ABSTRACT

More recent theoretical ideas about the burnout process also are compatible with the notion that professional self-efficacy plays a central role. However, autonomy is only important as it relates to control and self-efficacy. Low autonomy usually is associated with burnout because when autonomy is low there generally are constraints and demands that interfere with goal attainment. Career counseling is more complex and involved than the popular 1- or 2- day "burnout workshop" in which relatively large groups of people come together to participate in didactic and experiential exercises. This chapter focuses on some individual-based strategies for enhancing professional self-efficacy. Organizations that combine a strong, shared ideology with concrete goals, effective work methods, and positive feedback should have much lower levels of burnout because self-efficacy will tend to flourish in such settings. Control and predictability received much attention in research on burnout.