These are good questions! The responses are 'off the top of my head:
they're not exhaustive, by any means. (I'll omit your name and change a
few spellings when I put this on to my homepage):

[A theological student] wrote:
> 
> Dear Dr.Croucher,
> 
> I have drafted some questions to ask you:
 
> 1. What do you think are the reasons of burnout?

It's a mismatch between expectations and reality; between emotional
input and emotional output.

Now why the mismatches? Usually something to do with family-of-origin
deficits in terms of unconditional love, a sense of belonging, and a
tendency towards competitiveness to prove one's worth...

Lifestyle issues (rest, sleep, realist goals, exercise, self-awareness
etc. etc. are, I believe, secondary though important factors...)
 
> 2.  In terms of personality traits, demands of church and pastor's
> family developmental needs, how do you think about their contribution
> to burnout? Both as individual factors and collective ?

Type A/B/C people have different rates of burnout: Type A's are prime
candidates for stress (as distinct from burnout) but all three types are
prone to burnout... Yes, family pressures are important (some pastors'
spouses feel their partners are bigamous: married to them and to the
church!). And in terms of job-pressures, it's difficult for many pastors
to 'switch off' - they always have the feeling they're on call (and on
show!)

> 3.  Clinically speaking, are there two types or more of burnout ? Or a
> burnout is a burnout ? - or acute and chronic or more? If so, then how
> do you tell an acute burnout from a chronic one?

I'm not sure about the difference between acute and chronic... I'd
prefer to differentiate between stress (often associated with trying to
do too much) and burnout (trying to _be_ too much to too many people).
The relevant articles on our website draw out the distinctions here.
 
> 4. How would you counsel a burnout pastor? What are the steps would
> you take? What are the key issues would you look into?

First, lots of talking. The pastor needs to be reassured that they're
O.K., that their experiences are not unusual. I'd prefer to do a
'whole-of-life' retreat with the pastor, so that I can focus on that
person's history etc. without any interruptions, and put all of their
childhood, adolescent and adult key experiences into a focussed whole.
They do a fair bit of journaling: the 19 questions on our website - see
http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/8053.htm provide a good
starting-point.

Re lifestyle issues: almost all burned out pastors have these
attributes: irregular if any days off; highly sensitive to negative
feedback; somewhat workaholic; driven to prove their worth through
'success'; sleep problems; irritability/anger episodes; loss of a
disciplined, rewarding devotional life; they have difficulty, say,
reading for pleasure (as distinct from reading for sermon
illustrations), etc. etc. 

> 5. Is counseling for burned-out pastors different from counseling
> other professionals - say a lawyer/doctor/teacher? If so, why ? and
> what are the differences? 

Yes: the other professions have some in-built rewards (monetary,
holidays, etc.) or a more clear-cut/ tangible job description. A problem 
with pastoral ministry is its intangibility: it's difficult to measure
if you're getting anywhere. There's also the guilt associated with a
slack devotional life in many pastors. And, as one writer (I forget who)
defined stress: 'It's what you need in addition to God.'

6. In terms of the call to ministry, how should a burned-out pastor
handle this? Is the call a permanent one ?

Anglicans and Catholics would say 'yes' to the issue of being a 'priest
for life'. Every person is called to ministry; some are called to
_pastoral_ ministry. But these days almost no-one is called to the same
job for life. And indeed, the apostles had varied ministries: sometimes
Paul was a settled 'pastor-teacher' (in Ephesus), sometimes wandering
around provoking others!

All that said, the tragedy for many pastors is that they cannot
reconcile 'call' with anything but a pastoral ministry. I have to say to
so many after they've left the pastorate: there's life after pastoral
ministry! There are other ministries! And very effective ones (where the
phone doesn't ring non-stop at nights too!).

> 7. Once burnt-out, is there any chance of recovery ?

Yes.

> How long at least would it take towards recovery ?

Depends on the person's willingness to seek help, and the degree to
which they have chronic factors associated with the burnout. A man whose
father was violent, for example, and whose family of origin was severely
dysfunctional, will sometimes 'come a cropper' in midlife when it all
catches up with him. He not only has a midlife crisis ('Is this all
there is?') but after trying to prove his worth by what he does well
compared with how well his peers are doing it, and failing, he has a
whole of 'changing the tapes' to do. But it's never too late to have a
happy childhood!

> What are the factors that decide the possibility of recovery ?

Mainly willingness to get help.

> How do you define recovery ? Going back into ministry as to pursue
> that call?

Not necessarily. I'd say it's having a self-esteem score of 8-plus out
of ten; being content with one's self and one's present calling;
enjoying life instead of pushing it all uphill...

> 8. How should we educate churches and community to respond to burnout
> pastors - both at the time of burnout and those who are recovered and
> intend to get back into pastoral ministry ?

See the stuff on encouragement on our website!!!

Just love 'em, accept them, encourage them to find a small sharing
group...
 
> 9. To a burned-out pastor, who is thinking of changing career yet all
> he/she knows to do is the theological training he/she received in
> college and practised all these years, what sort of career or job
> would you advise he/she to switch to ?

I don't give this sort of advice, but help the person think through the
options for themselves. They have to own this sort of decision. Giving
advice is too much like playing God for my liking! That said, many
ex-pastors do welfare/chaplaincy work: helping people without the
institution of the church getting in the way. But others go into the
construction business (where they can see some tangible results from
their work!)

> 10. Any other things you'd like to comment on the topic of counseling
> burned-out pastors ?

Find a mentor. Do your family-of-origin stuff (see the case histories on
our website). Have a break. See a good counselor regularly. Read some
good books. Find a hobby or two. Enjoy your life: you'll never get out
of it alive!

All the best with your studies!