Advertise on podcast: Therapist Burnout Podcast: Mental Health, Business, and Career Tips for Therapists, Counselors, & Psychologists

Closing your practice and don't know what to do first? Get my free 30-Day Practice Closure Quick Start Guide and join the waitlist for my Practice Closure Course: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/closureguide Want a consulting session, send me a message to set one up: [email protected] Therapists write to Jen all the time asking what else they could do for work that they'd actually like. Underneath that is a quieter question: what do I even like anymore? Burnout steals our aliveness. When all you do is therapy and caring for people, the part of you that liked things goes quiet. In this solo episode of the Therapist Burnout Podcast, Jen walks through the Aliveness Floatback, the questions she uses with consultees to trace back to the moments in life and work when they felt most alive and most like themselves. When did time disappear? What skill were you using? What did the environment feel like? What freedom did you have? She makes the case that your next job after therapy probably doesn't need to be your calling. It's more likely a bridge job, and the bar is simple: I can do this, I can go to work, and I can still feel like a human when I leave. If you start liking it, even better. Jen also borrows Liz Gilbert's distinction between a vocation, a career, a hobby, and a job, and why we've been asking one job to be all four. And a reminder she keeps relearning herself: if you get paid for a hobby, it's not a hobby anymore. In this episode: The question underneath "where should I work now?"Why the next thing is a bridge job, not a destinationThe Aliveness Floatback: life questions and work questionsWhy collaboration and colleagues matter more than we thinkBeing greedy about your aliveness timePrune first: doing less when you're in acute burnoutVocation vs. career vs. hobby vs. jobWhy monetizing your hobby kills itResources mentioned: Suzy Welch, Becoming You and The Values BridgeElizabeth Gilbert, Big MagicThe 30-Day Practice Closure Quick Start Guide: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/closureguideSubscribe to the Leaving the Chair Newsletter: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb If you're a therapist dealing with burnout or thinking about leaving private practice, the Therapist Burnout Podcast is for you. Subscribe, and share this episode with a therapist friend who doesn't know what they like anymore.

Thinking about closing your practice? Get my free Practice Closure Guide and join the waitlist for my Practice Closure Course: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/closureguide Why is it so hard for therapists to say no? On this episode of the Therapist Burnout Podcast, Jen talks with therapist and coach Micah Freeman about boundaries, fawning, and how he narrowly avoided therapist burnout after burning out as a public school teacher. Micah shares how teaching in a high-poverty district turned into moral injury, and why sitting with adult clients, who have agency, feels so different from watching kids suffer. They dig into the arrival fallacy: the belief that licensure, a private practice, or a big milestone will finally make us feel settled. (Spoiler: it's usually a whole different set of s****y problems.) Then they get into why saying no is so hard for therapists. Micah names his reflexive yes as the fawn response, and shares the question he now asks himself: "If it were perfectly safe to say no here, what would my answer be?" They talk about building a network of people it feels safe to say no to, and why, as Gabor Maté says, if you have to choose between guilt and resentment, choose guilt every time. Resentment drives burnout. Guilt you can work with. Finally, Micah explains why insight alone didn't change his patterns, and what nervous system work did. Self-care isn't one size fits all. Burnout recovery means finding your own levers through experimentation, not generic advice. In this episode: Teacher burnout, moral injury, and cell phones in the classroomWhy adult agency makes therapy work feel differentThe arrival fallacy and why nobody "arrives"Fawning and the reflexive yesFinding people who are safe to say no toGuilt vs. resentment and setting boundaries with clientsInsight vs. integration: why understanding isn't enoughNervous system levers and finding your sweet spotPlay, hobbies, and doing an honest inventory of your lifeResources mentioned: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver BurkemanGabor Maté on guilt and resentmentThe Social Dilemma (documentary)The Anxious Generation by Jonathan HaidtDesigning Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave EvansConnect with Micah Freeman: egostrength.netThe Self-Study Lab podcast, on all platformsIf you're a therapist dealing with burnout, compassion fatigue, or thinking about leaving private practice, the Therapist Burnout Podcast is for you. Subscribe, and share this episode with a therapist friend who needs permission to say no.

