The Burnout Professor

⚡️ Your body holds valuable clues about your nervous system activation. Here's how to identify them: ⚡️⁣
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1️⃣ Physical sensations: Notice any changes in your body, such as increased heart rate, shallow breathing, muscle tension, or digestive discomfort (aka upset stomach!).⁣
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2️⃣ Emotional cues: Pay attention to heightened feelings of anxiety, irritability, restlessness, or a sense of overwhelm.⁣
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3️⃣ Thought patterns: Observe racing thoughts, difficulty concentrating, negative self-talk, or a heightened sense of threat perception.⁣
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4️⃣ Behavioral shifts: Recognize changes in your behavior, such as increased reactivity, avoidance, impulsivity, or withdrawal. You know that urge to interrupt people when they are speaking? This is that.⁣
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By cultivating self-awareness, you can catch early signs of nervous system activation and implement strategies to regulate yourself. Remember, this self-awareness is essential in promoting your well-being and resilience. ✨⁣
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💙 Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH⁣
✨This account is not clinical advice.⁣
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Let's talk about trauma because I want to clear up any confusion about what it is and ISN'T.⁣⁣
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➡️ Trauma is not just a buzzword; it's a deeply impactful experience that affects our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. I'm basing this on my almost 20 years in the mental health field as a trauma-informed Psychotherapist, Professor, and Clinical Director. More importantly, I understand trauma deeply because of my own healing journey.⁣⁣
➡️ Trauma occurs when we are exposed to overwhelming events that exceed our capacity to cope, leaving a lasting imprint on our nervous system.⁣⁣
➡️ Trauma can result from various sources, including acute incidents, chronic stressors, developmental challenges, or environmental factors. It can manifest as feelings of disconnection, loss of safety, lack of predictability, immobility, numbness, and a sense of purposelessness.⁣⁣
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Understanding trauma is crucial in supporting ourselves and others on the burnout recovery journey. Each and every single one of us will or has already faced adversity and stress in our lives, but not everyone experiences trauma.⁣⁣
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💙 Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH⁣⁣
✨ This account is not clinical advice.⁣⁣
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🌱 Building self-awareness is a transformative journey that empowers us to live authentically and thrive. Living authentically can be considered one of the antidotes to burnout. Start with these:⁣⁣⁣⁣
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1️⃣ Slow down and create space for reflection. Take moments throughout your day to pause, breathe, and check in with yourself. On my own healing journey, I kept it simple in the beginning. I would ask myself, “Does this make me feel good or does this make me feel bad?” ⁣⁣
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2️⃣ Cultivate mindfulness. Practice being fully present in the present moment. For example, go out in nature and pay attention to the sights and sounds you hear. Another idea can be to simply identify 5 things you see, 4 things you touch, 3 things you hear, 2 things you smell, and 1 thing you taste (known as the 5,4,3,2,1 technique).⁣
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3️⃣ Engage in self-reflection. Journaling and therapy can help you explore your beliefs, values, and patterns of behavior.⁣⁣
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4️⃣ Seek feedback from trusted individuals. Others may offer insights about your blind spots and help you gain new perspectives.⁣⁣
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5️⃣ Learn how to become more vulnerable. As Brené Brown's research has shown, "in order for connection to happen, you have to allow yourself to be seen, really seen." Joining a community with like-minded individuals and therapy are great ways to start practicing. ⁣⁣
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Acquiring self-awareness and becoming authentic is an ongoing practice and crucial for burnout prevention and recovery. Give yourself GRACE. Be patient and compassionate with yourself as you deepen your understanding of who you are!⁣ This does not happen overnight. It's a collection of data over time. ⁣
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Little steps lead to big steps over time, my friend. ⁣Drop a 💙 below if you needed to hear this today.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣ ⁣
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💙 Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH⁣⁣
✨ This account is not clinical advice.⁣⁣ ⁣⁣

