Send us your thoughts! Why do the smartest women ignore their own bodies until it’s too late? In this powerful episode, Dr. Julie Merriman—counselor educator, burnout researcher, and breast cancer survivor—unpacks The Self-Neglect Paradox. Learn why high-achieving women delay care, how stress rewires the brain to miss warning signs, and what it really takes to stop over-functioning and start healing. Blending personal story, research, and actionable tools, this episode offers both science and...
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Send us your thoughts! Why do the smartest women ignore their own bodies until it’s too late? In this powerful episode, Dr. Julie Merriman—counselor educator, burnout researcher, and breast cancer survivor—unpacks The Self-Neglect Paradox. Learn why high-achieving women delay care, how stress rewires the brain to miss warning signs, and what it really takes to stop over-functioning and start healing. Blending personal story, research, and actionable tools, this episode offers both science and...
Send us your thoughts! Why do the smartest women ignore their own bodies until it’s too late? In this powerful episode, Dr. Julie Merriman—counselor educator, burnout researcher, and breast cancer survivor—unpacks The Self-Neglect Paradox. Learn why high-achieving women delay care, how stress rewires the brain to miss warning signs, and what it really takes to stop over-functioning and start healing. Blending personal story, research, and actionable tools, this episode offers both science and...
Send us your thoughts! Here’s the truth no one tells women over 50 about burnout: it’s not just exhaustion—it’s disconnection. Disconnection from laughter, friendship, and the real human moments that make life rich and funny and alive. In this short, joy-packed episode, Dr. Julie shares the Connection Cure—a simple, free, and wildly effective way to start feeling human again. You’ll laugh, nod, and maybe even text a friend before the episode is over. In This Episode, You’ll Discover: 💬 Why b...
Send us your thoughts! You can save lives all day, be surrounded by colleagues and patients who need you, have a full calendar and an impressive title—and still go home feeling like no one truly sees you. In this powerful episode, Dr. Julie addresses one of the most quietly devastating realities for women in healthcare over 50: the paradox of professional connection and personal isolation. If you've ever caught yourself thinking, "I'm so tired of being everything to everyone and nothing to my...
Send us your thoughts! "Your Solar Plexus Called—It Wants Its Power Back" Description: When's the last time you felt truly POWERFUL at work? If you're a healthcare professional over 50 and you can't remember, this episode is your wake-up call. Dr. Julie Merriman dives into why your solar plexus chakra (your power center) is probably more blocked than the hospital parking lot at shift change—and what you're going to do about it this weekend. In This Episode: The shocking research on "purpose e...
Send us your thoughts! When Your Gift of Caring Becomes Your Greatest Burden You're exhausted, yet you can't stop helping. You feel others' pain viscerally, and saying no feels impossible. In this episode, we explore the Empathy Paradox—when your beautiful gift of caring becomes the very thing that depletes you—and discover how to honor your empathetic nature without destroying yourself. In This Episode, You'll Discover: What the Empathy Paradox is and why brilliant, caring women are most sus...
Send us your thoughts! It's Friday, and you've made it through another week. Your chakras are exhausted, and you know what they need? Snacks. In this 5-minute episode of Soul Joy Fridays, we explore the completely made-up (but surprisingly helpful) Chakra Snack Alignment System™ and remember that being brilliant doesn't mean being serious all the time. In This Episode, You'll Discover: The Chakra Snack Alignment System™ - A ridiculous but oddly useful guide to aligning your energy centers wit...
Send us your thoughts! 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 wh...
Send us your thoughts! Episode Description Walked into a room and forgot why you're there? Blanked on a colleague's name? Stared at your vitamin bottle wondering if you already took them? You're not losing it—your brain is just maxed out. In this episode, Dr. Julie Merriman explains the science behind why your memory feels like it's failing (spoiler: it's not), and gives you permission to stop blaming yourself. What You'll Learn Why you're forgetting things (and why it's not early dementia)Th...
Send us your thoughts! Episode Overview Discover three powerful energy healing practices specifically designed for burned-out helpers, therapists, coaches, and caregivers. Learn how to set energetic boundaries, recalibrate your giving patterns, and reclaim your voice. Key Timestamps 00:00 Introduction: Why traditional self-care isn't enough02:15 Strategy #1: Energetic Boundary Setting08:30 Strategy #2: Heart Chakra Recalibration14:45 Strategy #3: Throat Chakra Liberation21:00 How energy work ...
Send us your thoughts! 🎙️ Episode Title: Soul Joy Happy Hour: The Science of the Snort-Laugh (No Drinks Required) Theme: Humor as a burnout intervention — with kazoo fanfare, duck quacks, and zero apologies for joy. 💡 Episode Summary Why do helpers apologize when they snort-laugh? "HAHA—PFFFFT—sorry!” No more. Today we reclaim nasal turbulence as evidence-based nervous system regulation. (Yes, your snort is neurobiology… not embarrassment.) In this premiere Happy Hour Friday micro...
