Signs of Burnout & How Therapy Can Help You Heal
Burnout is more common than you think.
If you’ve been feeling drained, irritable, or like you’re moving through your days on autopilot. You're not alone. Burnout has become an all-too-common experience for many women, BIPOC professionals, and helpers in today’s fast-paced world. Between demanding careers, family responsibilities, and the constant expectation to keep going, it’s easy to lose sight of your own well-being.
Here in the Greater Seattle area, where so many of us are balancing ambitious goals and caring for others, burnout often hides beneath the surface of “doing it all.” It can look like exhaustion that doesn’t go away after a weekend off, or the quiet feeling that no matter how much you do, it’s never enough.
Burnout isn’t just about being tired - it’s your body and mind’s way of saying, “something needs to change.” Recognizing the signs of burnout and getting support through therapy can help you move from survival mode into genuine healing and balance.
Recognizing the Signs of Burnout
Burnout can show up in many ways - some obvious, some subtle. You might notice changes in your body, emotions, or behaviors long before you realize that you’re burned out.
Here are a few common signs and symptoms of burnout to look out for:
Physical signs of burnout
Feeling exhausted no matter how much sleep you get
Frequent headaches, muscle tension, or stomach issues
Difficulty sleeping or waking up feeling unrested
Getting sick more often or feeling physically depleted
Changes in appetite or energy
Your body often tells the truth before your mind can catch up. If you’re pushing yourself past your limits, your body might start to slow you down - sometimes through fatigue, illness, or tension that won’t go away.
Emotional signs of burnout
Feeling detached, numb, or cynical about work or relationships
Increased irritability or emotional sensitivity
Loss of motivation or interest in things that once mattered
Feeling overwhelmed, helpless, or stuck
Decreased sense of accomplishment or self-worth
These emotional shifts can sneak up on you. You might find yourself snapping at loved ones or feeling disconnected from things that used to bring joy. Often, burnout feels like “nothing helps” or “I just don’t have it in me anymore.”
Behavioral signs of burnout
Withdrawing from friends or social activities
Avoiding responsibilities or procrastinating
Using food, alcohol, or social media to cope
Overworking to avoid feeling anxious or unproductive
Feeling constantly “on” and unable to rest
Burnout can make it hard to stop the cycle - even when you know you need to. Many of my clients in describe feeling guilty for taking time off or fear that slowing down will make them fall behind. But in truth, these patterns often make burnout worse over time.
Why Ignoring Burnout Makes It Worse
Ignoring burnout doesn’t make it go away - it allows it to deepen. When left unaddressed, burnout can lead to chronic health issues, anxiety, depression, and a loss of purpose or identity.
Over time, constant stress depletes your nervous system and makes it harder for your body to return to a state of calm. You may start to notice:
Increased forgetfulness or brain fog
Shorter temper and lower patience
Difficulty focusing or making decisions
Feeling emotionally “flat” or unmotivated
For many women and BIPOC professionals, burnout is also tied to systemic and cultural pressures. You may feel the weight of expectations - to prove yourself, to care for others, or to hold it all together despite the challenges. Therapists, healthcare providers, teachers, and other helpers often face compassion fatigue - the emotional toll of caring deeply for others while neglecting their own needs.
When burnout is ignored, your body eventually forces a pause. Sometimes that pause looks like illness, emotional collapse, or the inability to keep functioning at your usual pace. But it doesn’t have to get to that point. Recognizing burnout early and getting support is a form of self-respect, not weakness.
Burnout recovery allows you to pause, regain perspective, and see life from a new vantage point.
How Therapy Helps With Burnout Recovery
Healing from burnout takes more than a few days off. It requires a deeper recalibration - of your boundaries, nervous system, and relationship with yourself. Therapy offers the structure, space, and support to do just that.
