The Burn In Model

  • The Burn In Model is an emerging, evidence-informed occupational therapy model that offers a conceptual lens and shared language for understanding burnout and its opposite — Burn In. While developed to understand burnout, the model applies more broadly to how individuals, teams, organizations and communities explore alignment in how they live, work, and connect. 

    Using the universal metaphor of fire, it explores the alignment between who you are (Being), where you belong (Belonging), and the meaningful things you do (Doing), which allows an individual to fulfill his/her potential through growth and transformation (Becoming).

    At the heart of The Burn In Model is the Flame, which has two parts. The Inner Flame represents alignment between Being, Doing and Belonging. The Outer Flame represents potential for growth and transformation, Becoming.

    The size and strength of the flame reflect the degree of alignment between Being, Doing and Belonging. When these three constructs are in strong alignment, the flame burns steady and strong — a state referred to as Burn In. When they are out of sync, the flame dims, flickers or shrinks to a faint glow. Complex and sustained misalignment extinguishes the flame entirely — this is burnout.

    The Burn In Model recognizes that the flame is dynamic. It shifts with circumstances, relationships, and demands, and for many people, life is spent somewhere on the continuum between Burn In and burnout.

    The Burn In Model identifies eight Ecosystem Elements that map the factors shaping how the flame burns:

     

    • Spark — life, hope and possibility
    • Coal — burnout due to complex and sustained misalignment
    • Ash — death, legacy and lineage
    • Sticks & Logs — personal and occupational factors that fuel or smother the flame
    • Rocks — boundaries that hold and protect the flame
    • Wind & Rain — environmental forces that can nurture or dampen the flame
    • Embers — gifts and contributions to the world
    • Smoke — signs of misalignment and impending burnout

     

    The Burn In Model can be applied and expressed in many ways — through drawing, painting or sculpting the flame and ecosystem elements; through conversation and reflection; or by building and tending a literal fire. In this way, The Burn In Model comes alive as something that can be seen, felt and embodied.

Summarized by

  • Rhiannon Crispe and Dr. Michelle Luken

Type

  • Model (conceptual)

Population

  • Child
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Elderly

Disability

  • All

Domain of occupation

  • All

Key Reference

  • Crispe, R. K., & Luken, M. L. (2026). The Burn In Model: A Lens and Language for Reframing Burnout and Living in Alignment. https://www.burninnotout.com

Year Published

  • 2026

Primary Developer

  • Rhiannon Crispe and Michelle Luken

Primary Developer Email

  • hello@burninnotout.com

Related Models

Model of Occupational Wholeness

  • The Model of Occupational Wholeness focuses on the four dimensions of occupation: doing, being, becoming, and belonging, as well as how these dimensions lead to an individual’s wholeness, health, and wellbeing. This model is illustrated by triangles. A black proportionate triangle illustrates the hypothetical ideal relationship between doing (in the middle), being, become, and becoming (each is a corner of the triangle).

Dynamic Model for Play Choice

  • The Dynamic Model for Play Choice emphasizes that a child’s choice of play is the result of a dynamic interaction among four characteristic categories, including relational (peers, adults, siblings, cooperation, shared or deferred choice), child (age, gender, ability), activity (level of difficulty, active/passive), and contextual (location, weather). The perceived fun activities with appropriate level of challenge are repeated because of the positive emotion which attached to the activity like fun and happiness and therefore, preference is emerged.

Model of Occupational Spin-Off

  • Model of Occupational Spin-Off is a model that describes occupational engagement as a mean to mental health. This model identifies environment as a place, occupation as the achievement, and person as the one to choose and engage in activities as a mean to achieve mental well-being. In the model, four levels of occupational engagements are identified. The first level is affirmation in social environment, indicating that person can find affirmation from social environment when the environment provides a sense of “being, belonging, and becoming” for the person.

Do-Live-Well framework

  • The fundamental message of this Do-Live-Well framework is “what you do everyday matters”, and they are essential to one’s health and wellbeing. In this framework, there are four main sections, and each represents a building block to “Do-Live-Well". The four sections are (1) dimensions of experience, (2) activity patterns, (3) health and wellbeing outcomes, and (4) forces influencing activity engagement.

Infant Space Theory

  • The Infant Space Theory describes four primary aspects of how infants develop interactions with objects and space in their home environment. The first aspect is through gaze and visual play. Between 2 to 6 months, the emergence of gaze path, gaze search, and gaze alignment allows infants to use gaze path to search, scan for their mother and objects, and to align and direct gaze. They explore out-of-reach objects like moving contrasts and aircrafts, through vision.

Model Type

Population

Disability

Domain of Occupation

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