Burnout and Resilience
complied and produced by Guide Liaison Carly Knudson
What is Burnout?
Burnout is most commonly defined as workplace exhaustion due to chronic stress, high ideals, high demands, and lack of (perceived or real) support.
Three Main Components to Burnout
-
Emotional Exhaustion
A fatigue that can come from caring too much, for too long. This is different than feeling “tired” after a long day of work - it’s more chronic and less attributable to specific causes.
-
Depersonalization or Cynicism
The depletion of empathy, caring, and compassion. For guides, this may manifest in feelings towards clients, other guides and personal relationships, or your outfitter.
-
Decreased Sense of Accomplishment
An unconquerable sense of futility - the feeling that nothing you do makes any difference or like you have a lack of purpose.
Signs and symptoms of burnout are often a combination of emotional, physical, and behavioral elements.
-
Emotional
Increasing cynicism toward life, work outlook, and coworkers
Feelings of intolerance
Feeling listless or lacking energy or enthusiasm
Low mood or flattened affect
Difficulty concentrating
Reduced creativity
Low commitment to your role
Emotional volatility
Low motivation, optimism, or sense of purpose
Decreased sense of accomplishment
-
Physical
Headaches
Lack of sleep/ difficulty sleeping
Fatigue
Body aches
GI disorders
Increased frequency/susceptibility to physical illnesses (cold and flu)
Hypertension
Muscle tension and soreness
Lack of sex drive
Changes in weight/ appetite
-
Behavioral
Reduced performance/ productivity
Absenteeism/ lack of participation
Detachment and depersonalization
Social removal or absenteeism
Isolation
Strife in coworker/ personal relationships
Increase in “numbing” behaviors: substances, food, exercise, escape fantasies, etc.
Lack in engagement in personal activities (social life, hobbies)
Distinguishing Burnout From Other Conditions
In general, burnout is experienced in the form of emotional/psychological symptoms and occurs because of unchecked stress and stressors due to lack of support.
Workplace stress, on the other hand, is a short-term state that usually manifests as over-productivity, anxiousness, hyperactive or urgent behavior. Stress that is not properly acknowledged or dealt with can lead to chronic stress. In general, stress is experienced in the form of physical symptoms, though more severe states of traumatic stress can manifest as stress injuries such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Compassion fatigue is often associated with burnout and can make it feel difficult to feel compassion or “numb” to a patient/client's needs. This is often due to consistent exposure to direct and indirect trauma, stress, or constant tending to the needs of others.
Chronic stress and/or burnout have been shown to have the potential to progress into more serious mental health problems such as anxiety and depressive disorders, and chronic physical problems. While the severity and symptom expression vary greatly between individuals, these are more long-term conditions with mood regulation difficulties, feelings of worthlessness or hopelessness, difficulties concentrating or sleeping, physical problems such as chronic aches and pains, or suicidal thoughts and tendencies.
What do I do about it?
Dealing with burnout is more complicated than it may seem, and requires multiple layers of consideration. Recognizing the factors that are contributing to your burnout experience, understanding how to deal with controllable versus uncontrollable stressors, working on dealing with stress itself, and building resiliency are all steps that help to combat burnout.
For more in-depth information on these topics, including common guide factors that contribute to burnout, specific ideas for solutions, the importance of dealing with stress, and more, check out the Burnout Companion Guide below.
Understanding Controllable vs. Uncontrollable Stressors
Controllable
Controllable factors are usually more individual/personal and are deemed to be handlable. Approaches for controllable factors are known to some researchers as “planful problem-solving.”
Planful problem solving entails identifying a problem as solvable and making a plan to change or address the issue from a top-down approach. Solutions often come from effective and direct communication, being open and honest with yourself, your coworkers, and your employer, creating self-care routines, or utilizing or creating resources.
Uncontrollable
Uncontrollable stressors typically are more systemic, organizational, industrial, or environmental, and deemed not able to be handled by an individual. Dealing with uncontrollable stressors typically involves reevaluation and reframing of thoughts and circumstances, or “positive reappraisal” and dealing with the stress response itself.
Positive reappraisal is deciding that the effort, the discomfort, the frustration, the unanticipated obstacles, and even the repeated failure have value - not just because they are steps toward a worthwhile goal, but because you reframe the difficulties as opportunities for growth and learning.
Controllable Stressor Solutions: Ideas for Problem Solving
Grasp a greater sense of control.
Gaining a sense of control often comes with effective and direct communication. (See below: ‘clarify job demands and expectations’). Additionally, planning for seasonal instability (financial plans, housing, community building, off-season employment) may help gain a sense of security.
Clarify demands and expectations.
Whether it is how or when a task needs to be completed, positions of leadership or advancement, or expectations of participation, guiding is an occupation (no matter how fun it is!) and ambiguity is not usually the best approach. Clarification of expectations and needs can greatly deter miscommunications and hard feelings. If needed, suggest 15-30 minute breaks for check-in within your crew, having pre/post-trip meetings, or asking for formal outlines of company policies are all possible helpful solutions.
