OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AND BURNOUT THERAPY
By David Hennessy, Clinical Psychologist, Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast, QLD
Evidence-based psychological therapy for people experiencing sustained work-related stress, professional exhaustion or occupational burnout.
Appointments are available in person in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and by secure telehealth across Australia.
Occupational stress can develop when work demands exceed available resources or recovery for a sustained period. Burnout is specifically associated with chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.
This page focuses on employment and professional roles, including workload, role ambiguity, organisational change, conflict, responsibility, moral distress and difficulty disengaging from work.
Work-related stress may involve:
Assessment can consider workplace factors and overlapping anxiety, depression, insomnia or physical health concerns.
Therapy can provide a structured place to understand the interaction between workplace demands, personal patterns, health and recovery.
It may help to:
Treatment is tailored to the employment context, current functioning and goals. It does not assume that individual coping strategies can correct unsafe or unreasonable workplace conditions.
Therapy may map workload, control, support, role clarity, interpersonal pressures, values conflicts, job security and recovery. This helps identify where psychological, practical or organisational action may be useful.
Work can remain mentally present long after hours end. Therapy may develop boundaries, transition routines, sleep-supportive habits and ways to reduce repeated checking or rumination.
High standards can be useful, but rigid perfectionism, fear of errors and over-responsibility may sustain distress. Moral distress may arise when a person cannot act consistently with professional values.
Depending on the situation, therapy can support assertive communication, prioritisation, documentation, problem-solving and decisions about seeking workplace or professional advice.
Where relevant, therapy can support graded re-engagement after leave and planning for sustainable participation. Workplace recommendations or formal reports are separate matters and depend on the purpose of assessment.
Treatment draws on evidence-based psychological approaches and remains sensitive to organisational realities, employment conditions and power differences.
CBT can help address unhelpful cycles involving threat appraisal, worry, avoidance, perfectionism and reduced restorative activity.
ACT may help clarify professional and personal values, build psychological flexibility and support workable action under pressure.
Mindfulness-based strategies may support attention, awareness of stress responses and deliberate transitions between work and non-work time.
Explore the broader therapy approaches used at Hennessy Clinical Psychology.
Psychological therapy should not frame burnout as an individual failure. Workload, staffing, autonomy, fairness, support, values and organisational culture can materially affect wellbeing.
Where appropriate, a GP, psychiatrist, workplace rehabilitation provider or other professional may also be involved.
References: World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon. ICD-11. https://icd.who.int/browse/2024-01/mms/en#129180281; Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311
David Hennessy is a Clinical Psychologist providing evidence-based assessment and therapy for adolescents and adults.
His approach is collaborative and practical. Occupational stress is considered in the context of the person’s role, workplace, health, relationships, values and available options.
Learn more about David’s background, clinical experience and approach to psychological therapy.
In-person appointments are available at Hennessy Clinical Psychology in Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast.
Secure telehealth appointments are available throughout Australia where clinically appropriate.
You do not need a formal burnout diagnosis. Early sessions can clarify the work-related pattern, functional effects and appropriate priorities.
This page is limited to occupational and workplace search intent. Broader prolonged stress belongs on the general service page, while unpaid and family caring demands belong on the carer support page.
Visit the cornerstone hub for broader information and the complete chronic stress and burnout cluster.
Use the broader service pathway when persistent stress and exhaustion span several areas of life rather than arising mainly from work.
Use the carer-specific pathway when sustained demands primarily involve supporting a partner, child, parent, relative or another person.
Explore assessment and treatment options where insomnia or disrupted sleep is a central concern.
Explore related support where anxiety or mood difficulties are a central concern.
Common questions about psychological therapy for occupational stress and burnout.
The World Health Organization classifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon, not a medical condition. Assessment can consider burnout experiences and whether a mental or physical health condition also requires attention.
Yes, but therapy cannot make an unsafe or unreasonable workplace acceptable. It can help clarify the problem, reduce maintaining patterns, support decisions and strengthen communication, boundaries and recovery while practical or organisational remedies are considered.
No. Therapy does not begin with a predetermined employment decision. It can support a careful assessment of health, values, finances, workplace options and the likely consequences of staying, changing roles, taking leave or leaving.
This page is specifically about employment and professional roles. The general Chronic Stress and Burnout Therapy page is more appropriate when overload spans multiple life areas or is not principally occupational.
Yes. Where clinically appropriate, therapy may support recovery, graded re-engagement, coping with work-related triggers and planning sustainable routines. Formal fitness-for-work opinions require a clearly defined assessment process and may not form part of ordinary therapy.
Yes. Appointments are available in person at Varsity Lakes on the Gold Coast and through secure telehealth across Australia where clinically appropriate.
We are a Gold Coast Clinical and General Psychologist clinic conveniently positioned in Varsity Lakes.
Therapy is available in person at Varsity Lakes or via telehealth anywhere in Australia.
The easiest way to book an appointment is online.
Clinical Psychologist in Varsity Lakes, Gold Coast. Evidence-based psychology for adolescents and adults, with in-person appointments and Australia-wide telehealth.
Anxiety Disorders
Mood Disorders
Trauma & PTSD
Neurodiversity
CBT
ACT
EMDR
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
This practice is not a crisis service.
If you require immediate assistance, call 000. For crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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