In our master’s thesis, we research the erudition of parental exhaustion and burnout from two perspectives: the perspective of professional workers in the field of psychosocial support and assistance who often collaborate with parents; and the perspectives of parents themselves with children up to 15 years old, who also spoke about their direct experiences with parental exhaustion and burnout. We were interested in the processes of self-help, nonprofessional help and support from the social work profession during such hardships, and we also paid attention to the time of the covid-19 epidemic. In the theoretical part of the thesis, we present the most common challenges of parenting, the concepts of exhaustion and burnout, parental exhaustion and burnout. We also describe a way out of the grip of parental exhaustion and burnout, which includes prevention and self-care as well as treatment and professional help. At the end of the theoretical part, we write about the role of social work in the case of parental exhaustion and burnout. In the empirical part, we present the results of our research, which we obtained by analyzing interviews carried out with ten mothers and ten professional workers. In relation to the definitions of parental exhaustion and parental burnout, the participants in the research stated different associations on the physical, emotional, cognitive and behavioral levels. Research participants point out that parental exhaustion can translate into parental burnout, which is a diseased state of the body and mind and a higher level of parental exhaustion. The results of the research reveal that parental exhaustion and burnout often develop in: mothers who do not have the support of fathers in raising and caring for children; parents of younger primary school children; parents in a worse socio-economic situation; parents who have health or mental health problems, or their children have such problems; and in parents causing domestic violence. Most of the professional workers participating in the research led social work conversations with parents who experienced parental exhaustion or burnout, in the context of which they offered them relief, a solution-oriented perspective and first social assistance. When working with parents, they strengthened their parenting skills, and household chores and child care were treated as valued and demanding work. In the cases of parental exhaustion or burnout, the interviewed professional workers connected with various organizations and institutions. During the covid-19 epidemic, the professional workers identified a worse performance of the parental role due to overload and more frequent parental exhaustion and burnout among many parents. During the period of emergency due to the covid-19 epidemic, parents needed even more support and relieving conversations. We emphasize the importance of establishing an entry point for mothers in need and support groups for parents who are facing parental exhaustion or burnout. For the purpose of preventing and eliminating such hardships, we suggest providing more information to parents regarding parental exhaustion and burnout, which would significantly contribute to the de-tabooing of these problems and inform parents of possible forms of support and assistance.
|
