Low Motivation Treatment & Burnout Recovery
Telehealth Psychologist Australia

How is burnout different from stress, and how can online therapy help?

Stress is a normal response to pressure or demands. It usually gets better once the situation changes or you take a break. Burnout is different. It's a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion from prolonged stress where your nervous system has become stuck in overdrive or shutdown. Even when you have time off, you don't feel better. You feel numb, cynical, and disconnected from things that normally matter to you.

Burnout involves three main experiences, exhaustion you can't shake, cynicism about your work or life, and a sense of ineffectiveness or reduced productivity. It doesn't go away with a weekend or a holiday because it's not about the current situation. It's about what prolonged stress has done to your nervous system and your capacity.

Many people don't realise they're burned out until they try to take time off and still feel terrible. That's when it becomes clear something deeper has shifted. The good news is that burnout is treatable through online therapy. With the right approach, your nervous system can learn to regulate again, and your motivation and sense of purpose return.

How many online sessions will I need to recover from burnout or low motivation?

This depends on what's driving your symptoms, how long they've been happening, and which approaches we use. Rather than following a one-size-fits-all protocol, I assess your specific situation and draw on multiple evidence-based therapies delivered via telehealth.

For low motivation related to situational stress or mild burnout, you might notice shifts within 6 to 10 online sessions using CBT and ACT. Moderate burnout typically needs 10 to 16 telehealth sessions for meaningful recovery, particularly when we're doing nervous system work through sensorimotor psychotherapy. Severe burnout or low motivation linked to depression or long-term stress usually requires longer term support of 16 to 20+ sessions.

What makes my approach different is that I work with your nervous system directly through sensorimotor psychotherapy, not just your thoughts and behaviours. This creates more lasting change because burnout and low motivation live in your body, not just your mind. Combined with CBT and ACT to rebuild motivation and reconnect with your values, you get a comprehensive approach.

We'll discuss realistic timelines in your first telehealth session and keep checking how you're progressing so we can adjust if needed.

What's the difference between low motivation and difficulty with task initiation?

Low motivation is feeling you don't want to do something. Task initiation is knowing you want to do it but being physically unable to start. They're different problems with different solutions.

Low motivation often involves disconnection from your values, burnout, or depression. You don't start because nothing feels meaningful or rewarding. Task initiation difficulty is usually about executive function, which is your brain's ability to shift from thinking about to doing. This is common with ADHD, anxiety, perfectionism, and burnout.

Here's how to tell which you're experiencing:

• Low motivation: You think "I should do this, but I don't care" or "What's the point?" Even small steps feel pointless. This often responds to ACT (reconnecting with values) and addressing underlying depression or burnout.

• Task initiation difficulty: You think "I really want to do this, but I can't make myself start." You might feel frozen, overwhelmed, or stuck in a loop of preparation without action. This often responds to specific behavioural strategies, breaking tasks into micro steps, and DBT distress tolerance skills for tolerating the discomfort of starting.

Many people experience both. Burnout can cause low motivation, which then creates task initiation difficulty because you don't have the energy to shift gears. Therapy helps you identify which is primary and address it directly. For task initiation specifically, I work on building tolerance for the activation energy required to start, using exposure based approaches and distress tolerance skills from DBT. This can all be done through online counselling.

The key insight is if you're criticising yourself for laziness when you actually have task initiation difficulty, you're making it worse. Understanding the difference allows us to use the right tools rather than just trying harder.

How does perfectionism connect to low motivation and procrastination?

Perfectionism is one of the biggest drivers of low motivation and procrastination. Here's how it works: perfectionism creates anxiety about whether you'll do something "good enough," so you avoid starting the task altogether. Avoidance feels relieving in the moment, which reinforces the cycle. Before you know it, you're procrastinating, nothing gets done, then guilt and shame show up, which tanks your motivation further.

The key is that perfectionism is rooted in fear, not in high standards. You're not motivated because your brain is trying to protect you from failure or criticism. Rather than pushing you to be perfect, I help you understand what's actually driving the perfectionism and build tolerance for doing things imperfectly.

