Abstract

This dissertation is a descriptive study of stress and burnout. Its purpose is to offer a broad view of the nature and resolution of stress and burnout. A wide range of literature on stress and burnout is reviewed, and contemporary theories are critiqued. The dissertation puts forward the "Theory of Balance" and ends with an alternative and expanded frame of reference. ;This dissertation concludes that problematic stress and burnout result from insufficient meaning and purpose, in both the psyche and the spiritual levels of being. Without this, a pervasive sense of unbelonging, to one's self and to one's world, results. This conclusion is based on the theory, the thesis, that an intrinsic need for balance exists in both the psyche and the spirit of humankind, activated by meaning and purpose in each sphere. ;The antithesis of this condition is stress and burnout: to the psyche's biological-physiological functions; the psyche's psychological aspects ; and/or in the spiritual domain, which is independent of, but interactive with, individuals. Synthesis occurs when each sphere has meaning and purpose restored to it, which satisfies the intrinsic need for balance. When this is achieved, the human experience is one of belonging--to one's self and hence one's world--which transcends stress and burnout. ;The problem this dissertation addresses is insufficiency of the literature's language for understanding the essential factors of stress and burnout, as described by the dissertation's thesis. This dissertation offers an expanded frame of reference, through an "integral language," for understanding humankind, its nature, meaning and purpose, and transcending ego consciousness. It suggests that a process involving work on being, consciousness, and presence enables participation in higher and more objective levels of consciousness, which tends to satisfy the human organism's intrinsic need for balance. This alternative proposes that spiritual transformation, through conscious acts of attention, enable one to fight the forces of illusion. This suggests that spiritual meaning and purpose, through a methodology for transformation of being, consciousness, and presence, can foster a sense of belonging--to one's self and one's world