Slide 1 Resource DOI:10.1037/0022-0167.55.3.385
Slide 2 Resource DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.73.6.1380
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Are you in tune with your body? 🤸‍♀️ Interoception is a crucial element of self-awareness that often goes overlooked. It's the ability to sense and understand bodily sensations - and it's more important than you might think.⁣⁣
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Burnout can have a lasting impact on interoceptive awareness, causing us to feel disconnected from our bodies. This disconnect can be the cause of many physical and emotional difficulties, so it's essential to prioritize self-connection when healing. The key lies in engaging your limbic system (aka the part of the brain involved in our behavioral and emotional responses).⁣⁣
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Here are some ways to gain self-awareness through your limbic system:⁣⁣
➡️ Yoga⁣⁣
➡️ Chiropractic care⁣⁣
➡️ Heavy lifting⁣⁣
➡️ Martial arts⁣⁣
➡️ Couples dancing⁣⁣
➡️ Drama play⁣⁣
➡️ Meditation⁣⁣
➡️ Cold exposure⁣⁣
➡️ Mindfulness activities⁣⁣
➡️ Top-down mantras⁣⁣
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Once you've regained that connection with your body, it will be easier to dive deeper into the self-awareness journey. These activities work great in tandem in your work with a trauma-informed clinical therapist.⁣⁣
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How do you stay present in your body? Let me know in the comments below!⁣⁣
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💙Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH⁣⁣
✨This account is not clinical advice.⁣⁣
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Finding balance and regulation is essential for our well-being (and preventing burnout). Here are some effective ways to achieve it: ⚖️⁣
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Co-regulation: Seek support from trusted individuals who can provide a safe and calming presence. Connecting with others can help regulate your nervous system. Pets are also great for this!⁣
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In-the-moment practices: Engage in mindfulness techniques like deep breathing, grounding exercises, or body scans to bring yourself into the present moment and calm your nervous system.⁣
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Take short breaks: Incorporate regular breaks throughout your day to engage in activities that help you relax and recharge. It could be a brief walk, listening to music, or practicing a hobby you enjoy.⁣
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Change your environment: Create a soothing space that promotes relaxation and a sense of safety. Surround yourself with calming scents, soothing visuals, or comforting objects.⁣
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Build a healthy stress tolerance: Engage in activities that challenge you in a positive way. These are activities that help you learn to sit with the agitation that comes up in your body. This could include lifting heavy weights, focal point exercise, cold exposure therapy, eating a nutrient-dense diet that promotes gut health, or meditation/prayer.⁣
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Remember, burnout prevention is a dynamic process, and different strategies may work for different individuals. Explore what resonates with you and prioritize self-care practices that support your well-being and balance.⁣
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The more high-paced your on-the-clock hours are, the more you will need to learn how to slow it down off the clock. You only have so much energy in a day to give. It's important to balance it out in some way. Whether it is every day, every week, or every quarter. It is also important to note that if you are experiencing a trauma response (dorsal vagal), it is more beneficial to focus on cues of safety in your body. If you are in a stressed state (fight/flight), the above-mentioned ways are great to try!⁣
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💙Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH⁣
✨This account is not clinical advice.⁣
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Double-tap if you want this to be incorporated into your life! ❤️

When you live a fast-paced life, you can forget the simple things. Those simple things can greatly impact your brain health if done consistently and frequently.

The next time you have free moments, try to slow down.

I encourage you to go outside. Put your chest/heart up to the sky. Head up. Take a nice deep belly breath and exhale all the stressors. While you’re at it - think of three things that you are grateful for in your life.

Rest is productive, too.

Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
✨This account is not clinical advice.

I’m excited to announce that I’m presenting this year’s Milady’s Master Class at the Career Educator’s Alliance (CEA) Conference hosted by the American Association of Cosmetology Schools in Houston, TX, on July 16th.

A big thank you to for bringing me to the event!

I look forward to exploring how to create an anti-burnout culture at every level with 150+ educators!

See you soon, Houston!

❤️The Burnout Professor

Double-tap for this type of mindset! ✨

Shifting our perspective can be a game changer. Learning to see struggles as lessons, rejection as a redirection, and failures as knowledge gained - empowers us to move forward instead of staying stuck. Our perspective matters — it can set you up for a life full of joy, gratitude, love, peace, and connection. What do you think?

Tag a friend who needs this reminder, too 🙌🏻

❤️The Burnout Professor
✨This account is not clinical advice.

The nervous system consists of three states.