Dr. Jen Blanchette shares her reflections on her break, including misconceptions about sabbaticals, challenges of parenting, memorable experiences, personal reflections, and the transition to a full-time job. She emphasizes the importance of rest and finding rhythms in the summer, while also clarifying her values and financial considerations. Join my email list: Leaving the chair for all the coming updates! https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Takeaways Rest is essential and cannot be perfectFinding rhythms in the summer can be challengingClarifying personal values is important for self-awareness Chapters 00:00 Return from Break00:58 Misconceptions About Sabbaticals02:26 The Concept of Breaks03:26 Challenges of Parenting04:25 The Maisey Tour05:25 Reflections on Road Trip06:23 Unwinding from the Experience07:44 Highlights of the Break08:12 Memorable Camping Trip09:23 Personal Reflections12:11 Clarifying Values12:40 Financial Considerations13:22 Finding Rhythms in Summer14:28 Craving for Structure15:22 Learning to Rest15:53 Transition to Full-Time Job

In the final episode before her first summer break in three years, Jen Blanchette explores what it really means to relearn rest. Her thesis is simple but countercultural: we don't need to squeeze out summer. Instead of chasing a mythical future moment of low stress — or curating the "perfect" sabbatical — Jen makes the case for weaving rest into the lives we're living right now. Take aways: We over-project rest into the future. We tend to believe there's a coming time — after we close the practice, leave clinical work, launch the practice, or finish training, etc. That belief keeps us from resting now. Summer carries an unfair burden. The real task of summer isn't to maximize experiences — it's to ask what rest, play, leisure, and family time you actually need, and sketch a rough rhythm for the season. We have more leisure than we think. Jen cites research suggesting we have more leisure time than at any point in history a statistic that feels impossible given how time-starved everyone feels. Much of that fullness comes from choices we've made and can revisit. Change happens incrementally. Just as we'd never tell a client to revamp their entire life in a week, we shouldn't demand it of ourselves. Jen advocates reviewing your work life every year and making small, structural changes so you can rest a little more each time. Treat decisions as experiments. Jen frames her move to full-time work as an experiment not a final destination complete with a built-in two-year probationary window. Six months, one year, two years: each is a natural checkpoint to ask whether a role truly fits. Notice your own capacity. Jen names her tendency toward people-pleasing, saying yes to fill gaps, and "time blindness" taking things on and getting in over her head quickly. She connects this to how therapists will squeeze in one more client even without the emotional, physical, or scheduling capacity to do it. What Rest Looks Like for Jen This SummerFamily vacation to visit relatives; spending time in her garden and planting "We don't need to squeeze out summer." "I'm not busy, life is full." "Huge changes in your work life or in your personal life are not possible… let's just try one thing this week." "I will definitely keep that data going forward — that I don't have to do anything that I don't want to do." "There is always more to do… but at some point you have to say, actually, this is where I'm stopping." "What is it like for you right now to stop where you are — not have it be a perfect ending, not tie a bow on something?" "All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast." — John Gunther Resources & MentionsOliver Burkeman, Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals — the book that shifted Jen's thinking on productivity and time pressure.Dr. Kevin Coakley — guest on a companion episode released around the same time, an expert on imposter syndrome ("impostoring"), with research areas including racialized stress and Black psychology. Worth a listen.John Gunther — source of the closing quote: "All happiness depends on a leisurely breakfast."Jen's upcoming course — fully built out and planned for release in the fall. Jen is taking a summer break from the podcast. She hopes to drop a few favorite past episodes into the feed for summer listening. New episodes return in September.

