The Unsexy Checklist for Therapist Burnout Prevention

Burnout isn’t always caused by dramatic events — often, it's the small, unglamorous habits that wear therapists down. Use this checklist to spot and address the hidden stressors in your practice.

✅ Poor Scheduling Practices
🔲 Are you booking back-to-back sessions without breaks?

✅ Inadequate Administrative Support
🔲 Are you overwhelmed by paperwork, billing, or insurance tasks?

✅ Chronic Undercharging
🔲 Are your fees sustainable for your financial health?

✅ Over-Accommodation of Client Needs
🔲 Are you saying "yes" to every schedule change, late request, or exception?

✅ Neglecting Documentation
🔲 Are you consistently behind on notes, leading to Friday night catch-ups?

✅ Working Outside Your Areas of Competence
🔲 Are you taking on cases that consistently make you doubt your abilities?

✅ Isolation
🔲 Are you lacking regular consultation, supervision, or peer support?

✅ Poor Office Ergonomics
🔲 Is your work environment physically uncomfortable (chair, lighting, setup)?

✅ Ignoring Personal Therapy Needs
🔲 Are you avoiding your own therapy or emotional processing?

✅ Lack of Clear Policies and Boundaries
🔲 Do you find yourself frequently negotiating basic boundaries with clients?

✅ Underestimating Emotional Labor
🔲 Are you forgetting to account for how draining sessions actually are?

✅ Staying in Misaligned Niches
🔲 Are you still working with populations you no longer feel connected to?

✅ Inconsistent Self-Supervision or Reflection
🔲 Are you skipping regular self-check-ins about your work and wellbeing?

✅ Tech Fatigue
🔲 Are you drained by EMRs, Zoom fatigue, and tech management?

✅ Treating Continuing Education Like a Chore
🔲 Are you taking random CEUs just to check a box instead of fueling your growth?

Burnout doesn’t usually explode overnight — it builds quietly, through these small patterns. Catch them early, course-correct often, and remember: tending to the "unsexy" parts of your practice is what sustains your career.

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