…But You Feel Every Day
Week 3 of “Burnout Is Not a Badge of Honour” with Samantha Newton, HR Consultant & Workplace Wellbeing Ally
Many wellbeing practitioners experience burnout not from sessions themselves, but from the emotional labour between them. Here’s how to start protecting your energy, and why it’s time to get some of it in writing.
Let’s talk about emotional labour.
The part of your work that doesn’t show up on your invoice.
But absolutely shows up in your body.
If you’ve ever walked away from a session feeling heavy, drained, or like you’ve just absorbed someone else’s grief, anxiety or story, this is for you.
It’s the stuff no one warns you about when you start.
And yet, it’s often what pushes practitioners toward burnout, not the session itself, but everything between.
This is emotional labour. And it’s real.
I’ve spoken with counsellors who cry on the drive home.
Massage therapists who end every shift with headaches they can’t explain.
Coaches who lie awake wondering if their last session was enough.
Energy workers who feel they’ve taken on more than they released.
This kind of emotional labour, this mental load, is one of the biggest unspoken risks in solo practice.
Especially when there’s no structure around it.
And that’s where HR support for wellbeing professionals really earns its place, not in legal forms, but in emotional protection.
When you hold emotional space for others, you need more than just good intentions. You need:
- Boundaries around when and how clients can contact you
- Written agreements that clarify what your role is, and what it’s not
- Peer support, supervision, or debriefing systems
- Time and policies that give you space to step back
I’ve supported many solo practitioners through this, putting structure around the emotional weight they were never meant to carry alone.
Because sustainable practice includes your self-care too.
And systems don’t have to be cold. They can be protective.
A Practical First Step:
Add one sentence to your client agreement about when and how people can contact you between sessions.
That’s all.
It’s small.
But it’s a boundary that says: This is when I’m available, and this is when I’m resting.
Something To Reflect On Today:
Where are you holding more than your role requires?
And what would it feel like to name that, not as failure, but as something you no longer want to carry?
If you want to share, feel free to get in touch.
Not to fix it. Just to see it clearly.
If emotional labour is becoming the invisible workload in your practice, and you need help creating better boundaries, agreements or working systems, I’m here.
This is what HR for people-first businesses looks like.
Not compliance for the sake of it, but support that helps you keep going, without compromising yourself in the process. See you next week with Week 4: Why your policies are actually a kindness, and how they make your practice more human, not less.
Take care of you,
Samantha Newton
Founder, Magenta Core HR Solutions
Practical support for the people behind the practice
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Main – Photo by Polina Zimmerman