Subscribe to the Leaving the Chair Newsletter: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Episode SummaryWhat does it mean to feel like a fraud even when the evidence says otherwise? In this episode, Dr. Jen Blanchette sits down with Dr. Kevin Cokley — a leading scholar of the imposter phenomenon and African American psychology — to unpack why imposter feelings are so common, who experiences them most acutely, and why they can't be understood apart from the environments that produce them. Dr. Cokley shares how he first discovered the imposter phenomenon during a literature review and recognized his own experience as a Black undergraduate at a predominantly white institution. From there, the conversation moves through the research: prevalence rates that climb as high as 80–90%, the gender and cultural patterns the data reveal, and Cokley's own work introducing a “racialized imposter phenomenon” and a scale to measure it. The discussion turns personal and political as Jen and Dr. Cokley connect imposterism to therapist burnout, maladaptive perfectionism, and self-compassion — then confront the current climate around DEI, including the APA's decision to disband its longstanding ethnic-minority training commission and relax diversity standards for accreditation. Dr. Cokley closes with practical guidance for clinicians: clients rarely name imposter feelings directly, so therapists need to listen for them. Dr. Kevin Cokley is the University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor and Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan, where he serves as Associate Chair for Diversity Initiatives and principal investigator of the Research on Race, Achievement, Culture and Education (RACE) Lab in the Department of Psychology. His research and teaching center on African American psychology, with a focus on racial identity and the psychological and environmental factors that shape African American students' academic achievement. He is currently exploring the imposter phenomenon and its relationship to mental health and academic outcomes. Dr. Cokley is editor of the 2024 book The Imposter Phenomenon: Psychological Research, Theory, and Interventions (American Psychological Association). He is a past president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race, and has written widely read op-eds in major outlets on DEI, critical race theory, and the Black Lives Matter movement. Imposter feelings are nearly universal — research reviews put lifetime prevalence around 80%, and in live audiences Dr. Cokley sees closer to 90%.Recent meta-analytic evidence confirms women tend to report higher imposter feelings than men, though men experience them too.Context is everything: predominantly white, highly competitive, and high-stakes environments are breeding grounds for imposterism.The “racialized imposter phenomenon” reframes self-doubt as a response to racist environments, not just an individual deficit — and there's now a scale to measure it.Like burnout, imposterism is too often treated as a personal failing to fix with self-care, ignoring the systems and structures driving it.https://www.kevincokley.com/

Subscribe to the Leaving the Chair Newsletter: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Are other therapists gaslighting us about burnout? In this episode, Jen responds to a social media post claiming "burnout is not a given" — and unpacks why that framing, while well-intentioned, can quietly turn burnout into a "you problem." She talks honestly about arriving at burnout already burnt, why a new business model isn't always the escape hatch, and what she learned from running her first Leaving the Chair group. IN THIS EPISODE "Burnout is not a given" — yes, and… Jen responds to a post arguing that therapists just need a more sustainable business model to escape burnout. She agrees burnout shouldn't be normalized — and pushes back on the implication that if you're burnt out, you simply picked the wrong model. Many of us arrive at burnout in full surrender, with real mental health symptoms, needing recovery rather than prevention. Burnt by the work itself The research is clear: therapists often arrive at burnout, not burning out. Not "a little crispy" — fully burnt. Jen normalizes that some of us will face burnout, compassion fatigue, or vicarious traumatization despite our business model, because of trauma exposure. It's okay if you need help. Full stop. The escape-hatch industry Jen names the constant stream of pitches in her inbox — AI companies, coaching programs, consultation packages — all promising to "solve" therapist burnout. Some consultation is genuinely helpful (she's used it), but be discerning. People benefit financially from therapists buying their way out, and a stopgap is not a solution. What she learned running Leaving the Chair Jen's first cohort of the Leaving the Chair group wrapped in May 2026. Instead of "fix your nervous system in a weekend," the group started with pruning — cutting back what isn't working — and moved into the harder question: who am I now, and what do I actually value? The values bridge Through Susie Welsh's values bridge work (found via Kate Donovan's podcast), Jen was surprised to learn she's genuinely okay with a smaller life. Marketing, launching, scaling — not high on her list right now. Partnership, family, tennis, gardening, her dog — those are. The arrival fallacy, again High-achievers in this field are trained to look for the next rung: the license, the practice, the group practice, the podcast, the program. Jen reflects on being squarely in midlife and — maybe for the first time — being comfortable being where she is. "I don't want to." Borrowing from Martha Beck, Jen describes the little creature at the end of herself that finally said, "I don't want to." Not collapse — refusal. She wants to do good work, thoroughly, and still not overwork. She wants to play. A hobby is something that doesn't make you money Jen stopped teaching fitness classes during the group — $25/hour is real money, but it wasn't a hobby and it wasn't her job. She talks about reclaiming hobbies as hobbies, and helping therapists think about their whole life as something worth enjoying, not just optimizing. What a sabbatical is actually for Jen is taking a summer sabbatical in late June. Spoiler: a sabbatical is not a vision quest. It's not the time to figure life out. It's a time to rest and to cease work — something modern life has thoroughly messed up. A full episode on sabbaticals is coming. Thanks for listening. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a therapist friend who needs to hear it — and subscribe to the newsletter for more at https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb

