Consider joining “Pathways Through Burnout”: a cohort experience to reflect, realign, and build supportive practices for navigating burnout.
Through April 2024, we’ll be holding a series of workshops and one-day retreats, building to the first cohort to form in fall 2024.
At this time, we have two upcoming workshops “Practices for Navigating Burnout” scheduled:
Friday, November 3rd 3:00-4:30pm ET (starting at 2pm CT | 1pm MT | 12pm PT)
Friday, December 15th 3:00-4:30pm ET (starting at 2pm CT | 1pm MT | 12pm PT)
Check back. We’ll be updating this page with more dates and details!
Description
So many of us are experiencing burnout at this time. Perhaps you, like us, can’t count the number of times you’ve been running on fumes. Or pushing past the point of “no!” Or rattling off a near-endless list of what’s not getting done.
Or perhaps you, like us, feel that so many people are counting on you. Even when you are over capacity or reaching beyond the breaking point, you are still needed to keep going. And this is especially the case for educators and organizers and caregivers and anyone socialized into women/femme ways of being.
If you, too, are experiencing burnout … or wondering if you might be? … then, know that you are not alone.
We’ve both experienced burnout ourselves and know that the language of “burnout” is a shorthand for being “burned up” by systemic injustice, including the cumulation of everyday microaggressions, presumed incompetence, and other characteristics of white supremacy culture and systemic oppression. We regularly talk with others who are similarly cycling through exhaustion, weariness, frustration, and disappointment, if not deeper hurts. We know that burnout is never just about burnout.
With these recognitions, we are convening a small-group and want to work together—with YOU!—to navigate pathways through burnout. Together, we’ll co-create a supportive, imaginative space for discussion, reflection, processing, and guidance.
Though burnout can feel like such an isolating experience, we’ve found that it helps to be in community. During our time together, to move into more connected ways of living and working, we (Beth and Candace) will offer readings, discussions, guided writings, meditations, coaching, and resources to assist you. We’ll journey together on pathways toward living aligned with commitments.
If you’re interested in learning more, continue reading, and sign up to receive more information. We’ll reach out personally.
How do I know if this cohort experience is for me?
Here are some questions you might consider:
- Have you found yourself using the language of “burnout” or saying that you’re tired, worn out, or just can’t handle one more thing?
- Have you been moving way too fast or feeling like you can’t move at all?
- Have you found yourself pushing past the point of depletion or feeling expected to?
- Are you feeling burned out or, more likely, burned up by pressures, expectations, or a near-endless list of what’s not getting done?
- Do you want to slow down or be more present to yourself and to others?
- Are you reconsidering or reconnecting with your commitments, considering what matters most—and why?
- Would you like to be living differently than you are now—with more purpose, intentionality, and commitment?
These are some of the reasons you might consider the cohort experience. We imagine many more, too! Reach out with any questions about whether this offering is for you.
Why pathways through burnout?
The two of us (Beth and Candace, co-creators) have not only experienced burnout, but also continue to learn, teach, and hold space around the experience.
For Beth, burnout has manifested multiple times: during graduate school, in the midst of family crisis, and around back surgery; in the early years as a faculty member; in the lead-up to tenure; and as a small business owner striving to make this work truly work. Burnout has also arisen around intensive therapy, and it has offered numerous lessons, much like other surprising teachers.
For Candace, burnout began when trying to manage multiple adjunct positions and flared again in graduate school as a parent with young children. Burnout continued throughout the tenure track when managing complex caregiving roles for both parents and children along with the challenges of not having a locally-based support network.
We both hold a number of personal stories of burnout. Some of these are shaped by experiences in academic contexts and toxic workplaces. Some are connected to experiences as caregivers. Many are related to our embodied experiences—racial, gendered, economic, and intersectional positioning—in the world. We find both connections in these experiences and can trace differential risks, options, and areas for unlearning.
As we process our own experiences with burnout, we know that burnout is much more than individual. It is always related to conditions of oppression: being burned up—used up, taken for granted, overworked, devalued, exploited, enraged, and inflamed. It can also hold many lessons for us, signaling long-held patterns to unlearn. Moving through burnout can involve reconnecting with ourselves and living with more awareness, intentionality, and inner knowing. And these personal changes are only part of the story. Micro- interventions happen alongside the need for meso- (family, department, group) and macro- (systemic, institutional) change. Navigating burnout, therefore, can point us in multiple directions, toward multiple pathways.
What are our guiding beliefs for navigating pathways through burnout?
- Burnout can happen during many phases/stages of one’s life.
- Burnout is not (NOT!) a sign of failure, laziness, or lack.
- Burnout can impact all facets of life—from work and home life to relationships with family, friends, and ourselves.
- Burnout is a multi-faceted experience: emotional, embodied, intellectual, relational, economic, and spiritual.
- There is no one-size-fits-all approach to navigating burnout.
- Navigating burnout invites self-work and intervention into systemic injustice.
