doctor writing chart notes and debating changing careers in nyc

Career Counseling for Healthcare Professionals in NYC & NJ

At Anchor Therapy, we understand the complexities that come along with being a health professional in the greater New York City area, and we are here to help.

Perhaps you feel like you are a health professional who is struggling to find work-life balance. Or maybe you are going through a difficult life transition, struggling with your own emotional issues in your personal life. 

You may  find that all of your work responsibilities have been piling up year after year, leaving you with a feeling of work burnout, also known as a type of stress associated with work. This stress may be triggering you to lose passion for your profession. 

Even if you are at the very beginning of your career as a teen or young adult trying to transition to becoming a healthcare professional, the pressure of schoolwork, academic assignments, studying, clinical placements, and medical rotations can become overwhelming to say the least. Trying to balance scholastic demands with seeing patients and managing patient files is not an easy process, and it is one that certainly involves a learning curve. 

healthcare professional in NYC doing career counseling with a therapist

Here are some examples of various types of healthcare professionals:

  • Physicians (Doctors)

  • Nurses

  • Dentists

  • Pharmacists

  • Physical Therapists

  • Psychiatrists

  • Psychologists

  • Mental Health Counselors (Therapists)

  • Occupational Therapists

  • Radiologists

  • Speech Therapists

  • Physician Assistants (PAs)

  • Nurse Practitioners (NPs)

  • Laboratory Technicians

  • Paramedics

  • Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs)

  • Social Workers

 

Everyone faces their own obstacles in both their personal and professional lives. As a healthcare professional, your occupation is filled with constant change and you may feel like you do not have the resources to deal with these changes in an effective manner. 

Your profession revolves around helping other people which can make you lose sight of getting help yourself. If you always identify as the ‘helper’, ask yourself who helps you? You have a lot of responsibility as a healthcare professional, from being a doctor making a life-or-death decision to helping a client in crisis as a licensed mental health counselor.

Work-related worries and related sleep issues can lead you to engaging in unhealthy habits that you know you should not engage in but cannot seem to withstand for the life of you, such as engaging in addiction and/or substance abuse, binge eating, getting irritable with your romantic partner or family, and so on. 

Being overly-involved in work can cause strains on facets of your personal life, including your interpersonal relationships, hobbies, and self-care. You may begin to question the point of work or the point of having a partner since you can never seem to adequately balance expectations and the responsibilities that come along with both types of this commitment. It may seem like, no matter how much or how hard you work, there is not enough time in the day. After work is said and done, it seems like there is no work for romantic relationships, engaging in activities that bring you joy, or children. When you feel defeated, anxiety, stress, sleep issues, and depression can occur.

 

How do I know if I am experiencing burnout as a healthcare worker?

Being a healthcare professional can be extremely rewarding, but there are difficult pressures that come along with this type of job. Your occupation inevitably involves some degree of sacrifice and dedication, and you may find yourself putting your patient’s needs above your own needs. In this type of profession, it is easy to feel isolated and overwhelmed. 


As a burnt out healthcare worker, you may find yourself repeating the following phrases often:

  • “I used to be passionate about helping people, but I feel like I am stuck in a never-ending cycle now.”

  • “I do not have the energy to help people anymore. My lack of energy is affecting my personal life too”

  • “I cannot keep up with my constant work demands and the long hours.”

  • “I feel like I am running on empty.”

  • “I feel like I am drowning in work and there is no lifeboat in sight.”

  • “The healthcare system is broken, and I am stuck in the middle of it.”

  • “Dealing with so much suffering has left me feeling emotionally and mentally drained.”

  • “I struggle to find the motivation to go to work every single day.”

  • “I am stretched so thin that the quality of my work is diminishing, hurting patients in the process.”

  • “Going through the daily motions of work, life has taken its toll on me.”

doctor proud of career counseling in nj

Occupational burnout is a type of stress that you experience due to your work. You may feel worn out both emotionally and physically. As a burnt out professional, you may feel empty or powerless due to your lack of rest. 

While burnout is not an official medical diagnosis, it could be a signal that there is a more serious mental health condition occurring behind the scenes, like depression. Burnout can actually enhance your risk of depression. However, depression and burnout are two completely different things, and a licensed mental health professional will be able to assist you in navigating the complexities. 

 

Some symptoms of job burnout as a healthcare professional are:

  • Physical symptoms:

    • Changes in appetite of weight

    • Headaches

    • Muscle pain

    • Fatigue or low energy levels

    • Difficulty sleeping

  • Behavioral symptoms:

    • Withdrawal from co-workers, friends, and family

    • Decreased productivity

    • Escapist behaviors (e.g., excessive gaming, online usage, etc.)

    • Procrastination

    • Increased use of substances, like drugs and alcohol 

  • Emotional symptoms:

    • Feelings of detachment

    • Emotional exhaustion

    • Increased impatience

    • Increased irritability

    • Smaller sense of accomplishment

  • Cognitive symptoms:

    • Pessimism

    • Decreased creativity

    • Lessened problem-solving skills

    • Forgetfulness 

  • Professional symptoms:

    • Lessened job satisfaction

    • Enhanced chance of medical errors

    • Decline in the quality of client care

    • A sense of gloom about your professional future

 

Having a heavy workload and working long hours, which is often a requirement as a healthcare professional, can be a risk factor for job burnout. Struggling with work-life balance and feeling like you have no control over your work schedule can also enhance the risk of you experiencing occupational burnout. 