Can you prevent burnout as a therapist? This episode explores the balance between work life and personal life, the importance of boundaries, and how to navigate systemic challenges in the therapy field. Main Topics: The concept of guardrails in therapy and personal lifePractical boundary-setting techniques for work-life separationThe impact of systemic issues and environment on burnoutPersonal stories of systemic injustice and boundary violationsHow to implement small guardrails in daily routinesThe importance of saying no and adjusting workloadsReflections on burnout prevention strategies and the limits of individual effortsThe role of self-awareness and systemic change in therapist wellnessResources & Links: Oliver Berkman - 4,000 Weeks: Time Management for MortalsCal Newport - Deep WorkMary Oliver - Poem on Our One Wild Life (related poem)Connect with Jen Blanchette: Leaving the Chair Newsletter (subscribe for stories, journal prompts, and updates)Jen’s WebsiteConnect with Therapist Colleague: WebsiteLinkedIn

Subscribe to the Leaving the Chair Newsletter: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Are you a therapist who keeps adding certifications, trainings, and credentials, hoping that this one will finally make you feel like you're enough? In this episode, Jen gets personal about the inner voices of imposter phenomenon — the ones that say "I failed," "I'm not cut out for this," and "how did I get it all so wrong?" — and shares the reframes (and the time it actually takes to get there) that helped her find compassion for herself and her journey. IN THIS EPISODE The knowledge trap in independent practice When we're working alone, we rarely get to mirror our expertise back to others — and that silence can make us feel like we're missing something. Jen explores how that feeling can send us chasing certifications instead of addressing what's actually going on. The dog walker who hit different Jen's new dog walker is a former ornithologist who left her career and summed it up simply: "I was never done." That phrase perfectly captures the arrival fallacy — the belief that once you hit a certain milestone (the EMDR cert, the LLLP, the full fee), you'll finally feel like you've arrived. The voices of imposter phenomenon Some of the loudest thoughts Jen experienced during burnout: "I'm not cut out for this. I failed. I worked so hard — how did I get it all so wrong?" She shares why these thoughts are so sticky, and why it can take years (not weeks) to move from being stuck in them to finding a true reframe. Tools for distancing from looping thoughts You already have these tools — now use them on yourself. Jen encourages therapists to apply the CBT and mindfulness techniques they use with clients to their own imposter thoughts: visualizations, cognitive defusion, and anything that creates distance between you and the story your brain is telling. The reframe that took three years "Of course you needed a break." Holding a therapy practice through a pandemic, as a mother of young children — of course that was too much. Jen reflects on the compassion she's finally found for herself, and invites you to find yours too. Slowing down instead of piling on Instead of launching a new program or changing your whole practice model, what if the answer was to prune? To get quiet? To figure out what you actually need? Jen makes the case for softening — and for finding someone to help you sort through it. LINKS & RESOURCES Episode 105 — Certifications and burnout: are you adding credentials to solve the wrong problem? Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/therapist-burnout-podcast-mental-health-business-and/id1698139097 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2Z1uyhMcqZHh2SH1uCZaZx Leaving the Chair Newsletter — practical, honest writing for therapists who are burned out, burned through, or just figuring out what's next. Going twice monthly. https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Thanks for listening. If this episode resonated with you, share it with a therapist friend who needs to hear it — and subscribe to the newsletter for more at https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb

