Clinician Well-being

Burnout and moral injury are rampant in our nation’s increasingly corporate, commercialized health care system shaped by cost containment rather than expertise. Clinicians’ decision making and autonomy are undermined by their shift in status to “employee.” Understandably system-generated “wellness” programs that emphasize clinician resilience are often perceived by clinicians as personal blame for system failure and additional burden. Exacerbating these issues is the traditional culture of medical training which distorts vulnerability as weakness, and teaches clinicians to always present as confident, entirely self-sufficient, and to ignore their own needs. Isolated and unsupported, clinicians often engage in “maladaptive” coping behavior that includes illicit substance abuse and consequences of marital/family relationship dysfunction and above average suicide risk. While measuring clinician distress may be helpful, published data that compare suffering (by discipline or medical specialty) is not. To help bring clinicians together, Dr. Bensadon offers discrete, individual consultation and facilitates discussion groups -- similar to Balint Groups/Schwartz Rounds -- that provide a safe, supportive outlet and build camaraderie to buffer system-induced stress, isolation, moral injury, and burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and cynicism). Importantly, these groups aim to unite and normalize not pathologize. Clinician confidentiality and concerns about potential punitive consequences for open disclosure are prioritized.