Ignoring feelings of job burnout will only make your symptoms worse down the road. While occupational burnout can feel impossible to escape in the moment, there are steps you can take towards building a better work-life balance. Working with a career counselor at Anchor Therapy can help you get both your professional and personal life back on track.

 

What obstacles do healthcare professionals face?

Depending on your specific role, the type of healthcare environment you work in, and the region you work in, you will face a specific set of challenges as a healthcare worker.


Here are some common obstacles that healthcare workers may face:

  • Workplace stress and burnout - Between long working hours and emotional demands, there are many facets of healthcare that  can contribute to stress and burnout

  • Decreased staff - You may experience an increased workload due to a shortage of qualified staff. According to Duquesne University School of Nursing, it is estimated that there will be a dramatic shortage of physicians by 2032

  • Emotional toll - Patient suffering and having to make difficult decisions can wreck your emotional and mental health

  • Regulatory compliance - Regulatory requirements are ever-growing in healthcare and, keeping up with these requirements, is time-consuming and demanding

  • Ethical dilemmas - Patient autonomy and end-of-life issues can breed ethical challenges that require a lot of consideration

  • Patient expectations - Trying to balance a realistic treatment outcome and the expectations of your patients can be difficult

  • Global health problems - Global health problems, like pandemics and infectious diseases, cause many challenges

  • Cultural competence - When you are providing medical services to a wide population of people, you may face challenges in trying to understand the special needs of certain communities of people

  • Communication within the profession - Effectively communicating and collaborating with other medical professionals can be challenging which can negatively impact the level of client care administered 

 

You may feel hopeless if these issues are out of your control, such as administrative issues at your workplace. There is no denying that there needs to be systemic changes and organizational support within the healthcare system. With that being said, there are individual coping strategies that you can adopt to ease your work-related issues.

Actively working to mitigate your work problems can promote your welfare as a healthcare professional, ensuring that you are prioritizing your own needs while guaranteeing the delivery of high-quality client care.

healthcare worker holding mask and looking for career counseling in nj

The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Healthcare Professionals

Around the world, healthcare workers suffered from the global COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers experienced physical, emotional, and mental negative effects of the epidemic. 

Healthcare workers had to care for an increased amount of patients, leading to a heavier workload and more stress. Limited resources and long hours can make you feel emotionally and physically exhausted.

As a healthcare worker on the frontline, you also put yourself at an increased risk of being exposed to the virus. It was normal to be concerned about your own health as well as the health of your family members and the general community. Shortages of medical equipment may have also caused you anxiety about your safety.

Due to your worry about transmitting the virus, you may have felt isolated in your work.

The pandemic took a toll on the mental health of healthcare workers. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals experienced higher levels of anxiety, depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and burnout. From dealing with limited resources to navigating the mystery of the disease, it was a stressful time period.

As you witnessed the dying of patients, co-workers, and loved ones,  it is normal to respond with grief and emotional distress. The constant exposure to loss does not lead to positive effects. 

If you have never dealt with the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to push yourself professionally, you may be dealing with burnout. 

 

Career Counseling for Burnout

Chronic job stress can cause exhaustion, cynicism, and even a feeling of diminished professional competency. Burnout occurs gradually when you experience prolonged stress. 

Burnout is a leading issue in the healthcare field. As a healthcare professional, it is unfortunately normal to have a high level of stress.


Here are some contributors to burnout as a healthcare worker:

  • Lack of control over your schedule

  • Staffing shortages

  • Heavy workload

  • Emotional demands

  • Administrative burden

  • Pressure to perform

  • Work-life imbalance

  • Technological challenges

  • Global health crises

  • Lack of recognition


To address the issue of burnout, you have to know the impact of it. As a healthcare professional, you are constantly encouraging patients to advocate for themselves, but you have to advocate for yourself as well. From prioritizing your own well-being to building resilience, it is important to remember that you cannot pour from an empty cup.

In order to start taking control over your emotional well-being and your motivation for working in the healthcare sphere, career counseling can be a great place to start. 

 

A career counselor can help a healthcare professional in the following ways:

  • Assessing your skills and interests

  • Clarifying your career goals

  • Pinpointing transferable skills if you would like to make a career change

  • Offering job search support

  • Building negotiation strategies 

  • Teaching de-stressing skills

  • Exploring different career options

  • Advocating for a work-life balance

  • Professional development planning

  • Transitioning to authoritative roles

  • Navigating career changes

At Anchor Therapy, we have career therapists for healthcare professionals who can make you feel like your best self again. Our online career advisors offer tailored support so you receive personalized guidance as you ride the ups-and-downs of your career, striving for professional achievement. 

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare workers have always faced stressful work conditions. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that roughly 79% of physicians report burnout. Exposure to human pain, long working hours, and irregular shifts are just some of the challenging work conditions that healthcare workers face, leading to mental health conditions. 

If you are a healthcare worker who is struggling to maintain work-life balance, do not hesitate to reach out to us today.

How Can I Start career counseling for health professionals at Anchor Therapy?

WORKING WITH anchor therapy IS EASY

  1. Complete and submit the contact form below.

  2. Our intake coordinator will get back to you with more information on our services and set you up with a career therapist on our team.

  3. Take comfort in the fact that you are prioritizing yourself and, in turn, the quality of care you offer your patients.

 

If you’re looking for more information about career counseling, we write a lot of blog posts about career counseling. Check out our blog below!