E134 Are You Really Burned Out?

Every year, another cohort of social workers leaves the field, and every year, the field calls it burnout like it's a personal failing. In this season premiere of The First Gen Madrina Podcast, Sara asks a different question: are people leaving because they're burned out, or because the support was never there to begin with? This episode reframes burnout as a systems issue and not a personal one. We are talking about unpacking unsustainable caseloads, no clinical supervision, pay that doesn't match the labor, and workplace cultures where saying "I'm struggling" can feel like a threat to your job. Sara also opens up about the rarely-discussed overlap between burnout and ADHD in social work, the masking cost for neurodivergent and first-gen clinicians, and why rest can feel unsafe when your worth has always been tied to output. In this episode, Sara unpacks: Why "burnout" is often the wrong diagnosis  The overlap between burnout and ADHD  The invisible tax first-gen clinicians carry  For more information on The First Gen Madrina and The Madrina Network Community for Social Workers, visit thefirstgenmadrina.com.