Send us your thoughts! In this special episode, host Dr. Julie Merriman, PhD shares the story behind Soul Joy and why she’s on a mission to help advanced-degree women in healthcare and helping professions reclaim their energy, purpose, and joy. With over three decades of experience as a counselor educator, professor, author, and burnout researcher, Julie has witnessed a growing crisis: brilliant women with master’s and doctoral degrees quietly burning out despite outward success. She opens u...
Send us your thoughts! Helpers—counselors, teachers, nurses, caregivers, pastors—we are often the ones people turn to in their most vulnerable moments. We hold space for them. But here’s the problem: if we aren’t intentional, we end up carrying the weight of their pain, draining ourselves dry in the process. In this week’s episode of Soul Joy: Ditch Burnout and Fall in Love with Life, Dr. Julie Merriman shares a 5-step framework to help you hold space without losing yourself. You’ll lea...
Send us your thoughts! Wellness for helping professionals Meditation has moved from ancient wisdom traditions to the forefront of modern neuroscience, becoming a necessary component of holistic self-care for professional helpers. Scientific research confirms that regular meditation practice rewires the brain for greater resilience, sharper focus, and enhanced compassion—all critical elements for sustaining professional effectiveness and preventing burnout. Meditation increases gra...
Send us your thoughts! Dr. Julie Merriman explores the concept of decluttering your energy as a vital component of sustainable, holistic self-care for helping professionals. She examines how professional helpers constantly absorb, process, and navigate various forms of energy that can become cluttered and lead to burnout. • Energy clutter manifests as mental noise, emotional residue, unclear boundaries, environmental chaos, and physical tension • Symptoms include feeling drained despite rest...
Send us your thoughts! Feeling scattered in your helping role? You're not alone. The Crown Chakra episode of SoulJoy tackles mindful presence—that deceptively simple yet transformative quality that can revolutionize your work as a helping professional. Mindful presence isn't about emptying your mind or becoming passive. Rather, it's a multi-dimensional awareness that encompasses truly attending to your client, noticing your own internal reactions without judgment, being aware of the dynamic ...
Send us your thoughts! Perfectionism can be both a blessing and a curse for those in helping professions. While striving for excellence drives us to learn and grow, perfectionism—that rigid, unforgiving demand for flawlessness—can lead to burnout, paralysis, and diminished effectiveness with clients. What's the difference? As I explain in this episode, "A healthy striver wants to do well. A perfectionist needs to be perfect to feel okay." This crucial distinction shapes our professional live...
Send us your thoughts! Feeling exhausted by the constant focus on problems and challenges in your helping work? You're not alone. As professional helpers, we spend our days analyzing crises, addressing suffering, and navigating complex systems. This essential work keeps our focus on difficulties—often overshadowing the good that exists, the progress our clients make, and our own inherent capacity for resilience. Gratitude offers a powerful antidote to this professional tunnel vision. Far mor...
Send us your thoughts! Professional helpers pour their energy outward daily, leaving many depleted, disconnected, and at risk for burnout. But what if the key to sustainable practice lies in tapping into your deepest wisdom? Your higher self—that wisest, most authentic, compassionate part of you—serves as an essential internal compass in our challenging field. This isn't about mysticism; it's about practical resilience and effectiveness. When your crown chakra is balanced, you access enhance...
Send us your thoughts! Ever found yourself trapped in a cycle of endless analysis with no forward movement? You're not alone. The space between knowing what to do and actually doing it is where many helpers get stuck—and it's costing us our effectiveness and wellbeing. The connection between clarity and action represents the essential bridge in our work as helping professionals. While we excel at seeking understanding—about our clients' needs, ethical dilemmas, therapeutic approaches—clarity...
Send us your thoughts! Feeling like you're constantly battling self-doubt in your professional life? The roots might be deeper than you realize. This transformative episode dives into the powerful connection between inner child work and developing unshakable self-trust—especially for those of us in helping professions. As professional helpers, we're experts at guiding clients through their wounds and struggles, yet often neglect how our own childhood experiences shape our professional identi...
Send us your thoughts! Why do the smartest women ignore their own bodies until it’s too late? In this powerful episode, Dr. Julie Merriman—counselor educator, burnout researcher, and breast cancer survivor—unpacks The Self-Neglect Paradox. Learn why high-achieving women delay care, how stress rewires the brain to miss warning signs, and what it really takes to stop over-functioning and start healing. Blending personal story, research, and actionable tools, this episode offers both science and...
