Stress & burnout
Support for stress and burnout
A confidential space to step back from day-to-day pressure and build practical ways of managing it, including stress linked to work.
At a glance
- Provider
- Ann Purves
- Professional status
- Registered Member MBACP, registration 00988953. Verify on the BACP Register.
- Approach
- Integrative, mostly person-centred, drawing on CBT-informed techniques
- Format
- Telephone or secure online video
- Fee
- £50 / 1 hour · £30 / 30 minutes
- Clients
- Adults
- Coverage
- UK-wide, based in Newcastle upon Tyne
- First step
- Email ann@annpurves.com or call 07856 187641
What the NHS says about stress
The NHS doesn't classify stress as a medical condition, but recognises that ongoing stress can contribute to both physical and mental health problems if it isn't addressed. Recommended approaches include identifying what's causing the pressure, building coping strategies, talking to someone, and, where stress is affecting your health, speaking to a GP.
Recognising burnout
Burnout tends to build gradually rather than arrive all at once. Common signs include exhaustion that doesn't lift with rest, growing cynicism or detachment from work or responsibilities, and a sense that you're achieving less however hard you try. It's often, though not always, linked to sustained pressure at work.
How Ann works with stress and burnout
Ann works integratively, mostly person-centred, starting from your actual workload and circumstances rather than a generic programme. When pressure has been building for a while, a circle of control exercise can help sort what's genuinely yours to change from what isn't, which often takes some of the weight off before anything else happens. CBT-informed techniques are also useful for catching the thinking patterns, the catastrophising, the self-criticism, that tend to sharpen once exhaustion sets in.
Background with work-related stress
Ann has worked with adults referred through occupational health processes, and that experience has given her a close view of how work-related stress actually builds: the slow accumulation before someone names it, the difficulty of a return to work, the way pressure at home and pressure at work compound each other. If your employer runs its own occupational health process, counselling sits alongside that rather than in place of it. Ann is a counsellor, not an occupational health assessor, so formal workplace assessments remain your employer's own provider's responsibility.
Common questions
Stress & burnout counselling, explained
What is burnout?
Burnout is a state of physical and emotional exhaustion, usually building up gradually from prolonged stress, particularly work-related stress. It typically shows up as exhaustion that doesn't lift with rest, growing cynicism or detachment, and a reduced sense of achievement or effectiveness. It isn't a medical diagnosis in itself, but the NHS recognises prolonged stress as a trigger for wider physical and mental health problems, and recommends addressing it early.
Can counselling help with stress and burnout?
Yes. Counselling offers a confidential space to step back from day-to-day pressure, understand what's driving stress or burnout, and build practical strategies for managing it, whether that's the situation itself, how you're responding to it, or both.
What approach is used for stress and burnout in sessions?
Ann works integratively, mostly person-centred, drawing on what's useful for your situation. This can include a "circle of control" exercise to separate what you can influence from what you can't, and CBT-informed techniques for noticing unhelpful thinking patterns that build under pressure. Sessions are shaped around what's actually happening for you, not a fixed programme.
Do you have experience with work-related stress specifically?
Yes. Ann has worked with adults referred through workplace occupational health, and that work has regularly included stress and burnout linked to work pressure. She is a counsellor, not an occupational health assessor, so any formal workplace assessment or return-to-work process would sit with your employer's own occupational health provider.
Should I see a GP about stress or burnout?
It's worth seeing a GP if stress is affecting your physical health, sleep, or ability to function, or if it's tipping into low mood or anxiety that isn't easing. A GP can assess what's going on and discuss further options. Counselling and GP support can work well alongside each other.
Can I have stress or burnout counselling online or by phone across the UK?
Yes. Sessions are available UK-wide by secure online video or telephone. £50 for a 1-hour session, £30 for a 30-minute session.
Ready to talk it through?
Send me an email or give me a call and we'll find a time that works.