Many people think of trauma as something dramatic that happened in the past.

Yet trauma often leaves its mark not through a single event itself, or accumulation of experiences, but through the adaptations we make in order to survive it.

In this episode of the Burnout to Brilliance Podcast, Jayne Morris MCC is joined by Dr Susanna Petche to explore the often-overlooked relationship between trauma, nervous system regulation and burnout.

Together they unpack how unresolved experiences can quietly shape the way we move through life, influencing our capacity, relationships, decision-making and ability to rest. They explore how coping strategies that once protected us can become exhausting to sustain over time and why burnout is often far more complex than workload alone.

This is a compassionate and thought-provoking conversation that challenges simplistic views of burnout and invites a deeper understanding of what may be happening beneath the surface.

In this episode, we explore:

• The connection between trauma history and burnout
• Why trauma is not defined by the event itself but by its impact
• How the nervous system adapts in order to stay safe
• The hidden cost of long-term survival strategies
• Fight, flight, freeze, flop and fawn responses
• Why burnout often develops gradually over time
• The role of psychological safety in recovery
• The difference between coaching and therapy
• Why self-awareness alone is not always enough
• Creating pathways towards healing, support and sustainable recovery

About the guest

Dr Susanna Petche is the founder of Trauma Sense and creator of the C-Sense methodology. A former GP with over 25 years' experience, she holds an MSc in Psychological Trauma and specialises in helping people understand the lasting impact of trauma on health, wellbeing, relationships and performance.

Susanna was the Clinical Lead and Lead Programme Designer for ConnectionWorks, an NHS-funded 12-month programme supporting people living with complex PTSD, and is a former award-winning GP teacher and Clinical Facilitator at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.

Her 2025 TEDx talk, Is Trauma Costing You Your Future?, further established her as a leading voice in trauma-informed practice in the UK.

Through her work with coaches, healthcare professionals and organisations, Susanna helps people make sense of how past experiences can shape present-day patterns, relationships and resilience, bringing a compassionate, practical and trauma-informed perspective to recovery and growth.

Listen & subscribe

🎧 Also available on:

Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Resources & links

🌐 Dr Susanna Petche on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-susanna-petche/

Website:

https://www.trauma-sense.com/

Connect with Jayne Morris MCC
The UK’s leading executive burnout coach & author of Burnout to Brilliance

LinkedIn: @jaynemorrisMCC

Burnout to Brilliance on Amazon

Follow Balanceology
LinkedIn: @Balanceology
Website: www.balanceology.uk

About Balanceology
Balanceology is a leading coaching organisation dedicated to preventing workplace burnout and restoring sustainable success. Through talks, workshops, trainings, coaching and retreats, Balanceology supports individuals and organisations to work well, live fully, and thrive.

The Balanceology Certified Burnout Coach CPD Training is ICF accredited and carries 64 CCEUs

In this episode of the Burnout to Brilliance Podcast by Balanceology, I’m joined by psychotherapist Kathleen Saxton to explore a topic that often sits quietly beneath the surface of burnout, narcissistic relational dynamics. Together, we unpack how these patterns can shape our sense of self, our capacity, and our decision-making in ways that are not always immediately visible, yet can have a profound cumulative impact over time.

This conversation moves beyond the more visible aspects of burnout and into the relational environments that can subtly erode confidence, clarity and self-trust. We explore how individuals can find themselves working harder and harder within dynamics that never quite feel steady or secure, often without fully realising why it feels so difficult to sustain.

What emerges is a deeper understanding of how burnout is not always about workload alone, but about the ongoing internal effort required to navigate inconsistency, manage expectations, and make sense of shifting relational ground.

What we explore in this episode

In this conversation, we explore:

• how narcissistic relational dynamics can show up in both personal and professional contexts
• the “drip, drip, drip” impact of subtle inconsistency and shifting expectations
• why individuals may increase effort even when something doesn’t feel right
• how self-trust can become eroded over time
• the connection between relational dynamics and burnout development
• early signs that something may be unsustainable

Why this matters for burnout

Burnout often develops gradually, shaped by patterns that are difficult to name at first. When relational dynamics require ongoing vigilance, adaptation or over-effort, this can place sustained pressure on the nervous system.

