Margaret built a nonprofit counseling center—and burned out under its weight. She used therapy, exercise, and her faith community to heal and reconnect to joy.

“Nothing changes if nothing changes.”

Margaret is in her early 50s and runs a group practice that became a nonprofit counseling center. She helped build it from the ground up and now serves as both CEO and clinician.

She is a therapist, supervisor, administrator, and community anchor.

She is deeply faithful, strategic, and known for her calm authority. Her nonprofit provides care in a rural community where the need is endless. Margaret believes in access, justice, and building systems that last.

But the very vision she carried began to become heavy.

Margaret thrives on vision. She is organized, strategic, and passionate about creating access to care. She leads Bible studies, teaches counseling courses, and supervises interns—all while running a nonprofit counseling center.

Her staff and community describe her as steadying—a true anchor in times of crisis. But anchoring others didn’t mean she was always anchored herself.

Margaret’s compassion fatigue didn’t come from client sessions. It came from the weight of leadership:

Winter made it worse. Seasonal darkness deepened her depression. She described compassion fatigue as “carrying the world on my shoulders.”

The hardest part? She had taught about burnout. She knew the language. But when it happened to her, it still felt like failure.

One night, Margaret reread an old journal entry. It simply said:

“Nothing changes if nothing changes.”

Seeing her own handwriting jolted her awake. The next day, she called a therapist.

Counseling—and specifically brainspotting—helped her move through compassion fatigue in ways talk therapy never had.

She later pursued training in the method herself.

At the same time, she dusted off her running shoes and hit the trails again. Biking and running helped her reconnect with her body.

For the first time in months, she noticed she didn’t feel numb while praying.