Relationships of Leadership Style and Burnout to Counselors' Perceptions of their Jobs,Themselves, and their Clients

Professional burnout and factors related to the burnout phenomenon are issues that frequently appear in the current literature. Empirical studies to establish the relationships between perceived burnout and pertinent personal or organizational characteristics are difficult to find, however. This exploratory study sought to investigate relationships between counselors' felt degree of burnout and their perceptions of school leadership style, themselves, their job, and their clients. It was found that leadership style in the school was related to counselor's perceptions of themselves and their jobs, but not to their views of their clients or their own potency. Further, it was found that self-reported burnout was strongly related to counselors' perceptions and that self, job, and clients were all perceived more negatively as burnout increased.