Social workers and mental health professionals play a vital role in supporting the health and wellbeing of children and families. They’re often the backbone of our communities, helping people navigate tough times and find hope. But as rewarding as this work can be, it also comes with unique challenges that can take a toll and cause social work burnout.

Erin Keltner, KVC West Virginia President

“You get into this because you love serving people and making change in others’ lives,” said Erin Keltner, President of KVC West Virginia. “But this is hard work.”

Burnout is a common experience in social work and mental health professionals. A study on social work burnout in the UK found that 73% of social workers reported elevated levels of emotional exhaustion due to the demands of their work. Yet, at the same time, 91% reported a high sense of personal accomplishment, reflecting the deep purpose and value they find in helping others.

While this sense of fulfillment is inspiring, the pressures and traumas of the job can quickly lead to burnout without proper attention and support. Let’s explore what burnout looks like for those working in social work as well as mental and behavioral health, and how we’re making strides at KVC West Virginia to prevent and treat it.

What is Burnout and What Does Burnout Look Like?

Burnout isn’t limited to social work or mental health professionals—it can happen in any career. But for social workers and mental health professionals, the risk is especially high. These roles involve deeply personal work, spending hours listening to and sometimes absorbing the trauma their clients are experiencing. It can be hard to draw a clear line between the pain of others and your own life.

“Burnout comes when we aren’t cognizant of that divine in our lives,” explains Keltner. She also notes that highly empathetic people—those who naturally connect with and care for others—are often more vulnerable to burnout.

It’s not just the one-on-one care that makes this work challenging. Broader events and trends also weigh heavily. The COVID-19 pandemic, the national loneliness epidemic, and the mental health crisis have added new layers of stress. These external pressures make an already demanding field even harder to navigate.

Recognizing burnout is the first step to preventing it or beginning recovery. If you’re a social worker, mental health professional, or someone supporting others through tough times, here are some key signs of burnout to watch for—in yourself and your colleagues:

Physical Symptoms of Burnout

• Changes in sleep pattern (oversleeping or insomnia)
• Changes in eating habits (overeating or undereating)
• Exhaustion, even when getting an appropriate amount of sleep
• Back pain
• Headaches
• Muscle aches

Emotional Symptoms of Burnout

• Feeling defeated or ineffective
• Easily distracted or difficulty focusing
• Feeling trapped in work or other situations
• Losing motivation
• Cynicism and apathy
• Decreased life satisfaction

Behavioral Signs of Burnout

• Isolation
• Procrastination
• Skipping work
• Leaving work early or coming in late
• Using food or substances to cope
• Irritability

How Does Burnout Uniquely Affect Social Workers and Mental Health Professionals?

Social workers and mental health professionals have a particularly unique burnout experience due to the nature of their work. These professionals see, hear about and even experience trauma in their day-to-day work life.

“A lot of what we deal with comes down to trauma,” explains Keltner. “People who work in our field hear about a lot of trauma and it’s hard to compartmentalize that away from the other aspects of our lives.”

Social worker burnout may manifest in two more extreme forms: compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.

Compassion Fatigue

Compassion fatigue occurs when a person becomes so emotionally and physically exhausted that they cannot recover from burnout with a short break away from the source of the fatigue. Keltner notes that even Mother Teresa herself — celebrated for her selfless care of others — recognized the effects of compassion fatigue, making it mandatory for her nuns to take an entire year off from their work every 4-5 years because of the impact working with people in need can have on a person’s own life and experience.

Vicarious Trauma

Vicarious trauma occurs when compassion fatigue or burnout strikes deeper into a person’s core. A social worker or mental health professional experiencing vicarious (or secondary) trauma may find their worldview shifting or even damaged due to the trauma they are helping their clients navigate. While burnout and compassion fatigue may ease with time off from work, vicarious trauma does not go away as easily.

How to Avoid Social Work Burnout

If you’re in the mental health or social work fields, burnout isn’t new to you. If you haven’t experienced it yourself, a colleague likely has. That’s why social work, behavioral and mental health-based organizations need to prioritize wellness for their employees to prevent burnout so it doesn’t develop into something more intense like vicarious trauma. Social work burnout prevention should occur at a corporate, management and individual level.

Gallup’s Five Elements of Wellbeing

Gallup has defined five essential elements of wellbeing that must be addressed in the workplace to prevent burnout and other mental health conditions. While two-thirds of people tend to do well in at least one of these areas, very few are actually thriving in all five!

“It can’t just be one avenue,” says Keltner. “It has to be something where we talk about all areas, because all areas are what make us a whole person.”

Here are the five areas of wellbeing defined by Gallup and some ways to incorporate them into your personal and professional life:

1. Career Wellbeing: You Like What You Do Every Day

Career wellbeing is about how you occupy your time professionally. It goes beyond the day-to-day tasks at work and to that sense of purpose and enjoyment of what you do. Some ways to cultivate career wellbeing include:

• Open and honest communication with your supervisors helps build mutual respect and understanding. This trust creates a safe space to share concerns, seek guidance and collaborate effectively on solutions.
• Setting realistic goals and expectations for yourself and what you accomplish each day: Break your tasks into manageable steps and prioritize what’s most important.
• Offer support to coworkers who may be experiencing stress or burnout. A simple gesture, like checking in or offering to help with a task, can make a big difference.
• Participate in professional development courses or trainings on wellness, self-care, stress management or resilience. These resources can equip you with practical strategies to maintain your wellbeing and thrive in your career.

