Stress-resilience expert shares insights on mental health at wellness conference 

By Mari-Len De Guzman

From the “extra-milers” to the “yes-persons,” these seemingly positive personality traits can also be the perfect recipe for burnout. And it’s a real risk facing many health-care providers, said Canadian physician and international speaker on stress resilience Dr. Susan Biali.  

At this year’s Balance Wellness conference for primary care providers, Biali delivered an engaging and interactive presentation that dug deeper into the issue of mental health in the medical profession. Drawing from her own experience, she shared her struggle with burnout early in her medical career as an emergency medicine resident. 

“Telling the truth ended up being the defining moment of my life,” Biali said of a pivotal conversation she had with a mentor that led her to rethink her professional and personal path. 

In her presentation, Biali emphasized preventing burnout requires a fundamental shift in how health-care providers perceive their professional roles and manage their own internal resources. She encourages them to embrace the protective power of boundaries, mindfulness, and self-compassion. 

Burnout is more than just stress, she explained. It involves emotional exhaustion, cynicism or depersonalization toward patients, and a reduced sense of efficacy or accomplishment. Burnout causes a physician to question their decision to become a doctor, she added.  

“The expectations that we put on ourselves – for the level of care that we insist we must provide, the number of things that we insist we must try to do for our patients – we often end up pushing ourselves far beyond our actual capacity, which is why we start getting into burnout.” 

With a mission to help physicians and health-care providers thrive so they would stay longer in practice, Biali encouraged attendees to develop a habit of identifying the positive things that happen in their practice as a way to train the brain, which can significantly improve one’s level of mental health. 

“As humans, we are wired with negativity bias,” Biali explains. “When we intentionally train our brains to pay attention on what went well, on a daily basis, our brain pathway changes.” 

The Annual Wellness Conference is jointly hosted by the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice, Chilliwack Medical Staff Association, and Fraser Canyon Medical Staff Association. Hosted in Whistler, B.C., a total of 190 attended this year, including 55 Division members, their families and staff. 

“Supporting the well-being of our members is essential for the sustainability of primary care in our region,” said Daphne McRae, executive director of the Chilliwack Division of Family Practice. “The Annual Wellness Conference provides a vital space for our providers to disconnect from the clinical environment and gain practical tools to help them remain resilient and engaged in the work they love.” 

The wellness event is a key component of Chilliwack Division’s vision of a thriving community of primary care providers delivering excellent patient services. This vision is driven by its five strategic priorities: member engagement, recruitment and retirement, provider supports, team-based care, and leadership opportunities. 

Biali also provided attendees with some helpful resources for preventing burnout and achieving resilience:
1. Research paper on “Six Areas of Worklife” (Michael Leiter & Christina Maslach)
2. Moral resilience article: Cultivating moral resilience – American Journal of Nursing
3. Harvard Business Review article: Collaborative overload (“extra-milers”)
4. Dr. Elissa Epel’s book on stress resilience: The stress prescription
5. Guide to non-sleep deep rest by Dr. Andrew Huberman
6. Non-sleep deep rest audio (basecamp podcast)
7. Additional articles by Dr. Susan Biali:
3 Signs It’s Burnout and Not Just Stress
Set Stronger Boundaries at Work Without Feeling Guilty