1. Parasympathetic state, aka rest and digest: Good energy—curious, Present, Grounded, Healthy amounts of energy, Connected. Your body is healthy. And you feel secure.

2. Stress Response aka Sympathetic State aka High Energy State: Higher energy state. Your body feels energized. You feel motivated to DO, MOVE and TAKE ACTION. Whether towards the stressor or away from the stressor.

3. Overwhelm (freeze response, dorsal vagal response, trauma response) This is when your body and brain say that it’s not a good idea to take action or you're not able to take action for whatever reason (i.e., you need to stay because it's your job). You have thoughts like, “This is bigger than I can handle.” You want to stay in bed and pull the cover over your head. You also feel this sluggish, heavy energy within you. You also keep pushing forward and go into auto-pilot mode in this state.

Here are three ways to move forward from a trauma response:

1. Create safety cues: retreating to a quiet environment (less stimulation), playing musical instruments, singing, talking softly, listening to music, rocking back and forth, and deep belly breaths.
2. Once in a stress response, learn ways to support your body. This can be done through aerobic exercise, gentle movement, breathwork, etc.
3. Once out of the stress response, you can focus on expansion. This is where the processing of the trauma happens. This is also where you can put your body in intentional stressful situations to help build a healthy stress tolerance.

Keep in mind:
1. You can’t heal (either physical or mental illnesses) when your body is in a stress or trauma response. Healing occurs when your body is in a parasympathetic state.
2. “The removal of threat is not the same thing as the experience of safety.” Dr. Stephen Porges

❤️The Burnout Professor
✨This account is not clinical advice.

You do not need to keep giving to the point of depletion. You do not need to keep pushing until you run out of gas.

To be your best, you must have habits, rituals, and routines that allow you to show up and do the “doing” with sustainability.

You can’t give what you don’t have. It’s that simple.

As cliche, as the saying is, my friend, sometimes we must slow down to speed up.

Slowing down allows you to gain clarity and focus and reduce stress.

In what ways do you need to slow down in your life? Let me know in the comments below :)

❤️ The Burnout Professor

Ever start to cry when you are arguing with someone? I have.

Or, when you get in your car after a long, chaotic shift you find yourself crying for “no reason?” I’ve been there, too.

Part of my professional training as a therapist was to not show any emotion. I had to learn to not react to things when I was hearing horrific stories or seeing things play out before my eyes.

I would feel shame or embarrassed if I got emotional.

That pushing the crying down, as I came to find out, took a toll on me both physically and emotionally.

When I finally stepped away from doing trauma therapy and started to decompress - the flood gates opened.

I used to beat myself up over crying thinking that I couldn’t handle things. But now I know I needed to purge. Purge everything that I had been holding onto inside of me.

If I could tell my burnt out self something, it would be that it’s okay to cry. It’s okay to call a friend and cry on their shoulder. You don’t need to go this alone. Find someone who is non-judgmental who can hold your hand and let you cry without trying to fix the situation.

How do you know your crying is worrisome? Glad you asked.

It becomes worrisome when it interferes with your daily functioning. you can cry everyday. But if it stops you from wanting to be with others, going to work, seeing the good things in life - then I’d recommend reaching out to a trained professional.

Remember my friend, tears are not something to be ashamed of but rather to be embraced. Find a space where you feel safe and let it out. Don’t hold it in. Your future self will thank you for it.

✨Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
✨This account is not clinical advice.

This is the best-kept secret that my chiropractor, physical therapist, and yoga friends know well!

When you support the spine, you calm the mind. You will start to feel supported on many different levels, and that is because the back body helps with managing stress levels.

If you have experienced trauma or are living in a chronically stressed state, you experience:
1. Sense of mind-body disconnection
2. Bad posture
3. Loss of balance, coordination, and sensory integration
4. Tightness around the neck, jaw, and face
5. Poor breathing, eye contact, and looking down a lot.

As you can see, it’s not just the mind-body connection that is affected. You also disconnect from the space around you.

Through yoga, vestibular exercises, and chiropractic care, you can start bringing your mind to the present moment by supporting the spine. You will begin to experience:
✅expansion
✅openness
✅balance
✅support
✅space
✅grounding

All of which is needed to thrive in life. When you are afraid to be vulnerable, and your body is afraid to take up space - this hinders you from taking risks. Healthy risk-taking is part of a purpose-driven life where you thrive and evolve.

