Are you a cross-cultural BIPOC professional working and living in Seattle? Do you find yourself dreading work most days? Or perhaps, you are experiencing a feeling of detachment from colleagues, family, or friends because you have been handling so many things on your plate.

Or maybe by the end of the day, you feel so exhausted that you don’t even know how you made it work for another day. You feel like a car on the edge of breaking down, surviving on every little bit of rest you get every day. If you are experiencing these feelings, you might be burnout. Learn more from a culturally sensitive therapist in Seattle, WA.

Asian male holding his head while working by a table late night. Are you feeling fatigued? Therapy for cross-cultural individuals in Washington can help you with life challenges. Learn more about culturally sensitive counseling in Seattle Washington

What Is Burnout?

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is a syndrome that results from chronic workplace stress. It is characterized by three dimensions:

Feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion;
Increased mental distance from one’s job, feelings of negativism, or cynicism related to one's job; and
Reduced professional efficacy. When someone feels burnt out, they feel like they can’t do anything but shuffle along on autopilot.

Some factors associated with burnout, are a lack of control, unrealistic job responsibilities, toxic working dynamics, etc. These factors increase the likelihood of work-life imbalance and contribute to a heavy workload that leads to negative consequences such as fatigue, sleep disturbance, and emotional stress.

Burnout has been recognized as one of the major social issues in the workplace since 1970.

Being In The Marginalized Population May Make It Worse.

Dealing with burnout as a professional is already overwhelming and exhausting. If you are a member of a minority group or a multicultural individual, there might be extra challenges besides the typical stress:

Challenge #1 Dealing with fatigue from feeling different all the time at work.

As a cultural therapist, many of my clients are dealing with feelings of alienation at work. Are you a person of color or an individual with a background in more than one culture? Do the feelings of constantly having to perform to “ fit in” white social settings just get to you when it happens enough times?

One study discusses this issue in terms of Emotional Tax. Emotional Tax is the combination of feeling different at work due to one's gender, race, and/or other identity pieces and the associated implications on thriving at work. It was reported that as much as 58% of Asian, Black, and Latin employees feel they must be on guard and consciously prepared to deal with potential bias or discrimination because of their marginalized identities.

Tired Asian woman sitting on the chair with hands cover her eyes, looking tired. A culturally sensitive therapy in Seattle, WA can help you manage stressful family expectations. Learn more about multicultural counseling in Seattle

Challenge #2 Dealing with structural oppression.

Being a minority-identified individual as well as a cultural sensitive therapist working in a predominately white work environment. This intensifies my experience of structural oppression. If you identify as a person of color, you may feel pressured to work extra hard than your white or male colleagues to leave a positive impression. Or perhaps, you feel obligated to socialize with other white peers in a way that they feel comfortable Only to find it makes you feel uneasy and stressed.

But if you don’t, you will feel worried about what they are going to think of you or if they are going to judge you for being different. Sometimes, you may even experience implicit discrimination based on your identity. For example, you may feel that your white manager favors your white-identified peer more. This may be because they share a similar background. It could bring up feelings of doubt, unsureness, and inadequacy in dealing with the situation.

In addition, a publication from the American Bar Association points out that minority women are 35 percent less likely to receive a job referral than Caucasian men through networking. The feeling of employment scarcity that results from system oppression adds to the tension. This makes an individual more likely to experience burnout.

Challenge #3 Dealing with a constant collision between family expectations and self-pursuit.

When we experience a difference in values and beliefs between ourselves and our family, it may create pain. Perhaps, you may be struggling with the feeling of guilt when thinking about your wants and needs. You don’t want to make your family sad or disappointed.

Sometimes, you choose not to share with them things you think they might not understand or agree with. But you worry about what would happen if they found out or the day of confrontation came. As a result, you may feel more and more isolated. The isolation due to not feeling understood can add to the stress and make the work-related burnout more intense.

Multicultural Counseling in Seattle May Be Able To Help.

Discover a new way of living in this world. Spark Relational Counseling is here! We can work with you via online therapy in Washington, Oregon, or Illinois so that you can live a more fulfilling life. If you're ready to begin,

Asian man holding his a beverage in business attire sitting on a bench outside. Are you stressed dealing with unrealistic work expectations? Learn how multicultural counseling in Seattle, WA can help you. A Cultural sensitive therapist in Seattle is

Four Steps to start Multicultural Counseling in Seattle:

1) Request to Talk to a Therapist and learn more about your caring cultural sensitive therapist：

Fill out our brief contact form and one of our therapists will contact you within 24-48 hours ( except for holidays)

2) Talk to a Therapist and Schedule an online counseling session

One of our expert therapists will contact you by phone for a free 15-minute consultation to ensure we're a good fit. Then you'll be able to schedule an online counseling session.

3) Share with Us a Little more Background on Yourself.

We will send you a secure in-take link to give us some more background information on your situation to help your therapist understand you a bit more so that they can make your first session as effective and helpful as possible.

4) Have your First Online Counseling Session

Your first session will mostly be assessment in nature, but we do want you to have a good experience and to start learning some effective tools right away. Most people experience a sense of relief that they have taken the first steps toward a positive change and feel hopeful to have found a therapist who can help.

References

Dnika J. Travis and Jennifer Thorpe-Moscon, Day-to-Day Experiences of Emotional Tax Among Women and Men of Color in the Workplace (Catalyst, 2018).

Yearby, R. (2018, August). The Impact of Structural Racism in Employment and Wages on Minority Women’s Health. Americanbar.org. Retrieved October 10, 2022, from https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-state-of-healthcare-in-the-united-states/minority-womens-health/

Other Mental Health Services Offered At Spark Relational Counseling

Learn more about Cultural Sensitive Counseling at our Portland, OR office. and how it can be a valuable resource for your needs. We also offer online therapy in Washington and Illinois. In addition, we understand your needs for support don’t usually fit into one box. At Spark Relational Counseling, we offer a variety of mental health services. Everyone experiences everyday anxiety, but it doesn’t have to control your life. Learn more about how anxiety treatment can help you. For professionals working with women with concerns around dating and intimacy, we offer individual therapy for loneliness (dating therapy, for example) that helps you feel more confident in building a strong romantic relationship. Additionally, for those in a relationship. we specialize in couples therapy and marriage counseling and premarital counseling. If you are a small business owner, we offer therapy for entrepreneurs to help you navigate the ups and downs of owning a business. Feel free to contact me or visit the FAQ page for questions or concerns.