Edward Yaeger LMHC, LCP, MBA, MPA, MA

Burnout has become an epidemic; and the current, general consensus of its prognosis is far from encouraging. However, believe it or not, burnout can be preventable, mitigable, and, more often than not, altogether avoidable. Ask me how.

As an openly out member (of a certain age) of the Queer community, I'm very much acquainted with issues unique to us. Ever-learning, I'm increasingly aware of the vastness of nuances at play in our individual approaches to the otherwise everyday issues as well. 

No relationship is perfect. Even the healthiest among them do well to access support systems and resources such as counseling. At minimum, it offers an element of fresh and safe objectivity. Above and beyond, it can assist in course correcting, realignment, and elevation of both, the mundane and the existential, as partners journey through life's inevitable ups and downs and ineluctable phases and stages.

Depending on the issue or disorder, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an oft-preferred therapeutic modality because it can be very effective, not to mention more and more research has been pointing to CBT as an increasingly corroborated correlative of the social science of psychology and the natural sciences of biology and chemistry (particularly neurology). It's not without its limitations, however, and there's no such thing as 'one-modality-fits-all.'

Working with couples and polycules, I tend to oscillate between Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT). EFT often helps to fortify the relationship(s) by examining current and historical dynamics; deconstructing any core or central misalignments, "hiccups," and impasses; and, in time, introducing values-based salves. SFT often helps to get right to the issues at hand, especially the surface ones, but frequently at the expense of context and significant strata.

Working with couples and polycules, I tend to oscillate between Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Solution-Focused Therapy (SFT). EFT often helps to fortify the relationship(s) by examining current and historical dynamics; deconstructing any core or central misalignments, "hiccups," and impasses; and, in time, introducing values-based salves. SFT often helps to get right to the issues at hand, especially the surface ones, but sometimes at the expense of context and relevant strata.

If I had to subscribe to a specific theory or modality, then it would likely be Narrative Therapy. Narrative Therapy is "a form of therapy that aims to separate the individual from the problem, allowing the individual to externalize their issues rather than internalize them." But it's so much more than this -- it's arguably embracive, if not inclusive, of the most enduring psychoanalytic theories alongside many of the most exciting contemporary psychodynamic "discoveries." 

If I had to subscribe to a specific theory or modality, then it would likely be Narrative Therapy. Narrative Therapy is "a form of therapy that aims to separate the individual from the problem, allowing the individual to externalize their issues rather than internalize them." But it's so much more than this. Indeed, it's arguably embracive, if not inclusive, of the most enduring psychoanalytic theories alongside many of the more exciting psychodynamic "discoveries" of our time.