Addressing Burnout in the Behavioral Health Workforce Through Organizational Strategies

Course overview

Course Description: This course is based on material published by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is available as an open-access article. Burnout is a complex issue resulting from chronic workplace stress. It encompasses exhaustion feeling depleted, overextended, and fatigued; depersonalization being detached from oneself and emotionally distant from one's clients and work, and feelings of inefficacy having a reduced sense of professional accomplishment. Burnout has physical and emotional consequences for individuals and impacts their work with clients and within an organization. To fully address burnout, organizations need to adopt strategies that improve their organizational culture and climate to modify the six drivers of burnout: workload, control, reward, community, fairness, and values. This guide highlights organization-level interventions to prevent and reduce burnout among behavioral health workers. This course on managing burnout in the behavioral health workforce is designed for clinical social workers, psychologists, professional counselors, nurses, and substance abuse counselors who do clinical work. It is appropriate for intermediate and advanced-level practitioners who wish to develop their expertise in managing burnout in the behavioral health workforce. The course material includes a literature review of interventions and research. It may also be useful for licensed clinicians who require continuing clinical education courses for license renewal. The course is based on a journal article that includes research. It contains statistical analysis and data that some clinicians enjoy reading and others do not. A significant benefit of reading peer-reviewed research-based articles for continuing education is that they provide practitioners with the latest findings in their field. Authors: SAMHSA Learning Objectives: This course will provide the practitioner with detailed information on managing behavioral health workforce burnout. Specifically, a professional will: Recognize the prevalence and contributing factors of burnout among the behavioral health workforce. Describe current evidence on organization-level interventions to prevent and reduce burnout. Identify methods for implementing strategies to address burnout. Citation: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2022). Addressing Burnout in the Behavioral Health Workforce Through Organizational Strategies. Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. https://store.samhsa.gov.