Over time, what begins as coping can become significant depletion.

Bringing awareness to these patterns can open up new pathways for recovery, ones that are rooted not in pushing harder, but in understanding more deeply what our system has really been responding to.

About the guest

Kathleen Saxton is a psychotherapist, corporate mediator and media advisor, as well as a bestselling author and regular contributor to ITV’s This Morning and Stylist. She is the author of My Parent the Peacock, a compassionate and practical guide to understanding, recovering from and healing the impact of narcissistic parenting and early relational wounds.

Listen & subscribe

🎧 Also available on:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | YouTube

Resources & links

🌐 Kathleen Saxton: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathleensaxton/
📘 Kathleen’s Book: https://tinyurl.com/3xww949m

Connect with Jayne Morris MCC
The UK’s leading executive burnout coach & author of Burnout to Brilliance

LinkedIn: @jaynemorrisMCC

Burnout to Brilliance on Amazon

Follow Balanceology
LinkedIn: @Balanceology
Website: www.balanceology.uk

About Balanceology
Balanceology is a leading coaching organisation dedicated to preventing workplace burnout and restoring sustainable success. Through talks, workshops, trainings, coaching and retreats, Balanceology supports individuals and organisations to work well, live fully, and thrive.

The Balanceology Certified Burnout Coach CPD Training is ICF accredited and carries 64 CCEUs

In this episode, the conversation explores the often‑overlooked relationship between quietness, stress and burnout, and why understanding what lies beneath behaviour is essential for healthy workplaces.

Our host, Jayne Morris MCC, the UK’s Leading Executive Burnout Coach, is joined by author and coach Pete Mosley, who works with quiet people and the leaders who support them. Drawing on insights from his books A Leader's Guide to Working with Quiet People and The Quiet Person's Guide, Pete shares his journey of understanding his own quietness and introduces his “iceberg” model, which helps explain what may be happening beneath the surface.

Together, they explore the difference between quietness and introversion, how early labelling shapes identity, and what leaders often miss when they focus only on outward behaviour. They discuss masking, deep processing and the stress response in fast‑paced cultures, why quiet withdrawal can signal burnout, and how resentment builds when needs go unspoken. They also look at how nervous system activation affects thinking, confidence and contribution.

Jayne and Pete offer practical ways leaders can create psychologically safe, inclusive meetings, including buddy systems, amplification strategies and reframing asking for help as courage and growth. They highlight the importance of nervous system regulation in high‑pressure environments and how small grounding techniques can support quieter team members.

This episode shows how burnout is rarely sudden. For many quieter professionals, it can be a gradual dimming - a slow withdrawal in response to environments that move too quickly, speak too loudly or overlook deeper processing styles. Jayne and Pete discuss the shared responsibility between individuals and organisations, and the role leaders can play in protecting reflective thinkers whose contributions may be quieter but no less valuable.

A central message: “It is alright to be quiet. The world needs quiet people.”
Themes:
Psychological safety • Inclusive leadership • Processing speed • Stress chemistry • Cultural norms • Meeting design • Burnout prevention
Practical approaches (non‑clinical):
Structured pauses • Buddy systems • Amplification • Breathing and grounding • Subtle regulation tools • Stress‑response education

Books:
A Leader's Guide to Working with Quiet People – Pete Mosley
The Quiet Person's Guide – Pete Mosley

LinkedIn:
Jayne Morris: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaynemorrismcc/
Balanceology: https://www.linkedin.com/company/1200854
Pete Mosley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/petemosley/

Final note:
Quietness is not a weakness — it may be a strength to be understood.

Connect with Jayne Morris MCC
The UK’s leading executive burnout coach & author of Burnout to Brilliance

LinkedIn: @jaynemorrisMCC

Burnout to Brilliance on Amazon

Follow Balanceology
LinkedIn: @Balanceology
Website: www.balanceology.uk

About Balanceology
Balanceology is a leading coaching organisation dedicated to preventing workplace burnout and restoring sustainable success. Through talks, workshops, trainings, coaching and retreats, Balanceology supports individuals and organisations to work well, live fully, and thrive.

The Balanceology Certified Burnout Coach CPD Training is ICF accredited and carries 64 CCEUs