Burn-out syndrome focusing on officers in charge of children and youth in risk

The Bachelor's thesis concentrates on burnout syndrome among counsellors for children and youth. The aim of the thesis was to determine whether counsellors for children and youth feel at risk of burnout, whether they are informed about burnout and how they try to prevent it. The theoretical part of the thesis is focused on a brief introduction to counsellors' job and definition of burnout. This part particularly deals with specifics of counsellors' work with at-risk youth and preventing burnout. The research was carried out using a qualitative research strategy which consisted of two methods survey and semi-structured interview. The data were analyzed by a clustering method. The research group consisted of eight counsellors for children and youth selected according to their availability. The following research question was used to map the above-mentioned issue: Are counsellors for children and youth at risk of burnout? The results have shown that the majority of counsellors for children and youth feel at risk of burnout syndrome, particularly because of the stress factors at work. The most common stress factors named by the respondents included excessive amount of administration tasks and documentation, too many clients per one employee, careless attitude of clients or inadequate feeling of recognition and support from superiors as well as colleagues. Supervision can be used at all respondents' workplaces as an effective tool in preventing burnout, but it was often assessed as unsatisfactory. Currently, the burnout syndrome is often discussed especially among the helping professions, which also include counsellors for children and youth. Despite this fact, it is advisable to further explore this issue. To sum up, the thesis describes specific reasons why counsellors for children and youth are at risk of burnout syndrome. Next, it asks whether counsellors take adequate preventative measures against burnout and closely concentrates on supervision in the workplace. The thesis can serve as a basis for further research and the results can be used at the institutions where counsellors for children and youth work