Build strong support systems.
Social support or a sense of strong community is a key factor to building resiliency, combating burnout, and contributes to more positive mental and physical health outcomes. It is important to make an effort to connect and build community within and outside of guiding. Acting as a role model and advocating for resiliency within your team may also prove to set an example for others.
Create more of a work-life balance throughout the season.
Working to create ‘work-life balance’ can be a little more complicated for guides. However, recognizing that we are not invincible and still need to take care of ourselves is a huge step towards resilience. Integrating short & attainable self-care routines, monitoring or cutting back on substance use, and taking breaks when needed (short breaks during trips, and taking weeks off if financially feasible) are ways to work towards this.
Find opportunities for personal growth and development.
Challenges and opportunities for growth keep life and work engaging. Be open with your outfitter and team about your goals — maybe you’re eager to learn new skills, step into leadership or mentorship roles, or guide in different locations. Perhaps you’re even considering a bigger shift: changing careers entirely, learning a new guiding discipline, moving into management, or starting your own outfitting operation. These feelings and transitions are normal. We all eventually reach a point where a new path feels right, whether or not we’re feeling burned out.
Uncontrollable Stressor Solutions: Ideas for Positive Reappraisal
Check-in with why guiding is important to you.
Think back to what first drew you to guiding: maybe it was the nature of the work, the flexible schedule, the chance to spend your days outdoors, or the opportunities to teach and practice stewardship. What keeps you on this path? What core values does guiding bring to the people you serve and to society as a whole? Your answers might remind you why guiding still matters so much to you today.
Remember the unique, dynamic, skill sets that guiding requires. And that it is a legitimate career.
It is easy to forget how many incredible skills guiding requires and how much you’ve mastered. You may not be able to control comments that get under your skin, but you can control how you react to them.
Recognize the strengths that you already have to combat stress, burnout, and adversity (ie, resiliency!)
We all have inherent traits and characteristics that make us adaptable, strong, and able to handle difficult situations. Some of our strengths may be different than our crew members, and it may be helpful to recognize that while you may be very graceful with your social skills and leadership abilities, another guide may excel in other places, such as in bravery and perseverance. Learning to lean into your strengths and how to work together as a team can prove to be incredibly beneficial in combating burnout.
Work on gratitude and self-compassion practices.
Gratitude has been scientifically proven to improve mental and physical health, sleep quality, relationship strength, self-esteem, resilience, and help to combat stress and burnout. Simply writing down or acknowledging a few things you are grateful for may seem too simple, but goes a long way. Additionally, positive self-talk, giving yourself permission to feel your feelings, and recognizing stressors can help to validate your experiences.
Validate your stress, discomfort, emotions, and conflicts.
Burnout, stress, and hardships within guiding are often not talked about, which can feel very isolating. Along with practicing self-compassion, it can be very helpful to check in with someone you trust, whether it be another guide or a person in your company’s management to discuss feelings of conflict and burnout. It is usually simpler to acknowledge and change unhealthy dynamics as they occur rather than letting them build up over time and turn into colossal, complex issues.
Additional Resources
Upcoming Courses, Conversations, and Trainings:
Psychological First Aid, Foundations of Stress Injury, Resiliency Courses (Responder Alliance; Ongoing Online)
Stress Resilience Training with Responder Alliance at The Redside Rendezvous in Salmon, ID, May 15th, 2026. This course introduces tools for recognizing and supporting the impacts of stress in ourselves and others. We will cover use of the Stress Continuum as a self-awareness tool, the Incident Support Tool for assessing stress injury risk factors and the 3-3-3 Traumatic Exposure Protocol for supporting others following high-risk incidents. The course will include lecture, facilitated discussion and scenario-based practice with the tools. Participants will learn to play an active role in establishing and sustaining stress management practices within their workplace. Sponsored by The Salmon River Chapter of the IOGA.
Reading and Worksheets:
Burnout Companion Guide (Redside Foundation)
Building Resilience Article (Cornell University Health)
Effective Communication: Barriers and Strategies Article (University of Waterloo)
Character Strengths Quiz and Information (VIA Institute on Character)
“Living Into Our Values” Worksheet (Brene Brown Institute)
Professional Help:
For mental health concerns regarding burnout or otherwise, the Redside Foundation offers confidential, cost-free access to help with our Guide Helpline. Call or text and connected with a fully licensed therapist (who is also a guide). If needed, you will be matched with a fully licensed counselor locally or via telehealth who understands the unique challenges guides face for eight sessions of cost-free and confidential counseling.
For concerns about discrimination in the workplace based on gender, sexual orientation, race, disability, etc., you are protected by the Equal Employment Opportunity law and can file formal legal complaints.
Image credits: Carly Knudson, Jon Pruess, Ellie Kinsela, Kyle Smith, and Etai Bruhis.
Content created by Idaho Guide Liaison Carly Knudsen