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Burnout can be a real concern for anyone. But with foster carers, it can cause even more problems. As a foster carer, you are dealing with extra risks, as not only can burnout impact you, but your foster children too. The last thing you want is to feel overwhelmed, and for you and your foster children to feel the effects of that as you do your best to cope.
Knowing what the main causes of burnout are not only means you can manage it better when you start to feel the warning signs. With this knowledge, you will also be able to spot the signs in your foster children too, who just like adults, can experience burnout too. The tell-tale signs of burnout.
Burnout is often interchanged with the term exhaustion. The common signs of burnout include:
Although helpful for your own well-being, it would be difficult to see these feelings in another person, like your foster child.
Burnout in foster children is often caused by their traumatic experiences, along with difficulty to cope. This is why it’s important to recognise the signs of burnout in your foster child, so you can take the right steps to help them. Some common signs of burnout to look for in foster children are:
A state of physical and emotional exhaustion, burnout can occur when you experience long-term stress. Because it’s built up over a long period, the question remains what are the root causes of burnout for foster carers?
Foster children are complex individuals, they have had experiences that not the typical child will have experienced like a turbulent and unsettling upbringing. Sometimes, these experiences express themselves through more challenging behaviour.
Examples of challenging behaviour include:
While we must understand and sympathise with why these behaviours are occurring, unfortunately, they are more challenging for foster carers to deal with, which can take a toll on their well-being by becoming increasingly stressed.
Even with the fostering allowance for foster carers, we can experience anxiety over our finances. So much so in fact that money worries could contribute to long-term stress and experiencing burnout.
Managing your finances by monitoring and budgeting, as well as getting financial advice, are all good steps to take if you’re experiencing financial anxiety. Moreover, we encourage you as a foster carer to discuss your financial worries with your social worker, who will discuss with you the next steps and what you can do to put yourself in a better position financially.
The quality of your relationships has a direct impact on your well-being. Poor relationships can cause not just yourself, but anyone around you, stress and restlessness. As a foster parent, it’s important to foster a healthy relationship with your foster child and your partner too.
Doing the things that contribute to a healthy relationship, not only improves the well-being of your foster child, but yourself too. Of course one of the primary things to remember when looking to build a healthy relationship between you and your foster child is to implement PACE (playfulness, acceptance, curiosity and empathy) which help them co-regulate.
Another important step to take to build a healthy relationship is to create clear boundaries and predictable routines so they know what to expect.
With that being said, more ways you can foster a healthy relationship with your foster child are:
Not taking time out for yourself, can make you feel unfulfilled and in the long run, stressed. Self-care can mean different things for everyone, but the crux of self-care really is taking time out to devote yourself to things that bring you fulfilment and joy.
And while we understand that you may find prioritising your own care over that of your foster child’s challenging, it’s crucial you put yourself first once in a while too. Your passions, hobbies and other healthy habits like socialising with new people, eating healthy and exercising in any way all need time and attention as well.
After all, children are very intuitive, and so a foster child may pick up on your behaviours as an unhappy and burnout foster carer and feel the effects second-hand.
The unfortunate thing about burnout is that once you start to experience it, it becomes a vicious cycle. The more stressed you feel, the more difficult it becomes to put your thoughts to bed while you lay on your own and try to get some much-needed shut-eye. Here are some tips to ease your anxiety so you can sleep:
Burnout is best resolved through good-quality emotional support from professionals like your social worker. Communicate openly with them, express what you have to say – your concerns, frustrations, and worries. Feelings of burnout need to be shared asap so that an alternative route of foster care can be provided before things reach crisis point.
An extra workload could be contributing to increased stress levels. Consider seeking additional support via respite care, who can take over the care for a short time, while you take some time out for yourself.
A lack of sleep can raise cortisol (a hormone stimulated by stress) levels in your body. By prioritising rest and recovery, cortisol levels decrease as your body recovers from the effects of stress.
Coping skills like taking deep breaths, stretching, meditating, regular exercise and cooking healthy meals will help you to cope when feeling stressed and burned out.
Especially if there are additional causes of burnout, seeking further professional help is one of the most important steps you can take to manage your condition. Talking with a trained medical professional will help you find ways to deal with stress and may help you identify the root causes so you can address them.
Foster carers experiencing burnout or stress not only impacts their own well-being, but those who they care for too, especially if they’re caring for a traumatised child. National Fostering Group believes in providing support that allows our carers to focus on the well-being and care of their foster child. So that our carers get the support they need, we offer:
Additionally, we manage the support for children and carers managing the stress of fostering by offering the below benefits:
Around the country, dozens of children enter the care system every day – children who can’t live at home through no fault of their own. We work with local authorities in every region of the UK to meet growing demand for all types of fostering. Can you become a foster carer and make a difference to a child’s future?
We offer a generous fostering allowance, with exclusive perks and benefits, free training (including specialisms) and exceptional support from your local team of fostering professionals.
If you’re unsure whether you’re eligible, try our Can I Foster? tool, which answers common questions about suitability to foster, based on a personalised Q and A style format. The outcome might surprise you! If you’re ready to chat with one of our fostering advisors, contact your local team.
