15 Aug “The Burnout Cure”: Q & A with Author, Julie de Azevedo Hanks, MSW, LCSW
Ever feel burned out? I know I do (more often than I care to admit!). And, I know my friends do. And, I know my clients do. In fact, in my experience, burnout is a topic to which almost all women can relate!
That’s why I’m so excited to share my interview with Julie de Azevedo Hanks, MSW, LCSW, author of The Burnout Cure. Julie is “a self-care evangelist,” licensed therapist, relationship expert, media contributor, blogger, speaker, songwriter, and mom of 4. She also happens to be a close friend of mine. We met in the hall of a conference, eight years ago, and had so much in common after a five-minute conversation, we exchanged numbers, and the rest is history! As I’ve been writing my memoir, This is How We Grow, Julie was writing The Burnout Cure; and, we’ve supported each other through every painstaking step of the writing, editing, and publishing process!
Now, Julie’s book is finally here! So, I am excited to share with you The Burnout Cure not only because the topic is a great one, or because I’ve read it and think it’s terrific. I’m also excited to share this interview with you because I know how hard Julie has worked to make this book happen, and how much she believes in helping women embrace the importance of self-care. Hope you enjoy!
Q: First, it is an honor to host you on my site, Julie. A site that, I might add, YOU helped me set up! I recall driving 10 hours to your house and 
spending a very long day (and night) sitting beside you as you got me started on my website, blog, and all my social media sites. I was so clueless, and you were so patient! What got you started on the path to becoming the social media queen you have become?
Julie: I realized about a decade ago that the Internet was where my ideal therapy clients would likely find me. I set up a webpage for my therapy practice. I also had a music website featuring my songwriting that I managed for years, so I was very comfortable navigating new technology.
About 5 years ago I branched out into my first local TV hosting gig and realized that I wanted to connect with fans of the show. So, I set up a my first social media account — Facebook. My “love affair” with social media has flourished ever since!
I am an early technology adapter. Social networking sites have allowed me to reach a broad audience with my message of emotional health and relationship in a powerful way. Maintaining a strong web presence and engaging regularly with followers has afforded me so many professional opportunities and has brought me much personal joy (and a lot of good laughs)! I really care about my online friends and followers.
(Follow Julie on her social media sites, and check out here website, below!)
Q: What first got you interested in the topic of overcoming emotional burnout?
Julie: As a recovering perfectionistic overachiever I am well acquainted with feelings of emotional burnout and continue to do a lot of reflection and continual rebalancing to find that sweet spot somewhere between exhilaration and exhaustion. As a young person, I saw that my mom was often overwhelmed and didn’t invest a lot in her own self-care. I don’t say that in a blaming way at all. I just noticed that I had stirrings in me that I wanted my life to be different somehow.
Q: “The Burnout Cure” is a great title. I mean, don’t we all want to be “cured” of burnout?! How did you come up with the concept and content of 
your book?
Julie: I’m glad you like the title. It’s amazing how difficult it is to name a book. It was a lot harder than naming any of my four children! In my clinical practice I have listened to hundreds of women express feelings of exhaustion, shame, and feeling “never good enough,” in addition to feeling isolated and alone in their feelings. I wanted to put together a presentation where I would guide the discussion with groups of women in order to normalize their experiences and reframe how they see themselves. I put together a presentation called “Preventing Emotional Burnout” and presented it to large women’s groups for over a decade. I surveyed every group for over seven years and ended up with about 3,500 surveys from women on emotional health and self-care topics.
Q: I think that’s one thing that makes this book so great–it’s based on years of your interactions with women. Though it’s written for women of the LDS (or Mormon) faith (of which you and I are both members), it seems the principles in this book would be helpful for women of all faiths and belief systems. Do you agree, and how so?
Julie: I agree! The general concepts in this book are applicable to all women and men, though the specific examples and the books lens are definitely from a perspective of faith. I think this book might be very helpful for professionals who work with Latter-day Saint clients in developing cultural competency.
Q: I’ve certainly experienced “burnout” myself (many times!), and I’ve seen it in many of my clients, especially women. Why do you believe so many of us struggle with “burnout?”
Julie: I believe so many of us struggle because we want to be, do, have, and give so much. We put a lot of pressure on ourselves to be “perfect” and define it as being without flaw. As we seek to attain something that’s totally unrealistic, we will become burned out because we can not get there (wherever “there” is) no matter how hard we try.
Q: I completely agree. In your book, you discuss six “burnout cures.” I’ll let people get the book to read them all, but what, in your opinion, are the top one or two things women can do to start overcoming burnout today?
Julie: The first cure I talk about in the book is the importance of learning to feel and express a full range of emotion. It’s easy to “numb out” and try to avoid feeling painful emotions, but learning how to be mindful of all of our feelings and to experience them. Emotions are information to guide us in our lives. Shutting down emotionally leads to burnout because the energy (E-motion is energy in motion) just stays inside our bodies and causes more pain.
Q: Is this something you have personally struggled with in your life? If so, what things do you do to “cure” emotional burnout?
Julie: I actually do all of the six cures recommended in the book on a regular basis. This book is really about my own journey to find a balance between taking care of others and taking good care of me.
Q: If you had one message to share with women everywhere, what would it be?
Julie: My message to all woman would be this: Always include yourself in your circle of care. Take good care of you and of your emotional needs. You matter and you are in charge of creating the life you want to create.
Thank you, Julie, for sharing your time and expertise with us! Everyone, be sure to check out The Burnout Cure, in stores and online now!
Julie de Azevedo Hanks, MSW, LCSW is a self-care evangelist, licensed therapist, relationship expert, media contributor, blogger, speaker, and songwriter with 20 year experience counseling LDS women, couples and families. In addition to owning Wasatch Family Therapy, LLC and serving as executive director, Hanks is an emotional health and relationship expert on TV and radio. She is a regular contributor on KSL TV’s Studio 5 and has appeared nationally on TLC, Discovery Health, and FOX News Channel. Her down-to-earth advice has also been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Cosmopolitan, CNN, Women’s Day, Women’s Health, Real Simple, Parenting, and others. Hanks writes for Answers, Sharecare, DailyStrength, and PsychCentral websites.
As an award-winning performing songwriter, “Julie de Azevedo” has written dozens of songs, contributed to numerous projects, and produced 10 solo CD’s over the past 25 years. Her most recent CD “Masterpiece: The Best of Julie de Azevedo” is a collection of her best-loved songs.
Hanks most valuable experience has been “in the trenches” of family life as a wife to Jeff Hanks and mother of 4 children. In her “spare time” Hanks is earning her PhD in marriage and family therapy, taking long naps, and eating a lot of chocolate.
Get to know Julie and checkout The Burnout Cure on her website, www.juliehanks.com!
And, be sure to follow Julie on your favorite social media sites! (She really is a social media queen!)
http://www.facebook.com/juliehankslcsw
http://www.twitter.com/Julie_hanks
http://pinterest.com/juliedeahanks
http://instagram.com/julie_hanks
http://www.youtube.com/juliedeazevedohanks
https://plus.google.com/u/0/108255629880108892125
http://juliehanks.conduitapps.com/
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://www.drchristinahibbert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/square-head-shot1.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]Clinical Psychologist, Mom of 6, Postpartum Couples DVD Producer, Non-Profit Founder, and expert on Parenting, Women’s Emotions, Pregnancy & Postpartum, and Grief & Loss, Dr. Christina Hibbert loves songwriting, learning, and teaching what she learns. She is continually practicing “The Burnout Cure,” and probably always will be![/author_info] [/author]
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