Causism and the Mace Energy Method on Stress and Burnout in Schools

Recent reports make it clear that stress and burnout in schools are widespread, not rare exceptions.​

Table 1. Stress and burnout in schools: key findings

These findings match what many school leaders and staff already see: people working hard, often beyond contracted hours, and carrying concerns about students, families and colleagues into evenings and weekends. They are not signs that schools are failing. They show that education is a high‑demand environment where emotional energy is used every day.​

In day‑to‑day school life, stress and burnout rarely look dramatic. They show up in quiet, familiar ways across roles:​

• Teachers noticing they are more tired, have less enthusiasm for lessons and find it harder to be patient, with a sense of “just getting through” rather than enjoying teaching.​
• School leaders feeling high stress, long hours and a constant sense of being “on duty,” as if they are carrying the whole school on their shoulders.​
• Support and wellbeing staff feeling emotionally full from hearing many stories, with limited space to refuel between conversations.​

These patterns are understandable. Schools run on people. When those people are under sustained strain, it becomes harder for everyone to do their best work, even when intentions remain positive.​

The effects ripple out. Research suggests that teacher burnout is associated with lower student engagement, less positive classroom climates and more difficulty offering the emotional presence that supports learning. Staffrooms can become quieter or tenser, with more talk about “getting through” and less space for shared creativity. Communication with families can shift toward being more transactional, simply because there is less emotional capacity available on both sides.​

These changes do not mean that staff and leaders care less. They mean that a lot of inner energy is being used just to keep things going. This is exactly the kind of situation where Causism and the Mace Energy Method can offer a different way of understanding what is happening inside people and how to support them gently.​

Causism begins from a positive view of people. Each person, including every adult in a school, is understood as a Human Energy Unit whose natural state is clarity, capability and genuine choice. Stress and burnout are not treated as “who someone is.” They are seen as signs that certain inner patterns, or identities, have been created under pressure and are now running in the background.​

In school life, there are many moments that can shape such identities. For example:​

• A new teacher feels judged after a difficult observation.
• A year‑level leader manages a serious incident and feels solely responsible for the outcome.
• A counsellor hears several intense student stories in one day without time to process their own feelings.
• A principal faces strong criticism during a challenging change.​

At such times, it can feel as though everything is happening at once, with little space to pause or process. Causism observes that, in these moments, the mind can create identities to cope, such as:​

• “I must be the teacher who never drops the ball.”
• “I am the one who holds this year level together.”
• “I must be strong for everyone.”
• “If I say no, I will let my students or colleagues down.”​

These identities are formed with good intentions. They aim to protect students, colleagues and the school community. Over time, though, they can quietly keep people in patterns of over‑commitment, difficulty resting and reluctance to ask for help, even when timetables and policies are adjusted.​

From a Causism point of view, this explains why two staff members in similar roles can experience the same workload differently, and why stress can remain high even when external supports have improved. It is not about who is “stronger” or “more resilient.” It is about which identities are active and how strongly they are running.​

The encouraging part is that these identities were created and can also be dis‑created. That is where the Mace Energy Method comes in.​

The Mace Energy Method is the practical method of Causism. It is designed to work directly with unwanted feelings and the identities linked to them, using a clear, step‑by‑step process that requires only minimal self‑disclosure. For people in schools, this can be especially supportive when there is little time, when privacy matters, or when there is no desire to retell difficult experiences in detail.​

MEM begins from a simple observation: feelings guide how people think, act and relate, in school and at home. Unwanted feelings, such as constant pressure, guilt about saying no, worry about letting others down or a sense of being “always on,” often sit behind patterns that feel hard to change. When attention is placed on a specific unwanted feeling in a precise way, the mind presents a mental image that represents that feeling. In Causism, this image is linked with a Negative Identity formed at a past moment of upset.​

In a Mace Energy Method Therapy Session for school staff or leaders:

• The MEM Practitioner explains how the process works and invites the person to choose one particular feeling or reaction to work with, such as the knot in the stomach before a certain class, the heaviness on Sundays, or the wave of guilt when trying to rest instead of marking.​
• Attention is placed on that feeling until an image appears that represents it. The person does not need to describe the image or the original situation in detail.​
• Through specific, gentle questions, the practitioner guides the person in working with that image so that the associated identity and its emotional charge are dis‑created.​

Because the process focuses on inner images and feelings rather than long narrative, it is non‑intrusive and protects privacy. Staff and leaders can work with the emotional load behind their experience without needing to share student or family stories, or to revisit every difficult moment in their career.​

People who have used MEM in roles similar to school staff often describe feeling calmer, lighter and more themselves afterward. Situations that previously triggered strong emotional reactions – a particular class group, a challenging meeting, a full inbox – can begin to feel different. The external responsibilities remain, but they no longer sit on top of the same internal pressure. This can make it easier to bring back the warmth, creativity and steadiness that drew them into education in the first place.​

Importantly, MEM is not counselling, not a replacement for psychology or medical care, and not a crisis service. It is a complementary way to help individuals reduce the inner load that makes ordinary school pressures feel heavier than they need to be, in partnership with the other supports a school already has in place.​

For school leaders, wellbeing coordinators and staff, it can be reassuring to know that there are options that respect both the caring heart of education and the human limits of those who work in it. There is no need to make decisions quickly or to overhaul existing systems. A calm first step is often simply to understand more.​

The guide “Causism and the Mace Energy Method on Stress and Burnout in Schools” was created for school communities in exactly this situation. It brings together:​

• Current research on stress and burnout in teachers, leaders and support staff.
• A clear explanation of how Causism understands identities in school life.
• Practical illustrations of how MEM can support teachers, leaders and support staff, alongside existing wellbeing frameworks.​

Downloading and reading the guide can help schools:

• Recognise how common and understandable these experiences are.
• Reflect on where inner patterns might be contributing to staff load.
• Consider how a non‑talk, non‑intrusive approach like MEM could sit within their existing wellbeing and staff support plans.​

This exploration can be done privately and at a pace that fits the rhythms of the school year.