Introduction: In this episode of Fried. The Burnout Podcast , I delve into the topic of differentiating between burnout and stress. I often encounter this question from you, my magic listeners, and others: whether it's at conferences, speaking gigs, or even in the Facebook group. Understanding the distinction between burnout and stress is crucial to address the issue effectively. So let's explore how to recognize and differentiate between these two conditions. 1. Defining Burnout and Stress: Bur...
Aug 13, 2023•9 min•Season 7Ep. 6
In this episode, Jim Young, a burnout recovery coach, explores the topic of burnout in men and the importance of building intimate connections. He shares his personal journey of burnout and highlights the lack of resources specifically tailored to men's experiences. Jim emphasizes the need for deeper connections, not just in romantic relationships, but also in friendships and other areas of life. He delves into the societal expectations placed on men and the shame they often feel when they don't...
Aug 06, 2023•42 min•Season 7Ep. 5
Dr. Mandy Lehto was a people pleaser for such a long period of time that she ended up completely disconnected from herself. She found herself snappy and irritable, consistently pushing herself harder and farther beyond the limits of what she could handle. After a scary moment collapsing while boxing, Dr. Lehto realized something was wrong that even the world’s strongest coffee would not be able to fix. Through her burnout recovery journey, Dr. Lehto identified 7 realistic phases of burnout which...
Jul 30, 2023•1 hr 4 min
Mel Hopper Koppelman was so burned out that in spite of being longtime friends with host Cait Donovan, she did not immediately recognize her own connection with childhood trauma and burnout. Growing up labeled as a “gifted kid”, Mel developed blind spots regarding aspects of her neurological development that were lacking. As an adult, she developed complex chronic health issues. Because of her blind spots, it would be years before Mel realized the connection between her childhood experiences, he...
Jul 23, 2023•55 min•Season 7Ep. 3
Coping mechanisms are something that you use every single day, probably without even realizing it. These coping mechanisms start to develop as soon as you are born, forming based on your relationship with your primary caregiver. Depending on how that relationship goes, you form one of four attachment styles, three of which can make you more prone to burnout later in life. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, host and burnout aficionado Cait Donovan explains what coping mechanisms are and how to...
Jul 16, 2023•17 min•Season 7Ep. 2
Heather Hansen’s burnout, like unfortunately so many others, landed her in the hospital. Her stress levels had become so extreme due to her career as a defense attorney that Heather’s body responded with a severe allergic reaction. Afterward, Heather realized she needed to start advocating for herself with the same level of compassion, love, and loyalty that she had for her clients in the courtroom. Now, a Best-Selling author and speaker, Heather teaches others how to self-advocate through maste...
Jul 09, 2023•52 min•Season 7Ep. 1
Dex Randall’s burnout experience was a long time coming. He shares that as a child, right from the beginning, he was always afraid of everything. His parents’ behavior was unpredictable and he learned very quickly that it was not a good idea to trust any person ever. The coping mechanisms that Dex learned as protective measures throughout childhood followed into adulthood. Eventually, this came to a head when Dex entered into a job position where he was not in alignment with the founder and felt...
Jun 25, 2023•53 min•Season 6Ep. 34
Even if you do not think you have experienced childhood trauma, there are many ways that childhood experiences can impact your ability to regulate your emotions. Adverse childhood experiences or ACEs include both events that happened to you like abuse or neglect and events that you simply witnessed. Trauma impacts child brain development at an epigenetic level, causing deficiencies in the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning and emotion regulation. In today’s #straightfromcait...
Jun 18, 2023•26 min•Season 6Ep. 33
Kelley Bonner experienced burnout while working in what she thought would be her forever job. Since she was a little girl, she had dreamed of becoming a prison social worker. As a Black woman and daughter of an immigrant mother, she was inspired by her desire to help Black and Brown people who are disproportionately harmed by the prison system. After nearly three years of working what was supposed to be her dream job, Kelley found herself having a full blown panic attack on the floor of the pris...
Jun 11, 2023•53 min•Season 6Ep. 32
During burnout, it’s common to not use your resources in the most efficient way. An important step in burnout recovery is to look at how you are using your resources like time, energy, money, and community and see where you could be resourcing more sustainably. In today’s #straightfromcaitandsarah episode, host Cait Donovan and FRIED Burnout Recovery Guide, Sarah Vosen, discuss how to assess, access, and assemble the resources you need to optimize your burnout recovery. In Sarah’s burnout recove...
