L’Burn, an association dedicated to helping women suffering from burnout, was created in 2019 in Bordeaux. Since then, it has supported more than 2,400 women and trained and raised awareness among 15,000 people. What makes it special?

“We chose to focus on women because they are over-represented in burnout situations--around twice as many--particularly because of the mental burden and persistent inequalities in the distribution of roles,” explains the founder of the association, Anne-Sophie Vives, winner of the seventh Degroof Petercam Foundation (DPF) Award. The prize is a donation of €1m (spread over five years) and access to the Degroof Petercam Foundation network.

“However, the tools and methodologies developed can obviously be transposed to a male audience,” Vives continues. “Thanks to the support of new partners, the association will be able to embark on a new phase of development, with the aim of spreading our model. One of the axes will undoubtedly be directed towards opening mixed workshops.”

Facing evil in three stages

“As the founder, I went through a burnout myself, which enabled me to measure the extent of the void in the support offered to women,” recalls the L’Burn head, whose programme has been built in collaboration with mental health experts (researchers, psychologists and doctors), coaches specialising in retraining and women who have themselves suffered from burnout.

The programme is based on a three-stage approach, Vives explains: “understanding burnout and its mechanisms; rebuilding with concrete tools and human support; and, finally, rediscovering a professional or personal project aligned with one’s values and deepest needs.”

“The idea was to move away from a purely medical approach and offer a comprehensive pathway that is therapeutic, collective and focused on regaining power over one’s life.”

An innovative method against burnout

In detail, the method developed by L’Burn comprises several stages.

First of all, a period of listening, “to put the right words on the situation experienced and direct towards psychological, medical and social care.”

This is followed by group workshops, “tailored to each stage of reconstruction, to break the isolation and benefit from the strength of the group” and enabling women to “recover, reduce their ruminations and reclaim their bodies.”

“When they have a little more energy,” Vives explains, workshops are offered “to find out about their rights, to define their personal and professional needs and thus create the foundations for a new life balance” and to “finally project themselves professionally by removing obstacles, enhancing their skills and preparing a new life project.”

Another stage consists of “gradually and safely getting them back to work within the association by giving them tasks to help others. They can offer workshops and develop projects. This allows them to test themselves again, regain confidence in their abilities and rediscover meaning. It’s empowerment.”

“Every year we close with a ‘job-dating’ event with companies that are committed to quality of life at work and inclusion issues,” says Vives. “Our results are very encouraging: the women we support leave with a better understanding of themselves, a clear vision of their needs and often a renewed, better aligned professional or personal project.”

“Why not Luxembourg one day?”

The DPF Award “represents a fantastic opportunity to accelerate L’Burn,” which has a reception centre in Bordeaux and three local branches elsewhere in France, says the director with delight. “It will enable us to structure our development, duplicate our model in new territories and create a genuine digital platform for resources and mutual support. We’ll be stepping up our in-company prevention initiatives to create a network of committed companies. Finally, this recognition will help to strengthen the legitimacy of our actions, which will make it easier to create new partnerships at local, national and European level.”

In this respect, “international development is part of our roadmap,” says Vives. “We have identified several countries where the problem of burnout among women is just as acute, particularly in countries bordering [France] such as Belgium. Initial contacts have already been made. Why not Luxembourg one day? With its network of international companies and its burnout rate, there’s a lot to be done.”

According to the Quality of Work Index 2024, one in two employees in Luxembourg suffers from mental distress.

This article was originally published in French.