2. Social Wellbeing: You Have Meaningful Friendships in Your Life

Social wellbeing is about having strong relationships both in the workplace and outside of work in your personal life. It’s that sense of feeling loved and giving love to others. It can be healthy to take alone time to process things and recharge your battery, especially for people who lean more toward introversion. But everyone needs social connections to feel a sense of connection and value.

Here are tips you can try to strengthen your social wellbeing:

• Schedule regular check-ins with friends, family, or trusted colleagues, even if it’s just a quick coffee chat or phone call.
• Whether it’s a book club, sports team or hobby group, finding people who share your interests can help you feel a stronger sense of belonging and enjoyment in your free time.
• Find opportunities outside of work to connect with others who share your interests, such as volunteering, joining a hobby group or attending local events.

3. Financial Wellbeing: You Manage Your Money Well

An unstable financial situation naturally leads to high stress and burnout, especially if financial limitations leave you feeling trapped in a career or job you aren’t satisfied with. Taking time to review your budget and get your finances organized can make a big difference in reducing stress. Even if you’re working to pay off student loans or need to live within a tight budget, having a clear plan in place can help you feel more in control and less overwhelmed.

Try these suggestions to place more focus on your financial wellbeing:

• Take time to review your income, expenses, and financial goals. Use budgeting apps or tools to track your spending and identify areas where you can cut back or save more.
• If you have student loans, explore options like income-driven repayment plans, loan forgiveness programs (such as Public Service Loan Forgiveness) or refinancing. These programs are especially helpful for those in social work and mental health careers.
• Build an emergency fund and start small. A good initial goal is to save at least $500 to $1,000 for unexpected expenses. Over time, work toward having 3-6 months’ worth of living expenses saved.

4. Physical Wellbeing: You Have the Energy to Get Things Done

Your physical wellness directly impacts your emotional and mental wellness. When your body feels good, you’re better equipped to handle the demands of work and life without feeling overwhelmed or exhausted. By taking small, intentional steps to care for your physical health, you can improve your energy levels, mood and overall wellness.

Here are some things you can do to prioritize your physical wellbeing:

• Practice mindfulness and gratitude through journaling, deep breathing exercises, muscle relaxation, etc. Even a few brief moments of self-care each day can refresh your body and mind.
• Move your body regularly by walking at lunchtime or before/after work, taking a yoga class or watching a workout video at home. Even small amounts of movement can boost your energy and mood.
• Schedule regular checkups with your doctor. These routine visits with your healthcare provider help you stay on top of your physical health, catch potential issues early and ensure you’re getting the care you need.

5. Community Wellbeing: You Like Where You Live

While similar to social wellbeing, community wellbeing is more about connection to your local area than individual relationships. It’s about feeling a sense of belonging and purpose within your community by engaging with the people, places and activities around you. By investing in your community, you not only improve your personal sense of fulfillment but also contribute to the collective wellbeing of those around you.

• Get involved in local events by attending festivals, farmer’s markets or community gatherings to connect with others and feel more rooted in your local area.
• Explore new restaurants, shops or cafés in your area. Not only does this help your community thrive, but it also gives you a chance to enjoy unique experiences close to home.
• If it resonates with you, get involved in a place of worship or a group centered around shared values or causes. These spaces often provide support, inspiration and opportunities for meaningful connection.

How KVC West Virginia Prioritizes Wellness

Members of our foster care team

At KVC West Virginia, we use the five elements of wellbeing to cultivate wellness amongst our social workers, mental health professionals and administrative team members, encouraging it inside and outside of the workplace.

Our team members earn wellness tickets for participating in events and activities hosted by our Wellness Committee. Then they can redeem these tickets for prizes such as mental health stickers, sweatshirts or even AirPods! Each month, we distribute a wellness calendar focused on a different aspect of wellbeing, encouraging our team to be mindful of their personal wellness while asking for insights about how we can better support them.

“KVC is an amazing company to work for, with a focus on a positive work culture and work/life balance! I truly appreciate KVC’s dedication to their employees’ personal and professional growth and overall wellbeing.”

Combatting Social Work Burnout with Professional Development

Career wellbeing is particularly valuable for preventing social worker burnout, and in a sense, it’s actually a requirement! Keltner explains that fulfilling social worker CEUs doubles as an opportunity to build social connections at work and combat burnout.

“Having that space to have conversations with like-minded people, to hear and commiserate to an extent with other people who do what we do, that makes a difference,” says Keltner.

At KVC West Virginia, we provide both internal trainings for our staff as well as external professional CEU trainings. If you’re looking for opportunities to fulfill your CEUs and focus on your career wellness, here’s a list of our 2025 professional CEU trainings to consider, all held from 10am – 12pm EST:

• February 25: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) – Register today!
• May 20: Trauma 101
• August 26: Ethics
• November 18: Commonly Misused Substances

For more information about each training or to register, visit our Professional Training page. You can also join our email list to be notified whenever we announce registration is open for these trainings.

What to Do If You’re Experiencing Social Work Burnout

If you’re actively experiencing social work burnout (or burnout in a different line of work), the best thing to do is to talk about it! You can connect with a coworker or friend, a trusted supervisor or your own counselor or therapist.

Keltner herself openly shares that she regularly sees a therapist and encourages her staff to do the same. “I want to model the importance of that for our staff and for others,” she explains.

We also encourage social workers and mental health professionals to stay in the loop on upcoming CEUs that may provide support in dealing with the trauma inherent to this line of work. Register for KVC West Virginia’s upcoming social work and mental health professional CEU trainings here.