Leveraging Supervision to Avoid Burnout and Model Self-Care

Sustainable Strategies for Mental Health Professionals

In recent years, professionals in the mental health community have become increasingly aware of the risks of burnout and the importance of self-care. As supervisors, we must not only care for ourselves but also model and support our staff in learning sustainable practices. This interactive workshop provides professionals who supervise staff with practical tools to recognize and combat burnout both for themselves and the teams they support. Through a combination of current research, reflective exercises, and peer discussion, participants will discover commonly overlooked warning signs and evidence-based strategies for addressing both the symptoms and root causes of burnout. This workshop moves past traditional “self-care” by analyzing deep-rooted systemic and organizational factors affecting supervisors while building a community of practice. Participants will walk away with concrete tools, actionable strategies, and a personalized action plan to sustain themselves and their teams.

Learning Objectives

As a result of this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define burnout and explain its impact on social workers and other helping professionals

• Identify early warning signs of burnout and compassion fatigue in themselves and the staff they supervise, including commonly overlooked indicators

• Foster connections with fellow supervisors to build systems of peer support and shared learning

• Apply evidence-informed strategies to prevent and address burnout at both the personal and organizational levels

• Develop a practical action plan to support ongoing burnout prevention efforts within their teams