- The pathways through burnout can take us in many directions, calling for many sorts of small and BIG changes.
- Pathways through burnout arise best when journeyed together in community.
Why participate in a cohort experience? Or, how could I possibly add one more thing to my already-packed schedule?
Taking time out to join a cohort might feel like yet another thing on your never-ending to-do list. We don’t want that for you. It’s important to us that this experience offers reflection, community, and guidance—all of which support pathways through burnout.
One of the most important things a cohort can offer is shared experience, shared space. Burnout can leave us feeling isolated. And being in community with others can restore a sense of wholeness. We come to know (to feel and experience and not just intellectually understand) that we are not alone in being burned out/up. Together, we can witness that while our stories and experiences may be unique, there is a power to working with and alongside others similarly burned up.
Who will facilitate the cohort experience?
This offering is co-created and co-facilitated by Beth Godbee, Ph.D. and Candace Epps-Robertson, Ph.D..
Beth Godbee, Ph.D. is a public educator, writer, and coach (previously tenured professor) with commitments to social, racial, and environmental justice. Beth left a faculty position in 2018 after years of burnout and has written about her experiences with both career discernment and burnout in Inside Higher Ed. Like Candace, Beth brings experience with and commitments to contemplative writing, meditation, and intuitive + embodied decision-making.
Candace Epps-Robertson, Ph.D. is a writer and educator who has also been a caregiver for most of her working life. She’s contended with various stages of burnout on the tenure track as a writer, teacher, and caregiver for aging parents with terminal conditions. Her commitment to helping others manage burnout is grounded in mindfulness practices, experiencing writing as a practice of self-discovery, and believing in the power of shared stories and experiences for transformation.
What’s included?
The cohort experience is still taking shape. Here’s what we are planning:
- Small-group gathering/coaching sessions that include meditation, guided writing, reflection, and discussion
- A curriculum leading the group though a series of guided questions and readings and related collaborative composing space to share responses between sessions
- Resource library with recommended readings, podcasts, guided meditations, writing prompts, and other sources to process burnout and develop supportive practices
- Monthly “office hours,” or a co-working space with breakout rooms for talking one-with-one with the facilitators (Beth and Candace) and with other cohort members
- Option of additional “office hours” and co-working space through participation in any one-day writing retreats that fit your schedule (Beth typically offers three per month)
- Option of being paired with an accountability partner for more regular check-ins
- Option to try a coaching session or two: two individual, hour-long coaching sessions (one with Beth, one with Candace) to schedule throughout the cohort experience. If you’re interested in additional one-with-one coaching with either Beth or Candace, then you can certainly purchase additional sessions.
How will the experience be structured? And when will the cohort meet?
The cohort is focused around small-group coaching/gatherings facilitated by Beth and Candace. We will open with introductions and a grounding practice, incorporate various activities that can deepen relationships with ourselves and each other, and spend the bulk of our time in reflection and discussion. Sessions will be guided by both a question and a short reading (not more than a chapter) to consider as a group.
Between gatherings, there are multiple ways to connect: through office hours, coaching, co-working time, writing retreats, a collaborative composition space, and/or accountability partnerships. It’s also absolutely fine to prioritize the whole-group gatherings and to show up for those alone. Or to join the group gatherings and occasionally drop into office hours. Or some other combination.
Just as we recognize there are multiple pathways through burnout, there are multiple pathways through this cohort experience.
The key component—what makes this offering a cohort experience—is the small-group coaching/gathering. Together, we’ll meet regularly, September through December. During each gathering, we’ll take a midpoint break, and we’ll be sure that our time together is interactive and connecting. We’re striving to cultivate and co-create a deeply relational space. So, show up as you are. Show up with food or drink. Show up as messy as life might be.
We answer some questions you might have in the FAQs below, and again, we’re happy to answer additional ones.
What is the cost?
As the cohort experience is still taking shape, so is the cost.
We will calculate the rate to reflect the costs incurred as a business and as two individuals and to keep the cohort small (capped at 8-10 participants). Paying the full price also allows us to offer the sliding-scale and scholarship options we describe below.
Specifically, we want to be sure that we are both resourced to do this work and that we create financial accessibility in multiple ways, especially prioritizing access for BIPOC and for people whose marginalization or life circumstances create financial barriers.
We invite you into deeper consideration (and, if it feels right, conversation with us), knowing how difficult conversations about money can be. As Beth has written in “Can Registrations Be Relational?” we are striving toward financial accessibility and community care. We know this work is deeply relational, and we want registration to be too. This is part of why we’re using an application process. It’s also why we are available to meet one-with-one to answer any questions you may have about the cohort experience, registration, or pricing.
Before outlining options, we want to encourage you to consider your current financial situation; access to institutional funding, professional development funds, or other financial support (like support from family); and identity-based privilege. You might review, for example, the self-assessment questions for determining your rate offered by AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance). And, again, we are here for any questions.
