May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, a time to recognize the importance of our mental health and take steps toward finding support. As an organization focused on offering mental and behavioral health support services to our community, we want to take this opportunity to spotlight burnout in clinical professions and how mental health professionals can support their own wellness.
In conversation with Jennifer Kugler, Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Acenda, and Kimberly D’Auria, Senior Director of Human Resources at Acenda, we learned about the ways burnout affects clinicians, how to relieve the effects of burnout, and the types of workplace supports that can make a difference in the long term.
“People choose careers in helping professions because they want to make a difference,” D’Auria said. “At the same time, working closely with others can be emotionally demanding and, at times, draining. To remain fulfilled and motivated, it’s essential to feel recognized and reassured that our efforts truly matter—to an individual, a family, and the broader community.“
Why are Clinicians and Mental Health Professionals Particularly Vulnerable to Burnout?
As D’Auria stated, mental health professionals and clinical staff are interested in serving others and making a difference through their work. While this can lead to a fulfilling career, it can also be draining emotionally and mentally at times.
“Most often, people drawn to helping professions are innately empathetic, allowing them to be most helpful and impactful to people in need,” Kugler said. “Helpers are more inclined to put the needs of others first and less likely to create helpful and healthy boundaries for themselves. In addition, they may experience compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma, carrying the grief and pain of those they are trying to help.”
Due to their empathetic nature and desire to be of service, mental health and helping professionals can often experience burnout throughout their career. By understanding the early warning signs and having coping tools already established, we can work to reduce the effects of burnout and better the wellbeing of our caretakers.
What are the Early Warning Signs of Burnout?
According to Kugler, there are many warning signs that can point to help you to recognize burnout earlier on. These symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Reduced performance
- Sleep disturbances
- Increased irritability
- Reduced patience
- Withdrawal
- Isolating from others
By taking the time to evaluate the above, you may be able to identify feelings of burnout before they take a toll on your personal life and professional performance, especially by using the steps below to help alleviate symptoms.
What Steps Can You Take to Alleviate Burnout?
Whether you are already feeling symptoms of burnout or you want to take proactive steps to prevent it, Kugler has detailed the following steps you can take to better your mental wellbeing and create a healthier work-life balance:
Take a break. Whether it be for a few moments to taking a day off or more time away.
Get sleep. Sleep is so important in helping the body and mind to recharge.
Incorporate exercise into your routine. Even a 15-minute walk can help.
Practice mindfulness. Prioritize your wellbeing and do things that bring you joy.
Set boundaries. Organize tasks to help with prioritizing what needs to be done versus what can wait.
Resolve work struggles. Talk with your supervisor to help in problem-solving.
Seek professional support. Reach out for additional support and ask for help if you need it.
Utilizing these steps can help you feel more in control of your mental health and workload as a helping professional or clinician. To remind yourself of these steps, try printing out our “Burnout Buffer” to keep at your desk.
How Can Burnout Affect a Clinician’s Quality of Care?
Feeling burnt out doesn’t just affect your day to day as a clinician. It can also affect the care you provide to your clients. When you are feeling run down and exhausted, you may become less aware of your decisions or in tune with your clients’ needs.
“Burnout can lead to poor decision-making, reduced empathy, patient dissatisfaction with care and reduced effectiveness of care,” Kugler said. “For clinicians, they may experience mental health and physical health challenges, disengagement from the profession, whereby the clinician feels less helpful in their role and therefore feels less enjoyment in their work. Ultimately, this could lead to clinicians leaving the field.”
Based on a study published in 2025, only 42.2% of mental health professionals estimated that they would stay within their current role for the next five years. With high rates of turnover throughout the medical field, acknowledging and preventing burnout is critical to maintaining a healthy professional life and quality of care.
How Does Acenda Support Clinicians?
Acenda has a legacy of deep community ties, employment stability, and career growth opportunities that allow our clinicians to feel supported and fulfilled by their work. By prioritizing communication, strong working relationships, employee recognition and generous benefits, Acenda considers employee wellbeing to be of critical importance in the health of our staff and our clients.