📬 THE LEAVING THE CHAIR NEWSLETTER For therapists done with burnout, overwhelm, and overscheduling — whether or not you're leaving the chair. Published twice monthly, free, and practical. 👉 Sign up here: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb In this episode: Jen asks the question therapists are thinking but not saying out loud — are certifications in our field kind of like an MLM? She digs into the research, shares her own EMDR certification journey (including the $6,000 price tag), and gives you a real framework for knowing when a certification makes sense — and when burnout is the actual problem you're trying to solve. What you'll hear: Why Jen started her private practice — a new baby, heart surgery, postpartum anxiety, and no real optionsThe training gap from grad school — lots of CBT, almost no trauma treatment, and EMDR had a "voodoo" reputationHer EMDR journey from PESI training to full EMDRIA certification — and where she actually started to feel competentThe "MLM ladder" in therapy training: training → advanced training → consultation hours → certification → consultant → trainer — and who's making money at each rungThe proliferation of low-barrier certifications and what it means when the fine print says "certification does not imply endorsement of clinical competency"A side-by-side of a low-barrier DBT credential vs. the DBT-Linehan Board Certification (endorsed by Marsha Linehan herself)What the 2025 Dodo Bird meta-analysis tells us about therapy modality and outcomesWhy burnout makes training feel like the answer — and why it usually isn'tA practical guide: when to get certified, when it's the wrong move, how to evaluate if a cert is legit, and how to know if burnout is your real issueResearch mentioned:Boxell et al. (2025) — Dodo Bird meta-analysis, Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy. 90 trials, 2014–2024, n=9,637. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10879-025-09712-7Simpson et al. (2025) — EMDR clinical and cost-effectiveness review, British Journal of Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjop.70005Wampold's contextual model — therapeutic alliance, empathy, positive regard, and therapist responsiveness drive outcomes more than modalityU.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs — trauma prevalence statisticsLinks: 📬 Leaving the Chair Newsletter (twice monthly, free): https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenbEMDRIA: https://www.emdria.orgDBT-Linehan Board of Certification: https://dbt-lbc.orgMaine Association of School Psychologists: https://www.masp.org

✨ New: The Leaving the Chair Newsletter Tired of the overwhelm, the over-functioning, and maybe even the therapy chair itself? Leaving the Chair is Dr. Jen's new newsletter for therapists who are ready to stop white-knuckling their careers and start building something that actually feels like theirs. Sign up here: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Show Notes — Bonus Episode: Dr. Jen on the Emotionally Wealthy Podcast In this bonus episode, Dr. Jen shares a recent guest appearance on the Emotionally Wealthy podcast with Karen Conlon — licensed psychotherapist, coach, and relationship expert. Karen's show explores how childhood conditioning, emotional patterns, and unexamined beliefs quietly shape the way high-achieving adults show up in love, work, and life. The conversation between Dr. Jen and Karen hits close to home for many therapists: the quiet burnout that doesn't look dramatic, the way we gaslight ourselves into pushing through, and what it actually means to stop over-functioning and start recovering. It's exactly the kind of question that lives at the heart of Dr. Jen's work — what are we even doing here? Dr. Jen also shares an update on Leaving the Chair, her community for therapists navigating burnout recovery. The content being built there is focused, practical, and designed to help you reclaim clarity and direction — not another overwhelming program, but exactly what's needed. What you'll hear in this episode: The quieter face of burnout — numbness, resentment, and the slow loss of yourselfHow high achievers and helpers learn to sacrifice themselves and call it dedicationWhy self-gaslighting keeps us stuck, and what burnout recovery actually looks likeAn update on Leaving the Chair and what's being developed for the communityLinks: 📩 Join the Leaving the Chair Newsletter: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb🎙️ Emotionally Wealthy with Karen Conlon on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emotionally-wealthy/id1814244500🎙️ The episode featuring Dr. Jen — The Burnout You Don't Recognize: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-burnout-you-dont-recognize-how-over-functioning/id1814244500?i=1000752849777🌐 Karen Conlon's website: https://karenconlon.comNew episode from Dr. Jen in two weeks!