As a trauma-informed therapist based in Kirkland and serving clients across Washington State, I often help high-achieving women, BIPOC professionals, and fellow therapists navigate burnout recovery. Here’s how therapy can make a difference:
1. Understanding the root causes of burnout
Therapy provides a safe, nonjudgmental space to explore what’s really driving your burnout. Is it perfectionism? Over-responsibility? Systemic pressures or people-pleasing patterns? Together, we unpack not just what’s happening but why.
Through approaches like EMDR therapy, CBT, and parts work (IFS), clients often uncover how past experiences or cultural conditioning shape their current stress responses. This awareness becomes the first step toward real change.
2. Reconnecting with your body and nervous system
Burnout recovery isn’t just a mental process, it’s physical. Many people live in a state of chronic “fight, flight, or freeze,” where the nervous system is constantly activated.
Therapy can help you learn how to regulate your body’s stress response through grounding techniques, mindfulness, and EMDR’s bilateral stimulation, which helps the brain reprocess stored stress and return to balance. Over time, you begin to feel safer slowing down and resting.
3. Rebuilding boundaries and self-compassion
Burnout often stems from blurred boundaries and unrealistic expectations. In therapy, you’ll learn to identify what’s draining your energy and how to say “no” without guilt.
We also work on cultivating self-compassion—replacing the inner critic that says “you should be doing more” with a kinder, more balanced voice that honors your limits and needs.
4. Restoring purpose and joy
Once you’ve begun to recover physically and emotionally, therapy helps you reconnect with meaning. What actually fuels you? What rhythms or routines support your peace?
For many clients, burnout recovery becomes a gateway to rediscovering themselves—what truly matters beyond productivity or achievement. This often looks like slowing down, creating rituals of rest, and finding joy in simple moments again.
5. Integrating long-term balance
Therapy is not just about feeling better in the moment - it’s about creating sustainable change. Together, you’ll develop tools and routines that help prevent future burnout, including:
Daily check-ins to notice stress early
Mindful breaks and realistic self-care
Clearer communication and boundaries in relationships
Regular reflection on your energy, time, and emotional needs
With ongoing support, you can shift from “managing burnout” to preventing it - learning how to recognize your signs early and respond with care rather than criticism.
Practical Strategies for Burnout Recovery
Even outside of therapy, there are steps you can begin taking now to support your healing:
Prioritize rest, not just sleep.
Rest includes physical rest, emotional rest, and mental rest. Try scheduling breaks where you do nothing but breathe, stretch, or sit in quiet.Set gentle boundaries.
Practice saying no—or even “not right now.” Protect your time and energy as sacred.Reconnect with supportive people.
Burnout can make you isolate. Reach out to friends, family, or peers who feel grounding and safe.Limit “numbing” habits.
Notice when you’re using scrolling, work, or food to avoid feelings. Replace these with soothing activities that actually restore you.Seek professional help.
Therapy can provide accountability and a roadmap for recovery, helping you identify patterns and implement sustainable changes.
Healing from burnout takes time - but you don’t have to do it alone.
Rest is not a reward - it’s a part of healing. Even small pauses can begin to restore your energy and clarity.
It’s Time to Reclaim Your Energy
If you’re ready to move beyond exhaustion and start healing, therapy can help you rebuild your sense of balance and peace.
Whether you’re a busy professional, a caregiver, or a therapist navigating compassion fatigue, you deserve support that meets you where you are.
I offer both weekly therapy and EMDR intensives for burnout recovery - designed to help you move from overwhelm to grounded clarity.
Feeling burned out, overwhelmed, or stuck in survival mode? You don’t have to navigate it alone.
Let’s work together to help you restore your energy, set healthy boundaries, and experience lasting change - at a pace that feels grounded and sustainable.
About the author
Angelica De Anda is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and EMDR Certified therapist based in Washington State. Offering virtual therapy and in-person EMDR extended and EMDR intensives for individuals ready to move through trauma, burnout, and stress with deeper, faster results. Her work is grounded in cultural humility, compassion, and a belief in each client’s capacity to heal.
