A Therapist’s View on Why Everyone Is Resigning

It all has to do with who holds the power

Lee McKay Doe
Forge

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Photo: Bim/Getty Images

I’ve been reading about The Great Resignation and following the trend of “rage-quitting” with great interest and little wonder. As a therapist, I’ve sat with many people who feel the deep hopelessness of not being able to leave a job they hate.

In the therapy room, we can only work with what is within the client’s power. I can’t change the toxic boss or the discriminatory policies, so if leaving isn’t an option, we focus on how to cope and survive. It‘s sad and frustrating.

I welcome what I see as a seismic shift in the balance of power between employer and employee. Our personal relationships rarely last when we feel controlled or taken for granted, so why should our professional ones?

It’s not that all organizations are bad or unable to change. I spent over a decade in corporate life before becoming a therapist and I experienced the good, the bad and the downright ugly. The point is that you don’t have to stay in the ugly ones when there are plenty of fish in the sea.

I recently asked my 35k+ social media audience what was driving them to quit. I was bowled over by the response. Not just at the sheer volume of people who are thinking of it, but by how familiar the reasons are. The problems…

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