A Preliminary Examination of Burnout Among Counselor Trainees Treating Clients With Recent Suicidal Ideation and Borderline Traits

• Published in: Counselor education and supervision 2011-09, Vol.50 (5), p.344-359
• Main Authors: Miller, Grant D., Iverson, Katherine M., Kemmelmeier, Markus, MacLane, Chelsea, Pistorello, Jacqueline, Fruzzetti, Alan E., Watkins, Melanie M., Pruitt, Larry D., Oser, Megan, Katrichak, Barrie M., Erikson, Karen M., Crenshaw, Katrina Y.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavior Modification; Behavior therapy; Burn out (Psychology); Burnout; Care and treatment; Client Characteristics; Control Groups; Counseling; Counselor Training; Counselors; Experimental Groups; Job satisfaction; Measures (Individuals); Methods; Outcomes of Treatment; Personality disorders; Physiological aspects; Prevention; Psychological aspects; Self Disclosure (Individuals); Stress Management; Stress Variables; Suicide; Suicides & suicide attempts; Therapy; Trainees; Training; Well Being
• ISSN: 0011-0035; 1556-6978
• DOI: 10.1002/j.1556-6978.2011.tb01920.x

Treating suicidal clients with borderline traits can be conducive to burnout. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) may assuage this burnout in counselors. As part of a DBT treatment outcome study, 6 counselors in training collected their own salivary cortisol samples and completed self‐report measures of burnout and well‐being for 1 year. Findings indicate a significant interaction for cortisol levels by treatment condition, such that DBT counselors experienced less physiological stress over time relative to a control group of counselors. There were no group differences in self‐reported burnout or well‐being. DBT may have a salutary effect on trainees' physiological stress levels over time.