Payment Plans and Billing Options:
There are multiple ways for us to invoice and for you to pay. We can invoice you for part of the registration rate, and set up a payment plan for the remainder.
We regularly create custom invoices and work with program administrators and financial officers. We can talk about what you need in order to use grants, professional development, or other institutional funding. And if you haven’t already asked your organization for funding, the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) offers this guide for “making the ask.”
Sliding Scale Registrations and Scholarships:
We are committed to providing sliding-scale registrations and scholarships for the cohort. Again, we want to prioritize access for BIPOC and for people whose marginalization or life circumstances create financial barriers.
If the full rate of this offering is beyond your budget, please reach out. Let’s talk about options.
Other questions about cost or payment options? Other needs we haven’t anticipated?
Reach out! We’re here.
What is the application process?
We know that coming together as a community—as a cohort—takes time and commitment toward building trust. It takes courage to bring our whole selves into the group. It takes willingness to be open. And it takes follow-through to hold confidence with and for others. This is why we are using an application process: because we know this work is deeply relational and intimate.
We hope the application is open enough that you can share what you’d want us to know, but also short enough that it doesn’t feel burdensome. We ask just seven questions—listed below and to be completed via the google form linked here. Let us know if you prefer to answer via email or other means.
Application Questions:
- Name and pronouns.
- Contact information.
- What has brought you to this cohort experience, or why do you feel called/drawn to participate?
- What comes to mind when you imagine the “cohort experience,” or how do you envision a shared group in supporting you?
- What might be a few meaningful indicators or small signs that you are processing, navigating, or otherwise journeying through burnout?
- Would you like to talk with us about payment, sliding-scale, or scholarship options?
- Is there anything else you’d like us to know? Any questions, concerns, or accessibility considerations?
How can I learn more?
Submit an application or send us a message saying that you’re interested, and we’ll be in touch with more information.
Contact Beth with any questions, concerns, or accessibility considerations.
Navigate over to Candace’s web page on support for writers.
And read our collaborative blog post: “Q&A with Candace Epps-Roberts: On Seasons of Life, Writing, and Career.”
Also, join us for a workshop to try out the experience. We’re offering workshops on “Practices for Navigating Burnout.” During these workshops, we’ll offer a few practices for navigating burnout, and we’ll be available to answer questions. Learn more about the workshops here.
FAQs
What can I expect in a virtual gathering or small-group session?
We believe deeply in the process of co-creating a community/cohort. While we (Beth and Candace) will certainly offer discussion, share resources, and lead us through contemplative practices, we won’t be lecturing you about burnout. We hope that you will consider this an invitation to co-create alongside us.
We’ll typically begin sessions with guided meditation, reflective writing, and shared questions for the evening. We hope this will encourage check-ins about how we are showing up, how we are experiencing shared readings and activities/prompts, and how we can support one another. We also hope to collectively make room for rest and recovery/respite during our time together.
Because the sessions are a full two hours, we’ll take a break midway through. We also encourage you to join with video, but understand that you may need to step away from the screen or use the audio-only option at times.
How will I need to prepare before sessions?
We anticipate that preparation will only be a short time journaling or reading before we meet.
And if you haven’t had time to prepare, please join anyway! We wouldn’t want the problem of preparation to cause more stress or prevent anyone from joining in.
What if I can’t make a meeting? Will sessions be recorded? What about confidentiality?
We realize that life happens! You may need to miss a session for any number of reasons. That’s no problem, and you’ll still be able to participate via the collaborative composing space or to drop into office hours or writing retreats instead.
We plan to record only the grounding practice or guided meditation for our group sessions. We’d like to make these practices available ~ in case you’d like to practice on your own.
For confidentiality, we will not record the full session. We know how important confidentiality is, especially when burnout, career discernment, and related life questions are up for discussion. It takes time to build trust, and so much can be at stake.
Also, we want the group to be small so that deeper relationships are possible. This intimacy also means no recordings. Thanks for your understanding.
What kind of technology is required?
We will use a secure/password-protected Zoom room for our cohort gatherings and a private Google Drive folder for sharing resources and collaborative composing. You will receive a password and information for Zoom access. You may use whatever device you feel most comfortable accessing calls and resources: a laptop, notebook, smartphone, etc.
Do I need to purchase materials?
Throughout the cohort experience, we’ll be reading selections from four books:
- Do Nothing: How to Break Away from Overworking, Overdoing, and Underliving by Celeste Headlee (2021)
- Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey, Founder of The Nap Ministry (2022)
- Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab (2021)
- Wintering: The Power of Rest During Difficult Times by Katherine May (2020)
These are available in audiobook, ebook, and print formats. You may purchase copies or borrow from your local library.
We share additional recommendations in the resource library, but it’s truly up to you whether to purchase any of these materials.
Similarly, it’s up to you whether to purchase a journal or any other supplies (e.g., colorful markers or a vision board) that may support your experience.