When I was in the throes of my burnout, I didn’t feel supported, grounded, or open. I bumped into things often, was weary of anyone doing something nice for me, and was closed off to trying new things. I played small.

As I have recovered, I have done yoga and tried chiropractic care. Through working out, I’ve learned some vestibular exercises that have helped with my balance and sense of space.

Have you tried any of these? If not, have you wanted to?

Drop a ❤️ below if you want to feel open and vulnerable and want to take healthy risks with me!

Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
This account is not clinical advice.

Yes, sometimes lifestyle changes can be your answer to the issues you are facing.

In my almost 20 years of professional experience in the mental health field, you can be doing all of that and still need more.

How do you know when you need more?

When attempting to make lifestyle changes, stuff doesn’t seem to get better. You find yourself back to ground zero when something stressful happens.

You feel like you make all this significant progress, and then BAM, you're reacting in the ways that you are trying to get away from. And this isn’t about willpower or having enough faith.

This is about your nervous system reacting automatically to something as a threat/danger, and you need to understand why it’s activated so you can heal.

It’s scientifically proven that an lifestyle changes helps mitigate reactions, but it doesn’t get to the root cause - why your nervous system gets dysregulated in certain situations.

And I don’t know about you, but I’m all about getting to the root cause so I can stop being presented with the same life lesson - over and over.

A way to do this is through trauma-informed therapy.

If you’re looking for a trauma-informed therapist - EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems (IFS), please visit my website for a list of resources for free—no need to submit your email address to get access. Click the link in the bio.

Let’s live more and stress less!

Be sure to share, like, and save this post! ❤️

Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH


This account is not clinical advice.

Taking a moment to pause.

To honor and remember all those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.

All gave some. Some gave all. 🇺🇸❤️

Drop a ❤️ if you’re sober curious.

Did you know drinking alcohol shrinks your brain and wires your nervous system differently?

This means that even when you’re not drinking, it’s affecting your mood - your body is wired to be more anxious and stressed!!

Nature Research Article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-28735-5

This past week, I hit a significant milestone - 365 days of no alcohol. I can honestly say this has been the longest I have not had one single sip of alcohol since I was 21.

This Post-it was on my wall for the past year to remind me of my commitment.

It even shows how this journey didn’t start ideally. I initially thought I would start on January 1st, 2022. I didn’t stick to it bc of social interactions. I even contemplated not doing it all and reneging on my commitment. But then I remembered it’s not about perfection.

I’m so glad I followed through and kept my promise to myself.

Then this journey turned into something else entirely. I started to notice how much, as a society, we promote alcohol.

Through not drinking, I got to fully show up for 365 days of the good, bad, ugly, and every day. What I learned the most this past year is that I don’t miss alcohol.

I don’t need it in social situations like I thought I did.

I learned how to navigate my nervous system even more.

It also pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. I took up lifting weights and walking a bunch more.

I have learned to lean on my faith in ways I haven’t done before.

I wish I had known this when I was burnt out in 2014.

Will I ever drink again? I have no idea. But I do know that I didn’t lose anything from not drinking this past year. I gained a piece of me that I didn’t even know existed. ❤️

Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
This acct is not clinical advice.

You cannot think your way out of a dysregulated state.

This is why mantras don’t work.

An activated nervous system (think when you feel stressed, frustrated, triggered, overwhelmed) is not looking for the best ways to connect with others. It’s actually looking for ways in how to protect you.

This is why we can think “dooms day” after a bad moment or why we just get the “screw it” mentality and give up.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is to start to move our body. When we move our body, especially walking in a forward direction, this helps our nervous system start to calm down. This is due to our eyes signaling to our brain that we are moving away from the perceived threat.

Once you have a calm brain, then you can start to process the emotions, reflect and work on shifting your mindset.

Save for later & tag a friend who you think will want to know this info! ❤️

Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
✨This account is not clinical advice/therapy.

Our little daily habits make or break us. Your daily habits are the foundation of your life and how you get through the storms.

It’s that simple.

And it is that hard.

If you were to take a moment and reflect - would you say that your daily habits help you become the person you want to be, or do they keep you stuck in a place you don’t want to be in anymore?

