Five years ago, I began a research project into emotional labour, compassion fatigue and burnout in Alberta’s educational workers.

The results from the earliest study suggested a wide scope of emotional and mental distress among teachers, educational assistants, school leaders and support staff.

This distress has been documented globally and across Canada, suggesting educator mental and emotional well-being continues to decline and interventions are needed.

Read more: Commit to a 'wellness streak' to help manage work stressors

Recently, my research team analyzed the specific interventions that our 4,000 survey respondents used to manage their symptoms of compassion fatigue and burnout. Educational worker respondents were recruited online through Alberta Teachers’ Association and internal newsletters and social media. Responses were collected across three periods (2020, 2021 and 2023). We defined intervention as a practice or strategy used to address distress or suffering.

Overwhelmingly, our respondents indicated that they used self-directed or individual interventions to deal with workplace distress such as going to a gym, walking alone, talking to friends and spouses or pursuing hobbies.

While individual interventions are one part of dealing with distress, a single person cannot self-care themselves out of the effects of a toxic workplace or organizational culture.

In their recent book, The Burnout Challenge: Managing People’s Relationships with their Jobs, workplace burnout experts and emeriti........

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