Jun 04, 2023•39 min•Season 6Ep. 31
Karina Schneider spent nearly two decades working in a corporate environment prior to setting up her own private coaching and consulting practice with a focus on helping workplaces become spaces that support employee wellbeing. Now, as a reintegration coach, Karina consults with employees and their leaders as they navigate a return to work after a mental health leave. Karina is uniquely qualified to help both employees and employers through this process, as she has prior experience in the HR fie...
May 28, 2023•54 min•Season 6Ep. 30
When people think about self-care they often picture soaking in a bubble bath, but in reality, self-care is so much more than that. Self-care is an absolutely critical part of burnout recovery. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares the three types of self-care that are crucial for both burnout prevention and recovery. Cait explains that the number one type of self-care for burnout is foundational self-care. This means that you must take the time to ...
May 21, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 29
Rebecca Kase is the Owner of Rebecca Kase & CO, LLC as well as a licensed clinical social worker and author of Polyvagal Informed EMDR: A Neuro Informed Approach To Healing. You may remember her burnout story from a previous episode of FRIED. Rebecca began studying polyvagal theory at the start of the pandemic and is now an EMDR consultant and trainer. Today, she discusses the science behind polyvagal theory, how EMDR works, and how to use neuroception for healing the stress responses of the...
May 14, 2023•56 min•Season 6Ep. 28
Shelley Kemmerer is a parent, a board certified physician assistant and the founder of Run Tell Mom, LLC. During her clinical year to become a physician’s assistant, Shelley became pregnant. She chose to keep her pregnancy a secret, even while enduring constant sickness. Her child was born right as she was taking her boards and afterward she threw herself into work, extending her hours so that she could work fewer days. This very quickly led Shelley right into the dual role collision of the resp...
May 07, 2023•54 min•Season 6Ep. 27
Monica Monfre Scantlebury is a certified life coach, health coach, and yoga instructor, but she did not start that way. Monica spent 8 years working as a teacher at the university level and then another 15 working as a highschool teacher. Even though she loved being a teacher, by year 7 educator burnout was having significant effects on her health and wellbeing. She decided to walk away from teaching and turn her side hustle of being a yoga instructor into a full-time job. Today, Monica discusse...
Apr 30, 2023•52 min•Season 6Ep. 26
Nikki Hume is an art teacher at an international school in Manila. She taught for 9 years in the states before teaching abroad and attributes her two burnout experiences with helping her to learn very valuable life lessons. Today, Nikki discusses teacher burnout and how it relates to her own experiences teaching internationally. Educator burnout has a variety of root causes, but one of the largest is a lack of proper work life balance and well-established boundaries. Nikki explains that in inter...
Apr 23, 2023•56 min•Season 6Ep. 25
From learning body signals to learning about the link between energy expenditure and finances, over 100 guests have opened up and shared their burnout stories. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares burnout recovery tips from 2 guests from each season of FRIED, including lessons from guests like Ashley Rose, Maggie Reyes, Simone Craig, Dr. Valerie Ryan, and more. Ashley Rose was the first guest ever on FRIED. She and Cait spoke about how childhood tr...
Apr 16, 2023•22 min•Season 6Ep. 24
Aesha Tahir is the founder of Tone and Strengthen, a corporate wellness company, as well as an author and exercise physiologist. Her book, Unhunched: Discovering Wellness Through Posture, is set for release this Spring. Today, Aesha shares how posture impacts the stress system and burnout recoverability. Aesha is no stranger to burnout after having experienced it twice. Her first experience led her to the ER, fearful that she was having a stroke when her left foot went completely numb. It turned...
Apr 09, 2023•43 min•Season 6Ep. 23
If you used to have an exercise routine before burning out, you may be wondering when it is safe to start exercising again. The truth is that it differs for everyone, and you know your body better than anyone else. Learning to listen to your body and make adjustments based on what it is telling you is key for burnout recovery. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares tips for incorporating exercise into your burnout recovery. Movement is critical for y...
Apr 02, 2023•17 min•Season 6Ep. 22
Lauren Baptiste is the founder of Acheloa Wellness. She is approaching her 10 year burnout anniversary and attributes much of her healing to the practice of Ayurveda. Today, Lauren shares the magic of small steps for burnout recovery that helped her get to this point. When Lauren began to burnout, her body reacted in very serious ways. She ended up covered head to toe in hives and needed to go to the emergency room. Even covered in hives, her boss expected her to bring her computer to the hospit...
