We Are Our History: Burnout, Identity, and Reclaiming Ourselves

In this episode of Beyond the Chair, I sit down with my longtime colleague and friend, Lluliana Flores, LCSW, to talk about decolonizing therapy, community mental health, supervision, and therapist burnout. Together, we reflect on what it means to practice in systems that shape us and sometimes exhaust us. We explore cultural humility in the therapy room, the limitations of diagnosis, the realities of early-career supervision, and how many of us built our identities around productivity and the letters behind our names. But underneath it all is a deeper question: Who are we outside of the job? This conversation is about reclaiming identity, remembering our history, reconnecting with our roots, and finding sustainable ways to remain in this field without losing ourselves in it. If you’ve ever wondered whether burnout is about more than just workload, this one’s for you. Chapters (00:00:00) - Burnout and Decolonization(00:05:52) - Bring culture into the therapist's session(00:09:19) - Neuroticism on Inflammation(00:14:06) - On Why I Have Burnout(00:18:41) - Juliana on Working On A Full Schedule(00:22:52) - Clinical Case Manager on Burnout(00:27:01) - Former Community Mental Health therapist on the burnout(00:31:37) - Pushing the boundaries of mental health(00:34:30) - Burnout Talk: Own Your Story(00:35:24) - The First Intermission