I use a combination of CBT to challenge perfectionistic thinking patterns, exposure therapy to help you tolerate imperfection, and ACT to align your actions with your actual values, which often aren't about perfection at all. DBT distress tolerance skills teach you to sit with the discomfort of uncertainty without retreating into avoidance. Together, these approaches break the perfectionism-procrastination-low motivation cycle at multiple levels. All of this works effectively through online therapy.

What's the cost of telehealth sessions, and how do Medicare rebates work?

Your initial telehealth appointment is $230 for 60 minutes. Follow-up sessions are $215 for 50 minutes. If you have a valid Mental Health Care Plan from your GP, you'll receive a $98.95 Medicare rebate per session, currently available for up to 10 sessions per calendar year. You can get a Mental Health Care Plan from any GP, and our admin team can provide you with a letter to take to your appointment if that's helpful.

Many private health insurers also cover telehealth psychology, though the number of sessions and rebate amounts vary. It's worth checking with your insurer about what they cover. All our rates are below the Australian Psychological Society's recommended rate of $300 per session.

For a complete breakdown of all appointment types and pricing options, visit our appointments and pricing page.

How does online sensorimotor psychotherapy work for burnout recovery?

Burnout doesn't just affect your thoughts or behaviour. It lives in your body. Many people experience it as tension, fatigue, feeling frozen or numb, hypervigilance, or a sense of shutdown. Standard talk therapy alone often misses this because it focuses on what you're thinking, not what your nervous system has learned.

Sensorimotor psychotherapy works directly with your nervous system and body, and it translates remarkably well to online therapy. Rather than just talking about burnout, we notice what happens in your body when you think about burnout triggers. You might notice your shoulders tense, your breathing shallow, or a sense of collapse. These are nervous system patterns, not character flaws.

What makes my approach different is that I integrate sensorimotor work alongside CBT and ACT. CBT helps you challenge unhelpful thoughts about your capabilities and worth. ACT helps you reconnect with your values and rebuild motivation. But sensorimotor psychotherapy helps your nervous system learn it's actually safe again. Your body stops perceiving threat the way it does in burnout.

This combination creates real change at multiple levels. You're not just thinking differently about burnout, you're actually changing how your nervous system responds to stress. That's why people often notice they feel calmer, sleep better, and recover energy more quickly than they expected through online treatment.

What DBT skills does online therapy teach for burnout and low motivation?

DBT, or Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, was originally developed for emotion dysregulation, and it's incredibly effective for burnout because burnout involves intense emotional exhaustion and dysregulation. Research shows that specific DBT skills directly address the patterns that keep burnout going, and they're highly effective when delivered through telehealth.

One of the most powerful DBT skills for burnout is distress tolerance. When you're burned out, you're in intense emotional pain and exhaustion. Rather than trying to escape it through avoidance or self-sabotaging behaviours, distress tolerance teaches you how to get through difficult moments without making things worse. This skill alone can interrupt the burnout cycle because avoidance is often what perpetuates it.

Another key DBT skill is emotional regulation. Burnout often involves emotional numbness, but it can also involve intense irritability or mood swings as your nervous system becomes dysregulated. Emotional regulation skills teach you how to identify what you're feeling, understand why, and respond in ways that actually help rather than harm. This rebuilds your capacity to feel engaged rather than numb.

Mindfulness is also central to DBT and particularly helpful for burnout. It teaches you to observe your thoughts and feelings without judgment or trying to fix them immediately. Many people with burnout spend all their energy fighting how they feel, which exhausts them further. Mindfulness helps you step out of that struggle.

I integrate these DBT skills into your online treatment based on what you need. Some people benefit most from distress tolerance work early on, whilst others need emotional regulation first. The combination of DBT skills with sensorimotor work to regulate your nervous system and CBT or ACT to rebuild motivation and reconnect with your values creates comprehensive recovery.