Episode Details

There is one belief that keeps high achievers stuck in burnout long after they should be recovering - the belief that burning out means they failed.

This is a live panel discussion from the Burnout Free Working Conference — an unscripted conversation about what burnout recovery actually requires, why the self-blame makes it impossible to start, and the single reframe that changes how you see every struggling colleague, including yourself.

We cover:

• Why burnout is not a personal failing — and what the evidence actually says about where it starts
• The clinical difference between burnout and depression, and why the label matters less than most people think
• Why asking struggling colleagues to "reach out" puts the burden in exactly the wrong place - and what "reaching in" looks like instead
• The shift from "difficult colleague" to "colleague in difficulty" - and why that single reframe changes how you respond
• What the fear of saying no looks like versus what actually happens when you do
• Why bearing witness, without trying to fix, is itself a genuine intervention
• What burnout recovery actually requires — and why it can't start until the self-blame does

This episode is for you if…

You're a high achiever in a high-stakes role who has started to wonder whether the exhaustion you're carrying is something more than tiredness - or whether the reason you can't seem to recover is that somewhere, underneath the fatigue, you've decided the burnout was your fault. This conversation will give you permission to put down the belief that you’ve been carrying, and the language to start again.

About Dr Richard Duggins

Dr Richard Duggins is a consultant psychiatrist in medical psychotherapy and the author of Burnout Free Working. He has spent his career working with clinicians and high achievers in burnout - exploring not just the exhaustion, but the shame and self-blame that makes recovery so much harder. Get Richard’s book here: Burnout-Free Working: Your Expert Guide to Thriving in a Stressful Workplace.

About Dr Chris Turner

Dr Chris Turner is an emergency medicine consultant, co-founder of Civility Saves Lives, and a TEDx speaker whose work on culture, behaviour, and psychological safety in healthcare has reached hundreds of thousands of people worldwide. Learn more about Chris’s work with Civility Saves Lives here: https://www.civilitysaveslives.com/

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Mentioned in this episode:

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