The case of Rose Rose exhausted herself by her driven approach to her work in social services. She also described sitting all night with a distressed friend so that she felt “completely wiped out” next day.
The case of Rose Rose exhausted herself by her driven
approach to her work in social services. She also described sitting all night with a distressed friend so that she felt “completely wiped out” next day. As she explored her thinking around this incident, the therapist wrote one of her main problematic thoughts, “I have to be responsible”, on the whiteboard. After pausing to think, Rose picked up a board-marker and wrote next to the thought: “If I burn myself out I won’t be able to be responsible for anything!” The exchange led naturally to constructing a set of criteria for “taking responsibility within reason!”