아동보호전문기관 상담원의 ‘소진(burnout)’ 경험에 대한 탐색

Meaning of Burnout among Child Protection Agency Workers

본 연구는 아동보호전문기관 상담원의 소진경험에 대한 의미를 탐색하고자 해석학적 현상학 방법을통해 아동보호전문기관 6개 기관 상담원 8명의 소진의 의미를 추출하였다. 아동보호전문기관 상담원의 소진경험이 나타내는 의미는 첫째, 업무량과 과정, 책임감 과중(過重)의결과, 둘째는 스스로에 대한 모습을 관찰하고, 가족구성원으로서의 의미를 재조명하게 되며, 내가 하고 싶은 것을 되씹어보는 반추(反芻)의 역할, 셋째는 한 인간으로서의 깊이와 상담원으로서의 성장, 소진의 의미를 스스로 되돌아보는 성숙(成熟)을 담고 있다. 소진(burnout)은 위기를 알리는 신호등의 역할로 작용하고 있었다. 이에 상담원의 소진경험에 대한의미를 토대로 소진 예방을 위한 방안을 제언하였다.

The purpose of this research is to define the meaning of burnout among workers in the child protection agency and analyze how their job-related stress affects their service quality. Data collection is from 8 workers of 6 agencies and I adopted new approach of resource gathering called as Van Mannen, qualitative research method. Frequently expressed stories and exceptional experiences were recorded during their individual counseling and group interview and I built structure of the recorded contents to gain the implication of burnout. The results of this research are as follows, First, workers’ burnout in the agency is related to their increasing workload, the negative feedback from supervisors as well as clients, tense relationship with co-workers. Secondly, it gives workers the chances to look at themselves in depth and consider their own family function and role. Furthermore, workers ruminate their dreams of what they really want to do. Thirdly, the workers can reflect on themselves as human being and reach to higher level as a workers through the burnout experience,which could link to their maturity in life. Counselors are susceptible to burnout, which could spot signs of stress that may require professional attention. I’m offering some prevention measures that can reduce the possibility of burnout based on counselors’ experiences.