Burnout doesn’t always mean you need more rest. Sometimes it means your nervous system is asking for a different rhythm—or even a different container for your work.

In this special three part holiday series of Off the Chair, Dr. Colleen Long dives into the science of nervous system regulation, winter hibernation, and why clinicians feel more depleted than ever during December. You’ll learn how seasonal biology, unfinished stress cycles, trauma physiology, and systemic pressure collide—especially for therapists, psychologists, physicians, and helpers who feel for a living.

This episode helps you identify what kind of tired you’re actually experiencing—the kind a nap will fix, the kind that needs a nervous system reset, or the kind that signals a deeper career redesign. You’ll also hear why December is not a neutral month for clinicians, how rest can bring uncomfortable clarity, and why evolving your work is not failure—it’s biology.

If you’re feeling exhausted, flat, or quietly done, this episode offers language, permission, and practical tools to slow down without shame and listen to what your nervous system is asking for next.

Who this episode is for:
• Therapists, psychologists, counselors
• Physicians, psychiatrists, dentists
• Coaches, healers, helpers
• Burned-out professionals considering a career pivot

Burned out, questioning everything, and wondering if you’re allowed to want something different from your work and your life? This episode is for therapists, group practice owners, and mental health leaders who have hit a wall and know they cannot go back to “business as usual.”

In this conversation, Sarah Olson opens up about slamming into burnout at full speed, even while her practice and life looked successful from the outside. She traces the moment everything stopped working, the fog that made it hard to think straight, and the reckoning that forced her to step back, rest, and rebuild her relationship to work, productivity, and worth.

You’ll hear her talk about how hard it actually is to delegate, release control, and trust a team when you’ve been holding everything together for too long. Sarah describes what it took to take real time off, reconnect with her body, and how healing her own trauma shifted everything.

Key takeaways:

➡️ Burnout can manifest unexpectedly, even when things seem to be going well.

➡️ Recognizing the signs of burnout is crucial for recovery.

➡️ Taking a break is not a sign of weakness but a necessary step for mental health.

➡️ Delegation can be challenging but is essential for sustainable practice management.

➡️ Self-care should not be viewed as selfish but as a priority for well-being.

➡️ Redefining success involves understanding personal limits and needs.

➡️ Quality work can be achieved in shorter, focused periods rather than long hours.

➡️ It's important to listen to your body and respect its signals.

➡️ Leadership styles can shift significantly after experiencing burnout.

➡️ Finding peace in professional life is a continuous journey.

➡️ Listening to your body is crucial for maintaining well-being.

➡️ Healing personal trauma can enhance professional practice.

➡️ Small changes can lead to significant improvements in well-being.

➡️ Prioritizing what truly matters can help manage stress and burnout.

If you've ever wondered what sustainable work-life balance as a clinician could look like, Sarah outlines a pathway there in this episode.

Episode chapters:

00:00 – The burnout experience

03:40 – Recognizing the signs of burnout

07:32 – The decision to step back

18:30 – The shift in mindset

24:58 – Finding community and support

26:45 – Recognizing personal limits and the need for rest

29:12 – The journey back from burnout

30:50 – Learning to delegate and trust the team

33:02 – Navigating the challenges of group practice ownership

35:47 – Understanding burnout and its impact

38:22 – Shifting perspectives on productivity

42:16 – Finding motivation and embracing change

46:03 – Dismantling old beliefs about success

53:33 – The evolution of leadership in practice ownership

01:03:02 – Leading with connection and inspiration

01:06:58 – Listening to your body: a journey to self-care

01:14:12 – Shifting therapy practices: from management to leadership

01:18:47 – Marketing and building a sustainable practice

01:21:31 – Advice for clinicians: small steps to avoid burnout​

If this episode speaks to you, hit subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations. Leave a review so other clinicians can find these stories, and share this episode with a colleague who is on the edge of burnout and needs to know they are not alone.​

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

TikTok: @offthechairpodcast​

Burned out, morally injured, and wondering if you’re the problem? Good news and bad news: it's not you, it's the system. This episode is for clinicians, group practice owners, and mental health leaders who feel trapped between their ethics, insurance demands, and the crushing weight of “doing it all.”

In this conversation, we unpack the evolving challenges facing clinicians in independent practice, especially the shift from “I’m just burned out” to recognizing true moral injury. We look at how systemic forces, insurance requirements, and changing rules in healthcare are reshaping what it even means to do ethical, sustainable clinical work.

You’ll hear how isolation in leadership, constant multitasking, and opaque power dynamics erode both capacity and integrity over time. The episode also explores why so many group practice owners feel like they “failed,” when in reality the rules changed without their consent or control.

What you’ll learn

➡️ Why your group practice didn’t fail just because you “couldn’t hack the rules”

➡️ The difference between burnout as a capacity failure and moral injury as an integrity failure

➡️ How clinicians become the vicarious “fall guy” for insurance companies and broken systems

➡️ Why burnout can stop being a phase and start to feel like an identity you can’t escape

➡️ How isolation at the top quietly harms clinical judgment, leadership, and well-being

➡️ What it looks like to reinvent your work using technology and AI without losing your humanity

➡️ Why “off the chair” means refusing to believe that suffering is the price of legitimacy in this field

If you’ve ever thought, “I can survive this if I can just see a way out,” this episode sketches the contours of that way out. It offers language, frameworks, and possibilities for clinicians who are ready to stop surviving in silence and start reimagining what practice can look like.

Episode chapters

00:00 – Introduction to the journey of clinicians

06:46 – The illusion of freedom in group practice

09:05 – The changing landscape of healthcare

10:26 – The new power dynamics in healthcare

12:53 – The burden of multitasking in practice management

13:11 – Understanding moral injury vs. burnout

17:55 – The impact of moral injury on clinicians

21:13 – The isolation of leadership in healthcare

25:07 – Navigating workplace turmoil

27:48 – The burden of leadership in mental health

30:27 – The impact of insurance on mental health practices

36:43 – The journey to selling a practice

40:24 – Reinventing mental health care in a changing landscape

45:58 – Embracing technology for sustainable practice

48:33 – Finding hope and healing in the chaos

50:33 – Understanding human behavior and cues

51:24 – Taking action for change

If this episode resonated with you, hit subscribe so you don’t miss future conversations. Leave a review to help other clinicians find this show, and share this episode with a colleague who is quietly burning out or carrying moral injury alone.

Connect with us!

Website: www.offthechair.com

Instagram: @offthechairpodcast

YouTube: @offthechairpodcast

TikTok: @offthechairpodcast