Burnout and its associated factors in psychotherapists

The current cross-sectional study aimed to explore burnout in psychotherapists and its associated factors. Certificated psychotherapists and counsellors aged between 20 and 65 were eligible to participate in the present study, and a final sample of 177 psychotherapists and counsellors was obtained. The mean age of participants was 40.32 years (SD = 9.56), and the majority of them were female (142, 80.2%). Participants completed an online survey through a mobile application, including demographics (e.g., age, gender, etc.), workload (the Areas of Worklife Survey), empathy (the Basic Empathy Scale), self-compassion (the Self-Compassion Scale short form), and burnout (the Maslach Burnout Inventory—General Survey). Investigations were conducted to examine self-compassion as a moderator and empathy dimensions as mediators between workload and burnout dimensions. The results confirmed that the associations between workload and emotional exhaustion/cynicism were mediated by emotional contagion, and the association between workload and professional efficacy was mediated by cognitive empathy. However, self-compassion did not buffer the association between workload and burnout dimensions. The findings of the current study indicated that psychotherapists with heavier workloads were more likely to be emotionally contagious and experienced higher emotional exhaustion and cynicism, while their cognitive empathy was also likely to be impaired and experienced lower professional efficacy. Receiving regular supervision might contribute to their professional efficacy.