Join my Therapist Pen Pal list (free): https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Overbooked & Overwhelmed (again): How to Prune What You Can When Your Calendar Feels Impossible In this episode, I’m revisiting a topic I first talked about last year: what to do when you look at your calendar and genuinely can’t see how you’re going to make it through the week. I’m naming the backdrop we’re all living inside of (what some people are calling a “polycrisis”) and why it matters that we stop pretending our overwhelm exists in a vacuum. Then I take you into a simple (not easy) starting point: notice what’s depleting you, and prune what you can—without needing a perfect plan or a five-step system. In this episode, we talk about:A quick 2020 story (my cancelled “Cinderella’s castle” 40th birthday moment) and why the 2020s have felt like a relentless eraThe concept of a “polycrisis” and why therapists have been bracing for yearsWhy you can’t live in nervous system dysregulation forever (your body has a limit)What brain injury recovery taught me about burnout recovery: it’s rarely “one fix”—it’s ongoing listening + experimentingThe burnout reckoning: “When can I function like I used to?” (and why that question can keep you stuck)The practical starting point:Notice depletionIdentify what’s non-negotiable vs. optionalPrune what you canThe “come to Jesus” questions:What is this pace doing to your body in 6 months?What is it doing to your patients, your partner, your kids, your life?How resentment shows up internally (and why it’s human)—and when you’re past “just do more consultation”Why “doing less” does not mean you care lessCognitive overload + sensory input (especially your phone), and how to titrate it down without going cold turkeyConcrete examples of pruning:fewer evening sessionsdropping one non-essential obligationsimplifying meals/snacks so you’re not running on fumesdelegating home tasks (yes, even feeding the dog)pausing trainings/certifications when you have no bandwidthA gentle prompt to try (from the episode)If you can (and not while driving): Look at your calendar and just sit with it for a minute. Then ask: What do I dread every week?What is the cost of continuing to do it like this?What’s truly non-negotiable… and what’s optional even if it doesn’t feel optional?What’s one small thing I can prune this week?Key line from this episodeDoing less does not mean you care less. It may be the exact thing that helps you care more—because it protects your capacity. Mentioned / referenced“Polycrisis” (the idea that multiple crises are happening at once and compounding)Cognitive burnout + constant input (especially phone use / scrolling)Stay connectedTherapist Pen Pal list: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenbEmail: [email protected]: Find me at Dr. Jen Blanchette

Burnout Story: Today, I’m joined by Dr. Kiki Fehling (aka @dbtkiki), a psychologist, author, and DBT expert (Linehan board-certified). Kiki shares the burnout story that started in grad school and became impossible to ignore after an unexpected heart attack at 29 during internship. We talk about what happens when your body forces a reckoning, why therapists normalize burnout so hard, and how Kiki ultimately built a career teaching DBT skills outside the therapy room through writing, speaking, and content creation. We also get into the reality of being a clinician “in these internet streets” — ethical gray areas, overwhelm, and why content creation isn’t a quick burnout escape hatch. In this episode: Medical trauma as a catalyst for changeDBT’s “life worth living” question (and what it reveals)The therapist burnout elephant we name but don’t unpackIdentity shifts: quitting, not quitting, and letting it evolveSocial media ethics + boundaries for cliniciansLinks & resources: Dr. Kiki Fehling: https://www.kikifehling.com/Follow Kiki: @dbtkikiAPA social media guidelines (PDF): https://www.apa.org/about/policy/guidelines-optimal-use-social-media.pdfJoin my Therapist Pen Pal list: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb

