I Built a Career Helping People Manage Stress.
Then Stress Put Me in Hospital.
Here's the online course I wrote afterwards. It's the knowledge I wish I'd had before I knew I needed it, built to meet Safe Work Australia's psychosocial safety standards and priced well under the cost of a single workers' compensation claim.
I'm Tess Howells, a registered psychologist with twenty-plus years in the caring field
I’ve worked across the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Aboriginal health organisations, offshore and remote work with the International Health and Medical Service and run a multi-disciplinary clinic of my own.
And somewhere in the middle of all of that… I had a stroke. From burnout.
The one thing I'd spent my career helping other people avoid.
I know how this sounds coming from a psychologist – the irony isn’t lost on me.
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Which is part of why I'm telling you about it now, rather than keeping it to myself.
Here's why it matters: If it happened to me - someone trained to recognise every warning sign - what's happening right now to the carers on your roster?
What Burnout Actually Costs Your Organisation
Over 70% of Australian carers report some form of burnout. (Monash University, 2021) You don't need the stat to see it though - it's in your numbers:
Workers' compensation claims for psychological injury are now one of the fastest-growing cost lines in health and community services.
Once a claim is filed, your options narrow quickly: premium hikes at the next renewal, lost productivity through extended absence, backfill costs, recruitment and retraining when the worker can't return to their role.
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Prevention costs a fraction of what one accepted claim does.
Most insurers know this. Many now offer direct funding to employers who wish to offer a proactive program to manage psychosocial risk. It's worth asking yours.
And then there's the compliance side. Under Australia's Work, Health & Safety legislation, you have a legal obligation to identify and actively manage these risks. Documented training is part of how you meet it.
Carer Fatigue and Burnout: Prevention & Recovery Through Radical Self-Care
Built from four years of research, two decades of practice and the lessons I learned (the hard way) from my own recovery.
This course is:
Designed around Safe Work Australia's psychosocial safety guidelines and the National Carer Strategy (2024–2034)​.
Counts for 10 hours of CPD for health and support workers​.
Evidence-based, built on trauma-informed praxctice, positive psychology and real-life caring scenarios.
Written by someone who's been there - not just theorised about it.
It isn't bubble baths and breathing apps.
It's a whole-person framework. Your staff will work through:
Recognising the early signs of stress before they become burnout​
Noticing and interrupting fatigue patterns
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Setting boundaries without the guilt
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How prolonged stress rewires the nervous system - and how to help it recover
Practical techniques they can use on shift, between clients and at the end of a long day
Reconnecting with why the work mattered to them in the first place
Multi-User Pricing
From $79 per seat, with volume discounts up to 20% off for larger teams.
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You decide who gets access - a team, a site, your whole workforce. Your WHS and L&D teams get participation reporting. Your carers get something they'll actually use.
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And you get a documented answer to the question your insurer and the regulator may one day ask: what did you do about it?
Download: What Burnout Really Costs Australian Organisations (And What Prevention Looks Like)
Get a free PDF guide detailing the true financial and operational impact of burnout, and practical steps to mitigate it.
Reach Out
Enquire about the course for your organisation and you'll hear back from me directly. Not a sales team. Not an auto-responder.
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I'll ask about your workforce, your context, and the pressure points you're seeing. I'll tell you honestly whether this course is the right fit for your people - and whether there's a way to bring your insurer into the conversation about covering the cost.
Stay well,
Tess Howells
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Registered Psychologist, Thrive Positive Psychology
P.S. The cost of prevention sits well inside what one psychological injury claim can cost you. And if you've never asked your insurer whether they'd fund this kind of training, that conversation might be the best hour you invest this quarter.
Either way - happy to talk!