Date of Award:

5-2006

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Human Development and Family Studies

Department name when degree awarded

Family, Consumer, and Human Development

Committee Chair(s)

Scott Allgood

Committee

Scott Allgood

Committee

Kaelin Olsen

Committee

Brian Higginbotham

Abstract

Among the profession of marriage and family therapy, the goal is to help those individuals, couples, and families that are struggling in life. While working with these clients there is the possibility that the therapists may become stressed themselves and experience burnout. The following is a descriptive study of 30 marriage and family therapists (MFTs) in the state of Utah. The demographic variables of clinical experience, sex, case load, setting of practice, education level, and marital status were studied as to their relation to the experience of burnout. Statistically significant findings demonstrated that the variables of sex and caseload were the only two variables that showed a relationship to burnout.

Also studied was how prevention techniques such as diet, exercise, time-off, peer consultation, supervision and personal therapy lessened the effects of burnout. Although interesting trends were indicated, only diet was found to be statistically significant. The participants of this study al so gave detail ed suggestions as to how they work to prevent burnout in their own careers as well as advice to help beginning therapists to also lessen the effects of burnout.

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