The Lifeworks Group, Inc.

 By: Megan Brewer, LMHC Burnout can be an easy topic to read about cognitively, file away as good information, and then disregard without letting it impact you further. But as we talk about burnout in this article, I encourage you to not only engage it cognitively, but to consider the personal implications for how it affects your own life. Burnout can be discussed in different contexts, such as in our careers or personal lives. but let’s start with a simple definition of burnout that can cover a lot of contexts. Burnout is the depletion of a substance that is needed to keep something going. When we strip the definition of burnout down like this, we can easily see burnout in a number of different areas, such as in the physical, emotional, mental, and relational arenas. Anything that requires something of you—some output of energy or effort—will 1) require you to have what is needed to engage the work you want to do, and 2) require replenishment to keep going. Now, if we th...

 By: Dwight Bain, LMHC, NCC Been to the circus and seen the elephants? The domesticated ones are amazing to watch, but what about when an elephant isn’t tamed- what would happen then? (I saw a TV news story showing an elephant on rampage literally tossing cars around like small toys and chasing hundreds of people down the street… terrifying). Elephants are the largest living animals walking on earth at 13 feet tall weighing up to 15,000 pounds who can destroy about anything, Domesticated elephants can add great value, but a wild elephant can leave a path of destruction in its path. There is an old saying that some families have an elephant in the room; meaning there are some huge issues no one is willing to talk about. Yet, just like having a mini-van parked in the living room, everyone else can see it. Psychologists call this dysfunction, but if you are living through it you know it's totally discouraging, disheartening and sometimes even dangerous… like a wild elephant on ...

  By: Elizabeth McKeehan, IMH “Do my words float like a swan, grace on the water?”    Though the words (altered a bit) from this 80’s alternative song by Echo and the Bunnymen are beautiful, words aren’t always.   They can be sweet like sugar (pleasing to me and those who I share them with) or sour like extreme sour candy (distasteful to me and others).   Let’s look at what makes our talk sweet and powerful. Self Talk - What I say and how I say it to myself. What I say to myself matters. We call this self-talk. I talk to myself more than anyone else.   Is my tone positive or negative? Hopeful or hopeless? What do I tell myself?   What messages or topics most run through my head?   Are these messages beneficial? Am I speaking truth to myself or lies? Regular Talk - What I say and how I say it to others. What I say to others in my life matters too. My tone with them matters as well.   Is my tone kind, non-judgmental, hop...