Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although burnout is not an F‑Diagnosis in the ICD-11, many people are suffering from it. This has many economic and health-related consequences, because burnout is closely tied to an inability to work and significant secondary illnesses. This article provides an umbrella review of therapy approaches for burnout that have already been used and evaluated and shows in which areas there are promising, but still little researched, therapeutic support options for those affected. METHODS: A systematic literature search of studies was carried out in PubMed and Google Scholar between 2010 and 2024. The search terms were "burnout," "therapy," and "intervention" combined with "systematic review" and "meta-analysis." Overall, 10 systematic reviews or meta-analyses met the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: In five systematic reviews or meta-analyses, the therapy approaches focused on a specific professional group (nurses, doctors, and teachers); the others related to students or various groups of people. In seven studies, the effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on burnout were shown. The effects of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) were shown in four studies. Acceptance and commitment-therapy (ACT) as well as rational emotive therapy (RET) also proved to be effective. CONCLUSION: It still needs to be researched whether established thinking and behavioral patterns can be changed through the therapies discussed. The professional context should be given more attention. Some resource-oriented approaches like optimism, a sense of control, self-efficacy, and self-acceptance seem promising in the treatment of burnout.