Join Leaving the Chair (registration closes Sat, Jan 31 at midnight): https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/jhvxnbroxe In this quick episode, I’m recapping the live webinar I just hosted on burnout and pivots — and what surprised me most wasn’t the content… it was the honesty in the questions. A lot of therapists who showed up were already in motion: closing their practice, leaving a job, or standing right on the edge of a big change. And it reminded me how common this really is — and how heavy it feels when you’re trying to figure it out alone. I also share why I’m opening my 12-week group experience, Leaving the Chair, and how it’s designed to be supportive (not content-heavy) for therapists who are trying to make real decisions in the middle of burnout. In this episode, I coverWhat came up on the webinarWhy the questions weren’t casual — they were vulnerable and realThe themes I keep attracting: practice closure, leaving therapy, and “I can’t do this anymore”How much life it gave me to hold space with therapists who get itMy biggest takeawaysBurnout makes decision-making feel impossible When you’re fried, your brain treats everything like danger — and it’s hard to trust yourself.“What job should I do?” isn’t the real question There are infinite options — the deeper work is learning what your body and life can hold right now.Your pivot doesn’t have to be dramatic A slower move can be more sustainable (unless your body is forcing an emergency exit).The Career Traffic Circle (broad strokes)Stop / pause (sabbatical, medical leave, real break)Slow down (reduce intensity, reduce clients, contract work)Bridge (off-ramp immediate income or on-ramp training)Full pivot (usually later — after stabilization)Identity grief is real Untethering from “I am a therapist” can bring grief, confusion, and shame.Termination and closure always come to the table Client reactions, ethical goodbyes, and the emotional load of wrapping up.The biggest problem is doing it alone This is hard work — and isolation makes it heavier.Join me inside Leaving the ChairLeaving the Chair is a 12-week group experience for therapists who want support making a pivot — without panic decisions. Starts: Friday, February 6Meets: Fridays at 2:00 PM EasternInvestment: $950Includes: 12 group sessions + 4 guided workshops + supportive circles focused on space, feedback, and decision support (not content overload)Spots available: 5Registration closes: Saturday, January 31 at midnight👉 Register here: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/jhvxnbroxe Want my weekly notes on burnout + pivots?Join my Pen Pal list here: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Questions? Reach outEmail: [email protected]: @drjenblanchette (DM me — I’ll reply)Closing noteIf you’re in the “I can’t do this anymore” season, you’re not failing — you’re overloaded. And you don’t have to make these decisions by yourself.

After nearly three years of talking with therapists about burnout (and living my own recovery in real time), I wanted to pause and name what I keep seeing underneath the surface — especially for therapists who feel stuck, spinning, or quietly wondering if they can keep doing 1:1 work. In this episode:Burnout isn’t just exhaustion — it’s losing your alivenessTherapist burnout isn’t a personal failure — it’s a systems problemSpinning isn’t indecisiveness — it’s nervous system overloadYou don’t need a dramatic pivot to move forwardYou can be good at your job and still not be able to do it anymoreAlso mentioned:Burnout vs depression (and why real support matters)Menopause + mental healthCognitive burnout, digital overload, and modern lifeWhy doing less can be the most radical move in burnout recoveryLinks + ways to stay connectedTherapist Pen Pal List: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/drjenb Free Pivot Call (Mon Jan 26 @ 2pm ET) — replay available: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/hidsgfobza Submit a question for the Pivot Call (anonymous option): https://forms.gle/Hs5GYYKFFMP45xmn9 Leaving the Chair (Group Program) — starts Feb 6 | Fridays at 2pm ET: https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/jhvxnbroxe

Quick note: Enrollment is open for Love It or Leave It (Leaving the Chair). Closes January 30 (at the time of recording). Join Love It or Leave It (Open Enrollment): https://balanced-thunder-281.myflodesk.com/jhvxnbroxe Book a consult call (limited availability): https://calendar.app.google/JBkK3aUPXyvxr46F7 About this episodeMicah Freeman interviews Jen for Episode 100. We talk about milestones, burnout (in real life), cognitive overload, and why so many therapists are done with 1:1 as it’s currently structured. What we coverWhat 100 episodes actually feels like (and why “arrival” doesn’t land the way we expect)The arrival fallacy and the “have done list”Jen’s current relationship with burnout and learning to be gentler with herselfCognitive burnout: screens, tabs, constant input, nervous system fatigueThe added layers for many therapists: caregiving, emotional labor, hormones/menopauseWhy Jen started studying burnout before becoming a psychologist (therapeutic foster care)Burnout vs depression and the overlap in symptomsTherapist isolation, clinical grief, and why support mattersCommunity, meaning, and the messy middle of spirituality/faithWhy listener emails and reviews matter more than you thinkA few lines that stuck“Earth School is very hard.”“There are only so many times you can walk through fire and not get burned.”“I wanted to give it the breadth of time. 100 felt like doing that.”Reflection questionsWhat am I waiting to achieve so I can finally feel okay?What would be on my “have done list” this year?What’s burning me out most: work, life load, cognitive overload, or all of it?What would a sustainable next step look like (not a dramatic pivot)?GuestMicah Freeman Website: egostrength.net Podcast: the self-study lab