Workplace Burnout: How Compassion-Focused CBT Can Reduce Stress at Work
Cultivating Compassion in the Workplace
Using Compassion-Focused CBT to Reduce Workplace Stress and Burnout
Because work is where many of us spend a large portion of our lives, it’s no surprise that our mental health is often deeply affected by what happens there. For many people, work can be a significant trigger for workplace stress, anxiety, low mood, and burnout at work. In fact, this was one of the reasons the government invested millions of pounds in placing employment advisors within NHS Talking Therapies, recognising the growing impact of work-related stress and burnout on mental health.
So if work plays such a central role in our wellbeing, it raises an important question: why are so many workplaces still struggling to create environments that feel psychologically safe, supportive, and compassionate?
Why Work Can Be So Draining
Some of the most common difficulties I see arising from work include chronic workplace stress, conflict, burnout, emotional exhaustion, and miscommunication. Over time, these experiences can significantly contribute to anxiety and depression.
When many of us spend five days a week in environments that leave us feeling overwhelmed, depleted, or stuck in repeated negative interactions, it’s understandable that our wellbeing begins to suffer. Many people reach the end of the working day feeling emotionally exhausted, disengaged, and overwhelmed, often despite caring deeply about their work and wanting to perform well.
How Does Burnout Develop?
Workplace burnout rarely happens overnight. More often, it develops at the intersection of high demands, limited resources, and unhelpful ways of responding to ongoing stress, both internally and externally.
While some contributors to burnout are structural, such as excessive workloads, unrealistic expectations, poor leadership, or a lack of organisational support, the most draining aspects are often psychological and relational. This is where Compassion-Focused CBT can make a meaningful difference.
Compassion Is Not Weakness
One of the most common misconceptions I hear is:
“If I’m compassionate, people will see me as soft. They’ll think I’m avoiding accountability, lowering standards, or that others will take advantage of me.”
In reality, compassion is not weakness, it is a motivation.
The word compassion comes from the Latin compati, meaning “to suffer with.” Compassion involves recognising distress in ourselves or others and responding with understanding rather than judgement, alongside the courage and wisdom to take constructive action to reduce unnecessary suffering.
Compassionate workplaces can still be high-performing, boundaried, and goal-focused. The difference lies not in what is expected, but in how challenges, mistakes, and pressure are approached.
How Compassion Reduces Burnout
A Compassion-Focused CBT Perspective
CBT teaches us that our thoughts influence our emotions, physical sensations, and behaviours. When workplace stress is prolonged, it’s common to fall into unhelpful thinking patterns such as:
“If I slow down, I’ll fail.”
“I can’t show weakness at work.”
“Mistakes mean I’m incompetent.”
“Everyone else is coping better than me.”
Over time, these thoughts fuel anxiety, overworking, emotional withdrawal, and self-criticism, all key contributors to burnout and emotional exhaustion.
Compassion-Focused CBT helps interrupt this cycle by softening thinking that happens when we are in the ‘threat’ (anxiety) zone, and encourages more balanced, supportive responses to pressure.
Leadership, Support, and Feeling Valued
Compassion needs to flow from the top down. It’s difficult to expect employees to practise compassion with one another if this isn’t modelled by leadership.
Compassionate leadership involves noticing strain, listening without judgement, and responding thoughtfully rather than reactively. This creates psychological safety, reduces fear-based stress, and helps prevent burnout in the workplace.
When employees feel safe enough to communicate their needs without fear of criticism or dismissal, they are far less likely to burn out and far more likely to remain engaged, motivated, and in the workforce.
A helpful shift might be moving from:
“They’re not performing.”
to:
“What’s getting in the way, and how can I support improvement?”
When the focus is solely on outcomes, people can feel invisible and undervalued. Compassion encourages a shift from blame to curiosity, helping employees feel seen and recognised, something that significantly reduces work-related stress and emotional exhaustion.
Workplace Conflict and Strained Relationships
Another major contributor to burnout is workplace conflict, which is often fuelled by assumptions and “mind-reading.”
When people are already stressed or overworked, it’s easy to become insular and believe others are being treated more fairly. For example, imagine noticing that a colleague, Karen, leaves at 5pm every day while you regularly stay until 7pm. It’s understandable to feel frustrated. You might begin thinking:
“Karen is lazy.”
“She’s not pulling her weight.”
“She’s the reason I’m so overworked.”
These assumptions can lead to resentment, withdrawal, and strained working relationships, yet we don’t actually know what’s happening for Karen.
Compassion invites curiosity and perspective-taking. If we can gently challenge the thought “She’s doing this on purpose” and allow ourselves to ask for help (even when that feels uncomfortable), the outcome may be very different.
Perhaps Karen explains that she leaves to collect her child from school, then works later in the evening once they’re in bed. Suddenly, the story shifts. We may feel less angry, less alone, and more able to communicate our own needs. This reduces defensiveness, strengthens connection, and lowers workplace stress.
Perfectionism and Self-Criticism
Burnout isn’t always driven by external pressure, it’s often driven from within. Perfectionism, fear of mistakes, and harsh self-criticism can lead people to push themselves relentlessly.
Self-compassion, a core element of Compassion-Focused CBT, helps us recognise our limits, respond kindly to mistakes, and reduce overworking driven by fear rather than values.
Over time, we can begin to replace the belief:
“If I struggle, I’m failing.”
with:
“Struggling means I’m human and trying to do something that matters.”
Boundaries and Burnout
Boundaries can be difficult in all areas of life, and often even harder at work. Poor boundaries are frequently linked to guilt, people-pleasing, perfectionism, and negative self-talk.
Compassion helps us recognise that protecting our energy does not make us selfish, weak, or unprofessional. With practice, rest can be viewed as necessary rather than indulgent, supporting healthier boundaries and reducing long-term burnout.
Practical Ways to Practise Compassion at Work
Notice the Inner Critic
Ask yourself: “Would I speak to a colleague this way?”Use Compassionate Reframing
Replace harsh thoughts with more balanced ones, such as:
“This is hard. I can take one step at a time and ask for support.”
“I can be kind and still accountable.”Respond, Don’t React
Pausing before difficult conversations allows curiosity — not threat — to guide your response.Model Compassion as a Leader
How leaders respond to stress sets the emotional tone for the entire workplace.
Final Thoughts
Burnout is not a personal failure. It is often a sign of prolonged workplace stress combined with limited compassion, both from others and from ourselves.
While not all workplace stressors can be removed, how we respond to them matters deeply. Compassion-Focused CBT offers a powerful framework for reducing burnout, improving emotional wellbeing, and creating healthier, more sustainable workplaces.