The experience of burnout among psychologists in South Africa.

Abstract

Psychologists are at risk for burnout due to the emotional challenges and structural difficulties encountered in their daily work. Given the high prevalence of burnout amongst psychologists, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on the effects, risks and management of burnout. However, despite the proliferation of burnout literature, the majority of research has been restricted to quantitative analysis, with a paucity of studies exploring the phenomenon from a qualitative standpoint. More so, even fewer studies have explored the lived experience of burnout amongst psychologists. Thus, this study explored the experience of burnout among psychologists using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Six psychologists working in South Africa were purposively sampled and interviewed in order to collect rich, detailed accounts of their experience and perceptions of burnout. Five super-ordinate themes emerged from the data: (1) description of burnout reflects inner experience; (2) idealised expectations of self; (3) effects are multi-faceted; (4) risky business (5) the self-protection: a lofty goal. Findings from the study highlighted the uniqueness of individual experience even within commonalities. Findings demonstrated that the impact of burnout is far reaching and affects the psychologist in multiple areas of functioning. Findings also suggested that burnout can be self-sustaining and various processes such as self-stigma and stigma from colleagues intersect to create barriers to protection and effective resolution of burnout. Most notably, research findings suggested that psychologists’ self-concept may be impacted negatively by burnout which, in turn, may cause psychologists to work harder and invest more emotionally, possibly giving rise to a self-perpetuating cycle of burnout. These findings have implications for the training, supervision and support of psychologists in practice in addition to the prevention and management of burnout.