“Above all, Acenda’s leadership is committed to living its core values every day helping to create a workplace where employees feel supported, connected and empowered,” D’Auria said.
Acenda’s core values include exceeding expectations, leading with compassion, building together, innovating impact, and uplifting every voice. The emphasis on these values throughout the organization encourages staff to embrace them in their day to day work.
Moving Forward
Clinicians and other helping professionals are constantly focused on serving and bettering others. It can be draining to dedicate each work day to caring for others, but there are solutions to help prevent you from burning out.
“Passion for your chosen career and empathy toward the people that you work with can easily turn into overwork, stress and burnout,” D’Auria said. “Having a structure that prevents burnout could include setting boundaries with clients, transparent expectations, reasonable hours, clear priorities, mental health support, connections with co-workers and confidence in the leadership of your organization."
In celebration of Mental Health Awareness Month, we encourage you to take a step back and care for your wellbeing. Reevaluate your work-life balance and identify areas where you can create boundaries, practice mindfulness, or resolve work struggles.
“Step back and take care of you,” Kugler said. “You cannot help others if you have nothing left to give. Self-care is not selfish, it is necessary!”
According to Jennifer Kugler, Acenda’s Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services, signs of clinical burnout can include, “fatigue, reduced performance, sleep disturbances, increased irritability, reduced patience, withdrawal and isolating from others.”
Based on our conversation with Jennifer Kugler, Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Acenda, taking breaks, getting sleep, exercising, practicing mindfulness, setting boundaries, resolving work struggles, and seeking professional support are key to helping resolve and prevent burnout in mental health professionals.
Through communication, strong working relationships, generous benefits, employee recognition, and commitment to our values, Acenda considers employee wellbeing to be of critical importance in the health of our staff and our clients.
"Acenda recognizes that its people are the foundation of its success,” said Kimberly D’Auria, the Senior Director of Human Resources at Acenda. “To provide world-class service, the organization is committed to attracting, supporting, and retaining a strong and dedicated team.”
Acenda is dedicated to supporting employees in and out of the workplace. To ensure all staff feel cared for, the organization offers a generous benefits plan.
Kim D’Auria, Senior Director of Human Resources at Acenda, said, “Acenda’s benefits include generous paid time off, 100% 401(k) match (up to 5% of comp), year-end bonus, EAP (including 8 therapist visits for the entire family), tuition assistance for partner schools, internal learning opportunities and the annual staff appreciation celebration.”
Acenda’s core values are as follows:
- Exceeding Expectations
- Leading with Compassion
- Building Together
- Innovating Impact
- Uplifting Every Voice
Ready to take the first step toward care?
About the Authors
Jennifer Kugler, LPC, ACS, is Acenda’s Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services, leading the agency’s Outpatient and Intensive Outpatient Mental Health programming, the Agency’s Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC), School Based Clinical Services and the evidence-based model of care, Functional Family Therapy (FFT). Her career spans a wide range of clinical and leadership roles, including in-home therapy with foster, kinship, and adoptive families, as well as oversight of outpatient, school-based, in-home, state-contracted, and SAMHSA-funded behavioral health programs. In her current role as Associate Vice President of Behavioral Health Services at Acenda Integrated Health, she provides strategic leadership and clinical oversight for a diverse portfolio of programs. She is passionate about providing clinical services with an emphasis on evidence-based practice with an ever-present trauma-informed lens and has been with agency for 20 years. She also serves as the Lead Coordinator of the Traumatic Loss Coalition in Salem County and as the Senior Leader responsible for implementation and training of Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) in partnership with the CARES Institute at Rowan University.
Kimberly D’Auria, SHRM-SCP, is the Senior Director of Human Resources at Acenda. With more than 15 years in HR, D’Auria has been with Acenda since 2024. As the leader of the Human Resources team at Acenda, in addition to running the agency’s wellness and engagement committee, D’Auria works to build a positive, welcoming culture at Acenda that encourages and supports all e ployees.
Riley de Jong, the content & engagement strategist with Acenda’s Brand, Marketing & Engagement team, attended the University of California – Los Angeles for her undergraduate degree in Communication and minor in Entrepreneurship. She enjoys supporting her community, telling engaging stories, and connecting with others.
