THE BODY THAT NO LONGER DREAMS: BURNOUT AND THE LOSS OF SYMBOLIC MOVEMENT
THE BODY THAT NO LONGER DREAMS: BURNOUT AND THE LOSS OF SYMBOLIC MOVEMENT
Author(s): Liliana ScarlatSubject(s): Social Sciences, Psychology, Individual Psychology, Social psychology and group interaction, Developmental Psychology, Psychology of Self, Clinical psychology, Organizational Psychology, Behaviorism
Published by: Editura Arhipelag XXI
Keywords: burnout; dreaming; embodiment; movement; symbolization;
Summary/Abstract: Burnout is not merely a form of professional exhaustion but a symbolic freezing of the capacity to dream - to transform experience into meaning. The loss of symbolic function may weaken the living connection between body, affect, and imagination. The body, which naturally “dreams” through gesture, breath, and movement, may become rigid, mechanical, and alienated from lived emotional experience. This paper explores the relationship between burnout, the diminishing of symbolic processes, and the difficulty of transforming emotional experience into meaning, suggesting that authentic bodily movement may represent an expression of psychic vitality and of the individual’s relationship with the Self. The reactivation of symbolic functioning at the bodily level may constitute a potential pathway for the prevention and psychic transformation of burnout.
Journal: Journal of Romanian Literary Studies
- Issue Year: 2026
- Issue No: 45
- Page Range: 1327-1331
- Page Count: 5
- Language: Romanian