When looking to make changes in your life - it’s not worrying about the future or fretting about the past. It focuses on the here and now and what is in your control.

And what is in your control are the little things.

✅Getting outside within the first hour of waking up in the AM.
✅Choosing an apple over a bag of chips (cheese fries, in my case)
✅Going for a quick walk instead of scrolling on social media.
✅Reading a book instead of watching tv before bed
✅Putting your cell phone in another room at night (use an old-school alarm clock instead)

When you learn how to do the little things well, the other stuff starts to fall into place.

Discipline is KEY. Discipline is also freedom.

A commitment to yourself to do and be better than where you are in this moment.

You build confidence by keeping the little commitments you make to yourself.

What are some little habits that you are committed to keeping in your life?

The daily habit that I’m currently working on keeping: to walk 10k steps or more a day.

Because you decide the habits, you can say, “I decide.” This is where your power lies.

Drop a ❤️ if you are committed to making a new daily habit with me.

✨Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMPH
✨This account is not clinical advice.

It’s your favorite Integrative Mental Health Professional back during Mental Health Awareness Month.

Hi! 👋🏻 I’m Erica Cuni, The Burnout Professor. I’m a former Professor, Clinical Director, & Psychotherapist turned Keynote Speaker. More importantly, I’m a fellow burnout survivor.

I’m passionate about instilling hope & showing others how to take control of their lives.

If you’re new, welcome!! I hope you take a moment and join our 10k+ community. If you’ve been with me, thank YOU. You are my motivators to keep talking!

Let me ask: Have you ever felt overwhelmed or like you had a black cloud over your head?

Me too.

I found my mission in 2014 when I was driving to work and was hit by a Mack Dump Truck (literally). Over the next two years, I had a black cloud over my head that would not disappear - no matter what I tried.

I went back to traditional talk therapy to try to figure out what the heck I was missing - it didn’t work. Diving into the “woo-woo” side, I found “me.” I learned how to navigate my nervous system and take control of my life.

You see, it’s not woo-woo. It’s science-based, researched-backed, and trauma-informed.

I share what I’ve learned in my 15+ years as a Mental Health Professional, my knowledge as a Professor, & takeaways from my burnout recovery journey.

My vision is to help make the mental health field more accessible, practical, non-stigmatizing, & non-pathological.

I practice what I talk about (see pictures in the post). I embody the things I speak to. But please know - I’m not perfect.

Fun fact: Bear, my rescue pitbull, is my sidekick. He’s been with me since one month after the accident. Not sure who rescued who.

This isn’t just about talking about stressors. There is so much more to living a long, healthy life. This is about learning habits, routines, & rituals that allow you to do the “doing” with sustainability.

Is there anything else you’d like to know?

Another talk in the books! I had such a great time with these 20+ powerhouses as I talked about why we self-sabotage and how to get unstuck to move forward with some actionable steps to use right away! Thank you for having me ❤️

It is long overdue to move past, talking everything out week in and week out, looking for “what’s wrong,” and pathologizing emotions.
The disease model clinicians are taught to follow does not empower the client.
It is geared to stigmatize and alienate. (Some professionals cannot continue working if seen by a therapist or receive a diagnosis).
Also, research has shown that anti-depressants are ineffective if you have experienced childhood trauma.
How things are handled in our current mainstream mental health system when working with burnout, chronic stress & trauma doesn’t consider the nervous system, trauma history, gut health, physical exercise/movement, learned attachment styles, spirituality, and ego/shadow work.
In comes the time of looking at things holistically or integratively.
We know now more than ever, based on research consistently showing - The mind, body, and spirit are connected.
If therapy is meant for self-reflection, and self-reflection cannot happen until the brain is calm, we must focus on achieving and sustaining a well-regulated nervous system.
We need to continue to move toward a wellness empowerment approach.
Let’s get to the root cause rather than focus on the symptoms - which is understanding why the nervous system is staying stuck in a dysregulated state.
Move over, Freud. It’s a new Era. Welcome to the new way of achieving mental wellness.
✨Erica Cuni, LMFT, CIMHP
✨Follow for insights on how to thrive consciously.
✨This acct is not clinical advice.