| name | burnout-recovery-protocol |
| description | Assess burnout severity and build a structured recovery protocol. Use when a professional shows signs of burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, reduced efficacy), has explicitly identified burnout, or is returning to work after burnout leave — combining Maslach's clinical framework, ACT-based resilience, behavioural change science, and wellbeing lifestyle design. |
| risk | safe |
| source | finta |
| date_added | 2026-05-29 |
Burnout Assessment and Recovery Protocol
Overview
Combines professional resilience, wellbeing-lifestyle, behavioral-change, and purpose-values to assess burnout severity, identify its systemic and individual drivers, and produce a structured, phased recovery protocol grounded in clinical and behavioural evidence.
When to Use
- Professional reports: chronic exhaustion, cynicism about work, sense that nothing matters, reduced performance, inability to recover from rest
- Returning from burnout-related sick leave
- Coach, manager, or HR identifying at-risk team member
- Preventing escalation: professional showing early warning signs
Note: Severe burnout is a clinical condition. This skill produces a recovery framework but is not a substitute for professional mental health support. Flag clinical referral where symptoms are severe.
Required Inputs
- Burnout indicators — which dimensions are present: exhaustion / cynicism / reduced efficacy / physical symptoms?
- Duration — how long have these symptoms been present?
- Current situation — is the person still working, on leave, or recently returned?
- Identified causes — what does the person believe drove the burnout? (overload / lack of control / insufficient reward / team breakdown / unfairness / values conflict?)
- Support context — what support is available: manager, partner, healthcare?
- Recovery goals — what does sustainable return to work look like for this person?
Workflow
Step 1 — Burnout Severity Assessment (Wellbeing lens)
Read agent: agents/finta_holistic_wellbeing-lifestyle.md
Assess across the three Maslach dimensions:
- Emotional exhaustion: 1-10 scale, specific symptoms present
- Depersonalisation/cynicism: detachment from people, work, or values?
- Reduced personal accomplishment: sense of incompetence or irrelevance?
Assess physical correlates:
- Sleep quality and quantity
- Physical symptoms (headaches, immune suppression, chronic pain)
- HPA axis dysregulation signs (morning cortisol flatness, evening difficulty switching off)
Severity classification:
- Early warning (1-3 dimensions mild): lifestyle and boundary intervention
- Moderate burnout (2-3 dimensions moderate): structured recovery programme + possible medical review
- Severe burnout (3 dimensions severe + physical symptoms): urgent medical/clinical referral + full work pause recommendation
Step 2 — Causal Analysis (Maslach Six-Factor Model)
Read agent: agents/finta_holistic_professional-resilience.md
Map the burnout against the six organisational antecedents:
- Workload: chronic demand > capacity with insufficient recovery?
- Control: absence of autonomy over how/when/what work is done?
- Reward: insufficient financial, social, or intrinsic recognition?
- Community: breakdown of trust, support, or collegiality?
- Fairness: perceived inequity, inconsistent standards, discrimination?
- Values conflict: personal values in chronic conflict with required behaviour?
Identify: which factors are individual (can be changed by the person) vs. systemic (require organisational change)?
Step 3 — Values and Meaning Re-Orientation (Purpose-Values lens)
Read agent: agents/finta_holistic_purpose-values.md
- Assess whether the burnout has disrupted the person's sense of professional identity and meaning
- Identify what values are being violated in the current work situation
- Explore: is recovery compatible with returning to the same role, or is a career/role re-evaluation part of recovery?
- Use the Logotherapy lens: where is meaning currently absent? What experiential or attitudinal values remain available?
Step 4 — Behavioural Recovery Architecture (Behavioral Change lens)
Read agent: agents/finta_holistic_behavioral-change.md
Design the recovery behavioural system:
- Identify the current automatic behaviours maintaining burnout (checking emails at 10pm, skipping exercise, cancelling social plans)
- Design environment changes to interrupt these patterns
- Build minimum viable recovery behaviours — the smallest habit changes that initiate recovery
- Use implementation intentions: "When [trigger], I will [recovery behaviour]"
Step 5 — Phased Recovery Plan
BURNOUT RECOVERY PROTOCOL
Professional: [profile] | Date: [X]
Burnout severity: [early warning / moderate / severe]
Primary burnout drivers: [top 2-3 from six-factor analysis]
IMMEDIATE ACTIONS (Week 1-2)
Medical: [GP/psychiatrist referral if severe — Y/N]
Work: [continue / reduce load / take leave — specify]
Physical: [sleep protocol + exercise prescription]
Social: [minimum viable social connection plan]
RECOVERY PHASE 1 — STABILISATION (Weeks 1-4)
Goal: stop the depletion spiral
Boundaries: [specific work boundaries to implement immediately]
Recovery behaviours: [3 minimum viable habits]
Environment changes: [physical/digital environment to redesign]
Weekly support: [who + what format]
RECOVERY PHASE 2 — REBUILDING (Weeks 5-10)
Goal: rebuild energy reserves and reconnect with meaning
Physical rebuild: [sleep, exercise, nutrition — specific targets]
Meaning reorientation: [values re-engagement activities]
Work reintegration: [if on leave — phased return plan]
Relationship repair: [if community/trust damage occurred]
RECOVERY PHASE 3 — SUSTAINABLE REDESIGN (Weeks 11+)
Goal: structural changes to prevent recurrence
Individual changes: [specific boundary, behaviour, and habit changes to maintain]
Career/role evaluation: [if values conflict is systemic — what needs to change?]
Organisational advocacy: [if systemic factors need addressing with manager/HR]
Warning sign system: [early warning indicators to monitor + response plan]
SYSTEMIC FACTORS REQUIRING EXTERNAL ACTION
[List any organisational/systemic drivers that the individual cannot resolve alone — and who needs to be involved]
CLINICAL REFERRAL INDICATORS
Refer immediately if: severe physical symptoms, clinical depression, suicidal ideation, inability to perform basic daily functions
Step 6 — Sustainability and Relapse Prevention
Design the ongoing monitoring system:
- Weekly wellbeing check-in (5-minute self-assessment across exhaustion, cynicism, efficacy)
- Monthly review of the six organisational factors — are drivers being addressed?
- Quarterly values-alignment check: is the role still compatible with the person's values?
- Define the personal early warning threshold: what is the first sign that you are moving toward burnout again?
Output Quality Standards
- Severity must be honestly assessed — do not minimise moderate or severe presentations
- Individual and systemic factors must be separated — the recovery plan must address both
- Clinical referral must be recommended for severe presentations — this skill is not a clinical service
- The recovery timeline must be realistic — severe burnout recovery takes months, not weeks
- The sustainability section is as important as the acute recovery phase — without structural change, burnout recurs
