As I reflect on my own journey with burnout and EFT and the work I now do with clients, I’ve come to understand that one of the most profound and overlooked aspects of burnout is what happens afterward. Not just the experience of burnout itself, but the deep, often disorienting process of recovery. When burnout takes you to the point where you need to step away from your career entirely, it doesn’t just take your energy—it shakes your identity. Walking away from work can feel like walking away from a huge part of yourself. It can come with a heavy mix of defeat, shame, hopelessness, fear, and grief. And then, the questions start to come in waves:
What will people think of me?
How will I afford to take this time off?
Will I ever be able to do this kind of work again?
Will I be able to work at all?
These aren’t just passing thoughts but are often existential and don’t always show up right away. Sometimes, the nervous system is too overactivated and emotional reserves too depleted to even begin processing what’s happening. Healing, in this stage, is slow and it looks different for everyone. That truth can feel frustrating and overwhelming—but approaching burnout with EFT, time and support, it can also be freeing.
Healing from Burnout with EFT
In a new part-time role, I came across a mental health recovery framework that deeply resonated with me. It defines recovery as the process of finding a safe, dignified, personally meaningful, and gratifying life—with or without the presence of symptoms. That includes symptoms of mental ill health, physical health challenges, or burnout. There is real hope in that definition because burnout doesn’t just make you tire, it makes you question everything.
Can I return to the work I was doing?
Can I handle pressure again—both internal and external?
What do I really need to earn to live the life I want, or even just to meet the cost of living?
What if I burn out again?
And the even bigger, messier question: How do I change? And… what does that even mean?
The Process of Recovery
So much of our burnout is rooted in deep, often unconscious core beliefs—ones we’ve carried for years, sometimes decades. Beliefs about worth, success, productivity, and identity. It’s not easy to untangle ourselves from these patterns. But it is possible. I’ve done (and continue to do) this work personally, and I’ve supported clients as they begin to recognise and shift their own limiting beliefs. That kind of self-awareness can be painful at first but it opens the door to something powerful: self-compassion. From there, recovery becomes more than rest—it becomes rebuilding.
Recovery might include:
- Regaining a sense of hope
- Addressing the fear of burning out again
- Setting and protecting healthy boundaries
- Adjusting unrealistic expectations
- Recognising and releasing limiting beliefs
- Learning how to relate to yourself with kindness and understanding
Tools like Clinical EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques) and Matrix Reimprinting can gently support this healing process. These techniques help calm the nervous system, release self-blame, uncover stuck beliefs, and open space for clearer choices and new possibilities. Burnout may change you—but that doesn't mean you're broken. Recovery isn’t about going back to who you were. It’s about discovering who you’re becoming. And you get to do that—on your terms.
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Leanne Yew is a certified accredited EFT practitioner based in Victoria, Australia. She specializes in using EFT and matrix reimprinting to help people experiencing imposter syndrome and burnout.
Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash
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