Evidence·Case record
Complex PTSD and burnout: changes in work, sleep and family life
Work boundaries were established. Financial matters that had been avoided were addressed. A previously avoided family relationship reopened. These were things the client began doing as the emotional load reduced, not tasks assigned in a session.
Over approximately 14 weeks, the client’s self-rated symptom tracker fell from 72/105 to 7/105. That included about two months of meetings, followed by six weeks of independent practice with no further sessions.
Client-maintained tracker. Anonymized practitioner record. Not a controlled study. Prior insight-based work had helped the client understand the pattern, but had not resolved the underlying activation.
Before
Tracker score 72/105. Prior insight-based work, including EMDR, had not resolved the core pattern. Financial decisions were avoided, relationships withdrawn from and professional development put on hold.
After — by six-week follow-up
Tracker score 7/105. Work boundaries established, financial matters addressed and close relationships reopened.
Case summary
Starting point
Tracker score 72/105.
End point
Tracker score 7/105 at six-week post-engagement follow-up — approximately 90% reduction.
Functional outcome
Work boundaries established. Previously avoided financial matters addressed. A close family relationship reopened.
Evidence type
Client-maintained self-rated tracker. Anonymized practitioner record.
Understanding the history had not stopped the reaction
A senior professional in an international technology role arrived with a long trauma history and burnout from sustained performance demands. Earlier therapeutic work, including extensive EMDR, had helped make sense of the history. The reactions attached to it remained.
Sleep was poor. Financial decisions were being avoided, close relationships withdrawn from and professional development suspended. Avoidance of one close family member was present but initially unrecognised.
Symptoms covered the four clusters recorded in the case: intrusive material, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and physical or emotional reactivity.
Why the work focused on the reactions that remained
My working interpretation was that the client understood where the events came from and what they had meant, but still reacted to them. Burnout appeared to be a consequence of that continuing emotional load rather than a separate problem.
That does not make the earlier work irrelevant. It had helped the client understand the pattern and likely contributed to the stability from which this work began. This is not a comparison study of methods.
What we worked on
Starting with the immediate strain
Initial work addressed the immediate stress, strong reactions and disrupted sleep. The primary self-applied technique was introduced and used daily from the first session. Old material began surfacing during practice and was cleared as it appeared.
Following the pattern through personal history
We worked systematically through workplace experiences, the history of high-pressure presentations going back to school, and family relationships, including the avoided relationship. The client’s longstanding negative view of themselves was also addressed directly.
Addressing work boundaries and practical decisions
As the emotional load reduced, the client began taking actions that had previously been avoided. The changes in work, money and relationships happened alongside the falling tracker score, not after all the emotional work was finished.
Tracked progress
21-item complex PTSD symptom tracker, 0–5 per item, total possible score 105. Self-reported by the client at four time points.
| Timepoint | Score / 105 | Change from baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline | 72 | — |
| ~1 month | 54 | −25% |
| Endpoint (~2 months) | 23 | −68% |
| 6-week follow-up | 7 | ~−90% |
The 23 → 7 reduction occurred after the engagement closed. No sessions took place during the six-week follow-up window. Additional item-level detail is retained in the supporting record.
What changed outside the sessions
Sleep improved. A previously avoided family relationship was reopened. Work boundaries were established. Financial matters that had been avoided were addressed. A personal practice was begun.
Independent practice continued after the meetings ended. During those six weeks, the score fell from 23 to 7. The client did not need further sessions for that additional reduction to occur.
That continuing change is an important part of this record. It is an observed outcome, not proof of a mechanism or a prediction for another person.
What this record can and cannot establish
Anonymized practitioner record. The client is not identified in any way.
Client-maintained tracker, not a clinically administered instrument. Scores are self-reported.
Single case. Results are not representative of all clients or presenting situations.
Prior insight-based therapy was real and likely contributed to the regulated baseline. This case is not a comparison study against any prior modality.
Not a controlled study. There was no control group and no comparison condition.
Not peer-reviewed.
Not a substitute for medical or psychiatric care.
No guarantee of similar outcomes. Results vary between individuals and contexts.