You know what survival mode feels like. It's not a mood. It's a physical state.
It's checking your phone mid-meeting because you're waiting to see if it's the school calling. It's snapping at your kid over their thousandth question of the day and then standing in the pantry five minutes later, hating yourself for it. It's being so used to running on empty that you've forgotten what "not running on empty" even feels like.
You've tried the self-care advice. The bubble baths. The gratitude journals. The "just breathe" reminders taped to your fridge. Some of it might even work — for someone who has twenty uninterrupted minutes and a nervous system that isn't already flooded. That person doesn't live in your house.
Survival mode doesn't improve after a spa day you don't have time for.
It responds to tools you can use in the thirty seconds you actually have — in the car, in the hallway, mid-meltdown, at 2am when you're the only one awake.
That's the whole premise of this workshop. Not more information. Tools that work in the life you actually have.
This is a live, 90-minute workshop — Zoom, Oct 1, 7-8:30pm Central — not a recorded course or a PDF.
"Survival mode" isn't always triggered by a single event—it’s often systemic. Sometimes it’s the adrenaline spike of a difficult IEP meeting; other times, it’s the quiet, heavy exhaustion of a season that has asked too much of you for too long.
Most self-care advice fails (especially for special needs parents) because it assumes you have "free time" to spare.
I know better.
We'll skip the fluff and dive into wildly practical, trauma-informed tools designed for the life you actually have today. We will break down survival mode into three essential phases:
When a crisis is happening, you don't need a yoga class; you need something that will help you avoid reacting while your system is triggered.
I’ll teach you discrete, high-impact somatic resets that take seconds to minutes, designed to keep your nervous system from shutting down or lashing out during high-stakes situations.
After the fire is out, the "smoke" remains.
If you've experienced hit after hit, your system may be stuck here right now.
We'll cover specific practices to help you process what just happened, honor your own emotions, and support the people who depend on you—all without sacrificing your own mental or physical health in the process.
The solution to burnout isn't a vacation. If you go right back home to the same situation(s) and habits that got you here, you're not actually taking care of yourself or making progress.
I'll walk you through an audit of your situation and the systems you have in place, so you leave with a sustainable plan for the future...not another to-do list you'll never complete.
A toolkit of nervous-system resets you can use in real time, for the moment it's happening
Specific aftermath practices, so today's hard moment doesn't bleed into tomorrow's
A real audit and long-term plan, not just another list of things to try
The Zoom recording and resource file, so you can come back to it the next time survival mode hits (and it will)
I had just wrestled my child out of Target and into his car seat while in the middle of an autistic meltdown. I shut the door on his screaming and stood there for a moment, panting, feeling my own scream crawling up my throat.
I'd gotten the pedicures, and I was certainly drinking the wine, but in that moment, all the "self-care" I'd been doing was worthless.
Intuitively, I took two deep breaths, wiped my tears off my cheeks, and thought, "I've got to find something that works for me. Maybe meditation?" and then I got in the car and went right back into crisis management mode.
If it won't work mid-crisis, then I leave it for the other "experts."
I know what works, based on 12 years of personal experience and years of working with other parents just like us.
This is for parents and caregivers who are done being told to relax and don't have room in their life for advice that assumes they do. Special needs parents, caregivers of aging parents, anyone whose nervous system has been running on high alert so long it forgot there was another setting.
This isn't for you if you're looking for a passive listen-along — the tools only work if you practice them with us live.
You've got questions. I've got answers.
You'll get the replay. Register anyway — you can watch it when you actually have the free time, which, let's be honest, might not be exactly 7pm Central on a Thursday.
Please come! These tools work whether you're burned out from a high-demand job (or two) or caring for an aging loved one.
No. This is a standalone, self-contained session built around one thing: nervous-system tools for survival mode. If it opens the door to wanting more support after, that's what the book and coaching are there for — but this stands on its own.
No. Just a device with Zoom and a spot where you can breathe, stand up, and maybe sit on the floor for a minute without anyone asking you what you're doing.
No — this is nervous-system education and practice, not a substitute for mental health treatment. If you're in crisis, please reach out to a licensed provider.
Survival mode is exhausting enough; don't let your self-care be another chore you fail at. Stop performing 'wellness' and get focused on the somatic resets and systemic shifts that actually work.
(which sound like "Debbie" with an R)
I am the author of Lanterns in the Dark: A Holistic Guide to Navigating Special Education Without Losing Your Sanity.
I am also a trauma-informed Parent Advocacy Coach, Breathwork Facilitator, Reiki Master, and meditation teacher, specializing in helping parents of children with special needs advocate effectively for their children.
Learn more about me here.