Some individuals may experience empathy drain and have difficulties setting boundaries when giving negative feedback. Shola shares “if you want to help other people, you’ve got to make sure that you’re in a state where you can help them.” To address this, it is important to engage in activities that replenish one’s energy and maintain a self-care routine. Exercise, spending time with friends, or playing with pets are great examples.

Transcript – Empathetic Burnout: How To Avoid Feeling Drained And Overwhelmed

Moderator: We’ve got another group of folks who have feeling very drained by the empathy that they have to display or whenever they have to give negative feedback. They feel very drained and they have a lot of guilt and they wanted or they have trouble setting boundaries. So looking for some advice on how to sort of let go of that and how to help better navigate that so that they don’t feel so drained by that process.

Shola Kaye: Yeah, great question. There’s so many things going on in the world, like let alone in the workplace, but just even watching the news, right? Oh my gosh. So one of the things that you can do is make sure that you fill up your cup. So remember the things that really replenish you, whether that’s going for a run, playing with your pets, hanging out with friends. You’ve got to make sure whatever suffering is going on around you if you want to help other people, you’ve got to make sure that you’re in a state where you can help them. Because otherwise it’s very easy to get secondary trauma and feel burned out. Right? So it’s super important to do that. Also, if you feel yourself getting into a sort of downward loop, you got to break the pattern. Other things that you can do are if you can think of even a small act that is a physical act, or something like meditation even, or good vibes. Some of you might be religious, might be about praying, some of you might be about mindfulness or putting out some good vibes for somebody who’s suffering. Even small things like that can help us feel like we’re at least doing something. And quite often the doing is the antidote for the kind of mental torment that we can go through if we’re too empathetic.

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Hi, I’m Shola and I help you create a people-first culture. My work sits at the intersection of Inclusion, Communication & Emotional Intelligence.

My keynote talks and workshops help your leaders and employees create high-performing work environments where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Sessions are high energy, interactive, and every participant walks away with at least one practical framework for connecting and collaborating more effectively.

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