Soul Joy: Burnout Truths for Brilliant Women
You did everything right—earned the master’s, the doctorate, the letters after your name—yet you wake up tired, anxious, and secretly wondering if all that achievement was worth it.
Welcome to Soul Joy, the podcast where Dr. Julie Merriman, PhD counselor educator and burnout researcher, says the quiet parts out loud.
Here we tackle the truths no one warned you about:
⚡ “Your PhD Is Making Your Burnout Worse” – why the traits that earned your degree now fuel exhaustion
⚡ “Self-Care Is Gaslighting for Smart Women” – how bubble-bath advice ignores real science
⚡ The Perimenopause Career Crisis – hormones, leadership, and the hidden storm of midlife
⚡ The Achievement Paradox – when success leaves you empty inside
Each episode blends hard research, behind-the-scenes vulnerability, and practical, science-backed solutions to help advanced-degree helpers—therapists, physicians, professors, clergy, and other brilliant women—ditch burnout and fall in love with life again.
If you’re ready to question the wellness clichés, rewrite the rules of professional success, and discover that your best chapter is still ahead, hit follow.
Your education prepared you to help others.
Now it’s time to help yourself.
🙏 Be part of my FREE Community: Soul Joy Circle! ✨https://www.facebook.com/groups/souljoycircle
❤️ Visit my website: www.juliemerrimanphd.com
✉️ Email me: info@juliemerrimanphd.com
Soul Joy: Burnout Truths for Brilliant Women
Why Bubble Baths Won't Fix What Decades of Sacrifice Broke
Empowering brilliant women in healthcare over 50 transform burnout into renewed purpose - reigniting their spark to create a life that energizes them every single day.
Episode Description
If you've ever felt rage when someone tells you to "just practice more self-care," this episode will set you free. Bubble baths won't fix what decades of sacrifice broke. We're exposing why the wellness industry's advice is insulting to brilliant, exhausted women over 50—and sharing what actually works when you're ready for a next chapter built on joy, not just more responsibility.
What You'll Learn
- Why self-care advice is gaslighting – How the wellness industry makes you doubt your own reality and blame yourself for systemic problems
- The biology of your burnout – What's really happening in your nervous system, hormones, and brain during perimenopause and menopause
- The research they don't tell you – Burnout statistics for healthcare professionals and how declining estrogen affects your stress response
- Why smart women fall for this – How your training taught you to push through exhaustion and tie your worth to productivity
- What actually works – Nervous system regulation, boundary mastery, and meaning recalibration (not balance or relaxation)
Key Timestamps
- [0:00] Why self-care advice makes you want to throw your phone
- [3:00] The Self-Care Industrial Complex Is Lying to You
- [9:00] The Research They Don't Tell You
- [15:00] Why Smart Women Fall For This
- [20:00] What Actually Works (nervous system regulation, boundaries, purpose)
- [27:00] Your Next Chapter Starts Here
Key Quotes
"You're not burned out because you forgot to light a candle. You're burned out because your nervous system has been in overdrive for DECADES."
"Burnout isn't a personality flaw. It's not a time-management problem. It's a physiological state of chronic nervous system dysregulation."
"You can't self-care your way out of a system designed to use you up."
"You're not broken—you're just done being used."
Resources Mentioned
- Book a free 20-minute Soul Joy Method call: www.juliemerrimanphd.com
- Take the Soul Joy Challenge: www.juliemerrimanphd.com
Connect with Dr. Julie
Website: www.juliemerrimanphd.com
Subscribe & Review
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