, burnout doesn’t simply go away after a good night's sleep—it builds over time and can seriously impact your mental health, relationships, and career.

Common Symptoms of Stress and Burnout

Recognizing the warning signs early is crucial. Symptoms may include:

  • Chronic fatigue, even after resting

  • Increased irritability or cynicism

  • Feeling detached or emotionally numb

  • Decreased satisfaction or sense of accomplishment

  • Difficulty concentrating or making decisions

  • Frequent headaches, stomach issues, or muscle tension

  • Sleep disturbances, including insomnia

  • Feeling helpless, trapped, or defeated

  • Withdrawing from responsibilities and relationships

Many people ignore these symptoms until they become overwhelming, but early intervention can make all the difference.

Screening Tools for Stress and Burnout

If you suspect you’re dealing with significant stress or burnout, these screening tools can offer helpful insights:

  • Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI): A gold-standard assessment specifically designed to measure burnout.

  • Perceived Stress Scale (PSS): Evaluates how stressed you perceive yourself to be in your daily life.

  • Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL): Measures compassion fatigue and burnout among those in helping professions.

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale (GAD-7): Screens for anxiety symptoms, which often overlap with stress and burnout.

These tools can guide you—and your therapist—in understanding your current challenges and building a personalized plan for healing.

How Therapy Can Help You Recover from Burnout

You don't have to navigate this alone. Therapy offers a safe, structured environment to unpack the underlying causes of burnout and develop practical strategies for change.

1. Setting Boundaries and Prioritizing Self-Care

Therapists help you recognize patterns of overcommitment and perfectionism, teaching you to set healthier boundaries without guilt.

2. Stress Management Techniques

Learn evidence-based coping skills, including mindfulness, relaxation strategies, and cognitive-behavioral techniques to lower daily stress levels.

3. Reconnecting with Meaning and Purpose

Burnout often disconnects you from what you value most. Therapy helps you rediscover your passions, realign your priorities, and find renewed motivation.

4. Building Emotional Resilience

Gain tools to bounce back from setbacks, manage emotions effectively, and sustain long-term well-being—essential skills to prevent future burnout cycles.

It’s Time to Reclaim Your Energy and Joy

Burnout isn’t a personal failure—it’s a signal that something needs to change. If you're ready to move from merely surviving to truly thriving, therapy can help you chart a new course toward balance, fulfillment, and lasting wellness.

Contact us today to take the first step toward restoring your energy, rebuilding your resilience, and reclaiming the life you deserve.

 What to Expect

  • If you’ve received the client portal invitation, log in and check any messages, fill out paperwork, etc.

    Be thinking of what you would like to talk about, or any questions you have. Feel free to write those down and bring them in.

    Verify your insurance. Click here for more information regarding insurance.

  • Our office is tucked beside/behind Ge’Angelo’s in the. Northern Lights Shopping Center.

    We do not have a receptionist, so feel free to have a seat and we will be with you as soon as possible.

    If there is still paperwork to be done, you may be asked to fill out paperwork before your appointment.

    Each therapist has a private office, so you will be with the same therapist in the same office every session. To increase privacy we leave a noise machine on as well as the bathroom light/fan. These are to muffle noises.

    The lighting in the office LED. If you prefer lamps to overhead lighting, let us know and we will be happy to use lamps instead.

    After your appointment we will work together to decide if you would like to schedule another session. We will also determine if that will be scheduled at that time, or if it will be scheduled later. There is no right or wrong way to do it.

  • Be kind to yourself, you’ve done a lot of hard work.

    You are welcome to contact your counselor with any questions/concerns between session. Email or the client portal are the preferred and most direct ways to get in contact. We are generally in with clients and are unable to answer phone calls much of the time. Please be aware we may not be able to return your message for up to 48 hours.

    You can use the client portal to check your appointments or make/change any appointments.

    Contact the Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit your local emergency department if you are having thoughts of self harm or suicide. Vivant is not a crisis center.

 Frequently Asked Questions

  • Age ranges are based on individual clinicians.

    Child specific information:

    Sometimes kids are unable to manage more than 30 minutes. Children’s sessions may seem short, but they are still working.

    All child sessions are unique. Sometimes kids have parents/caregivers in the session, other times they do better without parents in the room. Parents/caregivers are almost always involved in the first session, and we will talk about these options.

    If you are bringing an elementary aged child, we ask that you stay in the building during the session if you are not in the session. If there is a concern we will try to accommodate something. We want your child to be safe.

    If you are bringing an older child that gets dropped off, please be aware of the end time (generally 45 minutes for middle school/high school aged kids) so they can be picked up quickly. Again, we want everyone to be safe and we will likely be in session and unable to monitor safety.

  • We treat a variety of diagnoses including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and PTSD. Our clinicians have extra training in trauma, and am Basic Trained in EMDR.

    We are not licensed to prescribe medications.

  • Yes. Vivant is LGBTQ+ Affirming

  • While we are not faith based, we welcome all faiths.

  • For ongoing clients, scheduling your next appointment can be done at the end of an appointment, through the client portal, or by calling 515-523-5543. Counselors are not always able to accommodate same day appointments.

    Potential Clients can fill out a potential client request on our scheduling page.

  • Read about our insurance/fees/payments here

  • We take your privacy seriously. This is suppose to be a safe space and confidentiality is vital to that. If you want someone to be able to communicate with us about your services. (including billing) you can sign a release of information. This is also something that can be revoked by you at any time. Best practice includes coordinating with your primary care provider, but again, this is your choice.

    HIPAA (Health Insurance Privacy Portability Act) protects your PHI (protected health information). Our emails use HIPAA compliant encryption. Our client portal and our backup telehalth platform are HIPAA compliant.

    Counselors are mandatory reporters. As such we are mandated by law to report any suspected child abuse.

    Child Specific: During our first session we will go over confidentiality with children. It is my practice to keep conversations private and only tell parents general updates (ex: ____was open and talkative today), unless there is a safety concern or something that I feel the parents/caregiver should know. If this is the case, I try to be transparent with that so the child is not caught off guard.

    42 CFR Part 2 affords special protection when talking about substance abuse. Therefore children 14 years of age and older need to sign a specific release of information for parents/caregivers to obtain information from the counselor about anything substance abuse related.

  • While our emails use a HIPAA compliant encryption, it is safest to use our secure portal to communicate with your counselor. You may call 515-523-5433, however this is not the preferred form of communication as we are often in session and unable to answer phone calls.

    We discourage coming in person without an appointment as we may be unable to help you. Our office space is shared with other counselors, but they are unable to see your information and will likely be unable to help.