Rachel’s Story
A Personal Turning Point
Even as a Psychologist, I Didn’t See My Own Burnout Coming.
In 2015, I experienced severe burnout which left me unable to work for 6 months and took me about 2 years to fully recover from.
For over 10 years, i’d worked in fast paced, high pressure conditions as a business consultant so was very used to juggling multiple demands.
Furthermore, as a workplace psychologist and leadership assessor, I spent my days studying behaviour and helping others’ build their self-awareness to optimise their performance.
So, i thought I was pretty resilient and self-aware, until one day i crashed and burned.
The Wake-up Call
My wake-up call was physical - my body completely broke down. I had severe fevers and was unable to get out of bed.
But, i was also mentally exhausted, I couldn’t make even simple decisions and everything felt totally overwhelming.
Although it felt sudden, looking back, the warning signs had been building for years.
It made me realise how different things might have been if I’d had a way to recognise the early signals so I could have taken action long before reaching crisis point.
What I Learned
This experience inspired me to help others build their awareness of early warning signs of burnout so they can prevent it happening.
Drawing on my professional expertise in psychometric assessment design — and a two-year research project — I developed AURA, a tool to measure burnout risk, identify warning signals, and guide practical remedial action.
But personal insight is only half the story.
Whilst my own behaviour and lack of awareness contributed to my burnout, so did the workplace environment around me.
It became clear that tackling burnout effectively requires more than individual resilience. It requires a organisations to recognise stress earlier, create safe conversations and address the workplace factors contributing to it.
Why I created AURA
I wanted to know whether burnout followed recognisable patterns that could be identified much earlier.
Drawing on my background in psychometric assessment design, I began researching whether the journey from resilience to burnout could be measured objectively.
That research led to the development of the AURA Burnout–Resilience Continuum and the Workplace Stress Intelligence Framework — a practical approach that helps organisations recognise, measure, discuss and manage workplace stress before burnout occurs.
Today, AURA helps organisations embed workplace stress management into everyday leadership and organisational practice.
If I can help even one person avoid going through a burnout experience, then everything I've built will have been worth it.
Let’s build healthier, more resilient organisations
If you would like to explore how AURA could support your organisation, get in touch.