THERAPY FOR CHRONIC STRESS AND BURNOUT
By David Hennessy, Clinical Psychologist
Psychological therapy for people experiencing persistent stress, overload, exhaustion or reduced capacity across everyday life.
This is the broad service pathway when stress extends across several areas of life, or when there is no single dominant occupational or unpaid caring context. Appointments are available in person in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and by secure telehealth across Australia.
Chronic stress can develop when demands remain high, accumulate across different parts of life, or leave too little opportunity for recovery. People may feel persistently overloaded, exhausted or less able to manage responsibilities that would usually feel more workable.
Burnout is related to chronic stress and is most commonly discussed in an occupational context, particularly in relation to prolonged workplace stress. However, experiences described as burnout can also occur in other settings involving sustained demands and limited opportunities for recovery.
This page is the broad therapy pathway for prolonged stress across life contexts. When the main difficulty arises from paid employment, the Therapy for Occupational Stress and Burnout page is more specific. When the main demands arise from unpaid caring, the Psychological Support for Carer Stress and Burnout page is the more relevant pathway.
When demands remain high for long periods, people may notice changes such as:
These experiences are not specific to chronic stress. They can overlap with anxiety, depression, insomnia, pain, physical health conditions and other difficulties. Assessment can help clarify what may be contributing rather than assuming that one explanation fits every person.
Therapy does not assume that sustained stress is simply an individual coping problem. It can consider the interaction between demands, resources, health, relationships, routines, expectations and the wider environment.
Depending on a person’s needs and circumstances, therapy may help to:
Therapy cannot necessarily remove difficult circumstances. The aim is to develop a clearer understanding of what is happening and identify realistic changes that may support wellbeing and functioning.
Therapy begins with an individual assessment. This may consider current pressures, symptoms, coping patterns, strengths, supports, health and the effect of stress on everyday functioning. The focus is then tailored to the person’s goals, preferences and circumstances.
A shared formulation can help identify how ongoing demands, beliefs, habits, relationships and environmental pressures interact. This can make it easier to distinguish changes that are within the person’s influence from pressures requiring practical, relational, workplace, medical or other responses.
Therapy may support more regular opportunities for recovery, sleep-supportive habits, movement, nourishing routines and a gradual return to activities that have been crowded out by sustained demands. Recommendations are adapted to the realities of health, employment, family and other responsibilities.
CBT, ACT and related approaches may be useful where cycles of worry, avoidance, perfectionism, overcommitment, guilt, self-criticism or reduced activity are contributing to ongoing distress or limiting recovery.
Prolonged stress can gradually narrow life around obligations and immediate demands. Therapy may help a person reconnect daily choices with relationships, health, recreation, contribution and other personally meaningful areas of life.
Change is often more sustainable when it is realistic, specific and gradual. Therapy may include boundary-setting, communication, pacing, problem-solving and planning for periods when demands increase again.
Treatment is guided by assessment and formulation rather than assuming that one therapy method suits everyone. Approaches are selected according to the person’s needs, preferences, goals and circumstances.
CBT can help explore interactions among thoughts, emotions, behaviour and physical stress responses, while supporting practical changes to patterns that may be maintaining distress.
ACT may support psychological flexibility, acceptance of difficult internal experiences and values-guided action when circumstances cannot simply be changed or removed.
Mindfulness-based strategies may help strengthen awareness of stress responses, reduce automatic responding and create more deliberate opportunities for recovery and choice.
Explore the broader evidence-based therapy approaches used at Hennessy Clinical Psychology.
Chronic stress may occur alongside anxiety, depression, insomnia, persistent pain, neurodivergence, grief or physical health difficulties. Treatment considers these interactions without assuming that every difficult experience represents a mental health disorder. Where appropriate, psychological therapy can complement medical care and other professional support.
Explore the broader hub for psychology services, educational articles and related topics concerning chronic stress, occupational burnout and carer stress.
For difficulties arising primarily from paid employment, including sustained workload, role conflict, organisational pressures, professional responsibility or difficulty recovering from work.
For ongoing stress associated primarily with unpaid caring for a partner, child, parent, relative or another person.
Explore assessment and psychological support when insomnia or disrupted sleep has become a central concern.
Explore psychological support and information for persistent worry, anxiety, fear and related difficulties that may occur alongside chronic stress or burnout.
Explore psychological support and information for depression, bipolar disorder and other mood difficulties that may occur alongside prolonged stress or burnout.
Common questions about therapy for chronic stress and burnout.
Burnout is not itself classified as a medical condition by the World Health Organization. In ICD-11, occupational burnout is described as an occupational phenomenon associated with chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. The word burnout is also used more broadly in everyday language and some research contexts. Assessment can consider whether anxiety, depression, insomnia, physical illness or another difficulty may also be contributing.
Stress may have become chronic when demands feel ongoing, opportunities for recovery remain limited, and changes in sleep, mood, concentration, physical tension or everyday functioning persist. There is no single symptom or time threshold that determines this for everyone, so assessment considers the broader pattern and context.
Therapy may help identify maintaining patterns, strengthen recovery, address worry or perfectionism, improve boundaries and support realistic behaviour change. It cannot remove every external demand, so practical, environmental, medical, workplace or relational changes may also be important.
This is the broad service page for prolonged stress across several life contexts. If the main source of difficulty is paid employment, professional responsibilities or organisational conditions, the Therapy for Occupational Stress and Burnout page provides the more specific pathway.
There is no fixed duration. The number and frequency of sessions depend on the nature and duration of the difficulties, current demands, goals, co-occurring concerns and how therapy progresses. This can be reviewed collaboratively over time.
Yes. Appointments are available in person at Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and by secure telehealth across Australia where telehealth is clinically appropriate.
Hennessy Clinical Psychology provides psychological therapy for adolescents and adults from Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast, with telehealth appointments available across Australia.
If chronic stress, overload or exhaustion is affecting everyday life, you are invited to make an enquiry or book an appointment. You do not need to determine the exact label or pathway before getting in touch.