How Do I Avoid Burnout?

Inside this issue:
👉 🧭 Theme of the Week: How to Avoid Burnout Studying Psych
👉 💬 Office Hours: Ask Joseph Anything
👉 💼 Career Spotlight: HR Specialist
👉 📚 Book Rec: Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
👉 🌱 Mental Health Check-In
👉 📢 Free Webinar Announcement
👉 📱 Share & Succeed Referral Gift
👉 📬 Give Us Your Feedback

🧭 Theme of the Week: How to Avoid Burnout as a Psych Student

Ironically, while you're learning about mental health in your psychology classes, you could be neglecting your own. Burnout among psych students is incredibly common! Partly because we're often the helpers, the listeners, and the ones who put others first. Along your journey you may have experienced how much easier it is to give others advice compared to evaluating your own needs.

But here's the truth: you can't pour from an empty cup, and burnout isn't just feeling tired, it's a state of chronic stress that can lead to exhaustion, imposter syndrome, and poorer mental health outcomes. If you’re someone who typically relieves stress through action (like myself), then paying close attention to your level of burnout can help you be a better version of yourself.

The Psychology Student's Burnout Risk Factors:

• Emotional labor overload: Being all of your friends unofficial therapist while managing your own stress.

• Perfectionism: Feeling like you need to understand every concept perfectly.

• Empathy fatigue: Absorbing others' emotions, in your coursework, or your personal life. Those with high levels of empathy can spend most of their energy feeling with others, leaving little room to feel for themselves.

• Unclear boundaries: Between helping others, helping yourself, family obligations, group work, jobs, etc.

Some Practical Burnout Prevention Strategies:

• Apply what you're learning to yourself: It’s very easy to help someone else form the outside looking in. Pause to apply your skills to your own situation (journaling is a great way to do this).

• Schedule recovery time: Block out non-negotiable downtime in your calendar or schedule! Even 30 minutes daily of true disconnection from academic or social demands.

• Create a "done list": Instead of just a to-do list, keep a list of what you've accomplished each day, no matter how small. This can help cultivate some gratitude and perspective on the energy you’re exerting.

• Find your "flow" activities: Identify activities that fully absorb your attention in a positive way. Doing the things you love can provide a sense of emotional wellbeing. This is restorative in a way that passive activities like scrolling often aren't.

• Check in With How You’re Coping: Ask yourself how you’re handling stress. Is it unhealthy? Build healthy coping mechanisms and lean on them when you need relief (make a list of this to map them out well)!

Remember: Taking care of yourself isn't selfish! It's essential practice for your future career. The best psychologists are those who know how to maintain their own mental health first. Doing this is essential for however you define success!

💬 Office Hours with Joseph

Real questions from real students — answered by your resident psych mentor.

This Week's Q: "This past semester I was drowning in research methods and statistics classes. Everyone says they're important, but honestly, I'm just trying to make it through without failing. Will I really use this stuff if I want to be a counselor someday?"

— Alex, junior at UCLA

Joseph's Response: 

Hey Alex, I’ve most definitely felt the very same feeling in some of the more quantitative classes I took in undergrad. It can feel like a drag when your heart is set on helping people through connection or theory and the assumption is that you won’t be doing math equations if you’re not going to go into research.

Here's what I wish someone had told me: Think about shifting your frame of reference ever so slightly here from “I need to master complex formula” to “I’m learning to consumer research to better my therapy skills”. If your goal is to be a therapist, a focal point for you is being able to read and comprehend research articles efficiently, rather than being able to replicate it and conduct your own research (which can still be valuable).

When you can understand research, you can distinguish between evidence based treatments that appeal to your style, what high quality research looks like, and keep up to date with the latest advancements in the field. I remember having to read research articles in undergrad that felt difficult to comprehend, but with some repeated reps in grad school I’ve come to a point where I can evaluate them pretty quickly and get some value from them.

From the perspective of someone who practices psychotherapy, the value here is simply being able to comprehend it and implement it in practice as needed. I read research intermittently to explore advancements in approaches and to stay up to date with new treatments. While you may only be doing these equations or conducting your own research this one time, understanding the principles will help you down the road.

And most importantly, your future clients will benefit from your perseverance and ability to be proficient in understanding research!

Got a question you’d like Joseph to tackle next week?

💼 Career Spotlight: Human Resources (HR) Specialist

What it is: HR Specialists handle various aspects of employee relations, including recruitment, onboarding, benefits administration, and workplace culture development. Your psychology background gives you unique insight into workplace behavior, motivation, and interpersonal dynamics that many HR professionals with other degrees may lack.

What you'll do:

• Screen and interview job candidates

• Conduct new employee orientations

• Administer employee benefits programs

• Address workplace conflicts and concerns

• Assist with training and development initiatives

• Help shape organizational culture and employee wellness programs

Why it's great for psych graduates: This role directly applies psychological concepts like motivation theory, group dynamics, learning principles, and interpersonal communication that you studied in your coursework. HR departments increasingly value psychology graduates for their understanding of human behavior and ability to use evidence-based approaches to workplace challenges. It’s a fairly seamless pivot from the psych world to the business world.

Qualifications needed: Bachelor's degree in psychology

Typical salary range: $45,000-$60,000 for entry-level positions, with significant growth potential as you advance.

Growth opportunities: HR offers numerous specialization paths including talent acquisition, training and development, compensation and benefits, or organizational development. Many companies also offer tuition assistance for HR certifications or graduate education if you decide to pursue it later.

HR provides a bridge between your psychology education and practical business applications, with plenty of room for advancement without requiring graduate education! Not everyone in psych wants to be a therapist, and if you can relate, then this is a role worth looking into.

📚 Book Rec of the Week

"Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle" by Emily and Amelia Nagoski. This book explains why completing the stress cycle is just as important as managing the stressors themselves. The Nagoski sisters combine neuroscience, psychology, and compassion to offer practical strategies for breaking the burnout cycle.

🧠 Why it's great for students: Beyond the immediate benefit of helping you manage your own burnout, this book provides a framework you can apply throughout your psychology career. The concepts align well with topics you may be studying (from neuroscience to health psychology) while offering practical tools you can use right now.

Got a book recommendation? We’d love to share and give you credit! Submit your book recommendation below:

🌱 Mental Health Check-In

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📱 NEW: Share & Succeed Referral Program

Refer a friend to PsychMentor and receive our exclusive "PsychMentor Calm & Clarity Planner"!

The planner includes a 25-page pdf compatible with GoodNotes, EverNotes, Notion, Notability, etc. Each month includes a study planner with spaces for monthly goals, assignments, exam dates, mental health check-ins, and notes. Blank reusable calendars with hyperlinks are also included for easy access and navigation!

Psychology students who use structured planning tools report less academic anxiety and improved performance on major assessments!

How it works:

1. Share your referral link below with a friend

2. When they subscribe, you'll receive the planner immediately via email

📢 Coming Soon: Free Webinar on Careers in Psychology

We’re hosting a completely free live Zoom event on “Therapist Paths 101: Your Guide to Psych Grad School” We’d love to see you there!
🗓️ Date TBA—stay tuned!

Keep learning, keep asking questions, and remember—you’re not behind. You’re just getting started.

With guidance,
The PsychMentor Team