Mar 26, 2023•52 min•Season 6Ep. 21
During your burnout recovery, you will likely still not be at your original energy level for a while. It takes a different amount of time for everyone, but in Cait’s experience the average time frame has been around 18 months. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares 8 tips for helping to get your energy back during recovery. Doing too much all at once can cause you to do more harm than good for your recovery. Start with choosing one thing to work on, ...
Mar 19, 2023•9 min•Season 6Ep. 20
Ewa Błaszczak is a mentor for leaders and teams, an author, professional speaker, and coaching mentor to host Cait Donovan. Recently she wrote a book in Polish that began as a TED talk about the toxicity of sarcasm and developed into a deep dive on how to detoxify communication. Communication toxins are a natural defense mechanism that developed in response to our reptilian brain’s need for psychological safety and early humans’ reliance on one another to survive. When you are in a toxic environ...
Mar 12, 2023•55 min•Season 6Ep. 19
The steps for healing from burnout are different from what is required to prevent burnout. When you are burnt out and experiencing chronic stress, the part of your brain responsible for executive functioning actually loses neurons. This means that you may struggle more with memory loss and keeping up with all of the day to day responsibilities that come with adulting. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, shares her tips for healing a burnt out brain. In o...
Mar 05, 2023•13 min•Season 6Ep. 18
Recovering from burnout requires you to be okay with being uncomfortable. Rest is actually incredibly productive, and even though you might feel restless or guilty about sitting still it is vital for recovery. In today’s #straightfromcaitandsarah episode, Cait Donovan, host and burnout speaker, and Sarah Vosen, FRIED burnout coach, answer your most common burnout questions from the FRIED Facebook group. If you are expending too much time and energy and not receiving enough resources back, this w...
Feb 26, 2023•47 min•Season 6Ep. 17
Kute Blackson is an inspirational speaker and transformational teacher. He is a member of the Transformational Leadership Council, a group of 100 of the world’s foremost authorities in the personal development industry. He learned about the power and the magic of surrender when his mother was diagnosed with stomach cancer and his time with her became more precious than ever before. Surrender is a powerful tool for transformation and is an important part of burnout recovery. Humans are naturally ...
Feb 19, 2023•58 min•Season 6Ep. 16
Hi All! Last minute episode to be sure that you know what's possible and what you'll get when you decide to join FRIED's group coaching program! You can find the full details on this PDF handout If you're ready to sign up, you can do that HERE . If you'd like to chat with Sarah this week to be sure you're a good fit - feel free to book that call HERE . Questions? Come hang in the FB group and post your questions on the LIVE version of this podcast that aired on Valentines Day! :)...
Feb 14, 2023•40 min
There are two major theories when it comes to burnout. The first is that it is entirely preventable through a simple shift in workplace culture. The second is that burnout is not always avoidable but can be eliminated through self-care, establishing boundaries, and self-advocacy. According to Cait, the truth is somewhere in the middle. In today’s #straightfromcait episode, Cait, host and burnout speaker, talks about the workplace as a trauma recycling center and what that means for burnout. A to...
Feb 12, 2023•14 min•Season 6Ep. 15
SPONSOR: Bearaby - the antianxiety weighted blanket that Cait swears by! https://bearaby.com Nina Blackshear is an attorney and executive coach who specializes in coaching high power and high potential women to overcome obstacles like imposter syndrome. She experienced burnout while working in a high achieving career at a large pharmaceutical company. Getting let go turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because the blinders came off to reveal the toxic environment Nina had been keeping hersel...
Feb 05, 2023•59 min•Season 6Ep. 14
SPONSORS: Cuely - the AI + you tool to help you get those health habits in place - in a way that really works for your calendar! https://cuely.ai/FRIED Bearaby - the antianxiety weighted blanket that Cait swears by! https://bearaby.com Susie Moore is a world renowned life coach, author of Let It Be Easy: Simple Ways to Stop Stressing and Start Living , as well as the host of the Let It Be Easy podcast. Susie’s life growing up was anything but easy. She grew up on welfare, moving frequently betwe...
Jan 29, 2023•59 min•Season 6Ep. 13
SPONSORS: Cuely - the AI + you tool to help you get those health habits in place - in a way that really works for your calendar! https://cuely.ai/FRIED Bearaby - the antianxiety weighted blanket that Cait swears by! https://bearaby.com Have you been feeling numb and mentally disconnected from your life? This is a very normal way to feel when you are experiencing burnout. There is a natural overlap that occurs between symptoms of burnout and symptoms of depression and anxiety. In today’s #straigh...
Jan 22, 2023•18 min•Season 6Ep. 12
