Work Stress Anxiety | Burnout Recovery for High-Achieving Women
The weekday podcast for high-achieving women dealing with work stress, workplace stress, work anxiety, anxiety at work, emotional exhaustion, burnout and being human.
If you're struggling with workplace anxiety, feeling emotionally drained, lying awake at 2:03 a.m. looking at the clock, replaying conversations, or wondering why your success feels so expensive now, you're in the right place.
Hosted by Cheryl Paris, Clinical Hypnotherapist and Stress Recovery Coach, this podcast helps high-achieving women understand work-related stress, prevent burnout, build emotional resilience, and recover from chronic workplace pressure.
Work Stress Anxiety uses metaphors, nervous system education and real-world workplace examples to help high-achieving women make sense of stress, anxiety and emotional exhaustion at work.
Through honest conversations with ordinary people you’d walk past in the street every day, Cheryl explores real stories, real struggles and practical ways forward, without the motivational nonsense.
You'll get to learn practical strategies for:
• Work stress and workplace stress
• Work anxiety and anxiety at work
• Burnout prevention and burnout recovery
• Emotional exhaustion and nervous system overload
• Emotional resilience during difficult periods
• Stress recovery after prolonged pressure
• High-functioning anxiety
• Workplace conflict and investigations
• Toxic workplace cultures
• Setting boundaries without guilt
• Sleeping better when your mind won't switch off
• Coping with uncertainty, change, and job insecurity
Helping you understand what's really happening in your workplace mind, what's happening in your nervous system, and what you can do next.
ABGW stands for Awareness, Balance, Growth, and Win-Win Wellbeing.
Not pretending that a breathing exercise fixes your dysfunctional workplace.
None of that resilience theatre or so-called positivity.
Just practical support for high-achieving women who want to stop paying for their success with their health.
Shared stories are anonymised.
This podcast is for educational and reflective purposes only and does not constitute medical, psychological, legal, workplace, or professional advice.
Episodes
124 episodes
How Leaders Use Play To Cut Stress
Productivity advice usually sounds like more discipline, more pressure, and one more system to follow. We go the other direction: what if the simplest way to improve performance is to make work feel safer and more playful? I’m Chery...
You Cannot Think Your Way Out Of Stress
Five minutes. That is all it might take to change the chemistry of your day, especially when work stress and anxiety start creeping in before the next meeting. Cheryl sits down with Zander, a play coach who treats play like a serious nervous sy...
Play Your Way Out of Work Stress: When Adults Forget How to Play
When was the last time you genuinely played, not performed, not scrolled, not numbed out, but actually played? That is our genuine suggestion to you in this episode. We start there and quickly land on a surprising point: adult play ...
Work Stress: How To Measure Progress When You Are Exhausted
Remember this: that “tiny” step you took today might be the bravest thing you have done all week.When work stress, anxiety, and burnout recovery start to feel like yet another performance review, it is easy to believe you are falling beh...
Toxic Positivity at Work | When Stress Relief Becomes Burnout
That sinking feeling when your manager posts a “helpful” reminder in the team chat isn’t always a sign that you’re being “too sensitive.” Sometimes, it’s your nervous system recognising a pattern you’ve been conditioned to ignore. I...
Work Stress Keeps Coming Back: What Your Trigger May Be Trying to Tell You
With Amy VinczeOne person at work can flip a switch in us and suddenly we’re not in a normal conversation anymore, we’re in panic, shrinking, or trying to disappear. That’s the moment we unpack today: why the colleague who “should...
Anxiety Spirals at Work? Here’s How to Press Pause
With Amy VinczeTwo minutes can make all the difference between walking into a meeting filled with adrenaline and entering with the calm needed to think and speak clearly. We’re discussing EFT tapping for workplace stre...
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Burnout on the Horizon? Why Tapping Could Help You Pause Before Stress Takes Over
With Amy VinczeA panic spike at your desk can feel like it comes out of nowhere, and then suddenly you cannot think straight, your body is tense, and your inner critic gets loud. We sit down with Amy to unpack Emotional Freedom Te...
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The Kolher Principle: Good, Better, Best: Finishing Well
If you’ve ever looked at something you created and thought, “It’s fine… but it doesn’t look impressive enough,” you’re not alone.I’m Cheryl Paris, and I’m exploring a common thread that ties together work stress, anxiety, and perfectioni...
The Umbridge Effect: Evidence, Confidence, and Identity at Work
One email can undo a week's worth of solid work, and it's not because you've suddenly become “bad at your job.” We share the story of Roberta, a capable bus driver who remains professional through difficult incidents and even saves a life with ...
Sherlock Holmes and the Art of Confidence: When Evidence Becomes Overthinking
You can know the right answer and still feel unsure the moment you have to act. That single gap between knowledge and trust is where work stress and anxiety loves to live, especially for conscientious people who carry responsibility...
Why Sleep Is the Ultimate Act of Self-Respect
You can spend thousands chasing better health and still feel worn out, snappy, foggy, and stuck in your own head at night. We keep buying the tools, but we keep postponing the most powerful recovery process we already have: sleep. And if work s...
Mr Darcy, Workplace Anxiety and the Exhaustion of Being the Capable One
You can be excellent at your job and still be running on fumes. We talk about the kind of competence that gets applauded, the calm voice, the quick fixes, the “no problem” email, and how that same capability can quietly turn into a costume that...
The Stupid Idea of Perfection: Why Life Isn't a Maths Exam
Perfection is supposed to make us feel confident, but it often does the opposite: it keeps us stuck, second-guessing messages we already sent and replaying moments we cannot change. We dig into why that happens, why “perfect” is an imaginary fi...
Fear-Based Leadership at Work: What Voldemort Can Teach Us About Ego, Power and the Price of Fear
A room can feel fine one second and unsafe the next, all because one person walks in. We’ve both felt that sudden shift: conversations stop, shoulders rise, and everyone starts editing themselves in real time. We dig into what’s really happenin...
The Resilience Trumpet And The Office Sandwich
Nice people can still be unsafe people. That sounds harsh until you’ve lived the quiet version of workplace stress: the meetings where everyone speaks calmly, the smiles that don’t match the outcomes, the slow shift in access and warmth that le...
When New Management Changes the Weather- Work Stress
When management changes, your body often knows before your mind does—and that anxiety is valid. In this episode, Cheryl explores how women leaders pick up on subtle workplace shifts, why nervous system Awareness matters during transitions, and ...
Why I Charge for a Discovery Session: Respect, Clarity, and Not Wasting Your Time
In this insightful episode, Cheryl delves into the significance of the discovery session within the ABGW Method®, shedding light on why she charges for it. She addresses the common misconception surrounding paid consultations, contrasting it wi...
Why I Created the Emotional Survival System™: For Women Who Are Always Expected to Cope
In this insightful episode, Cheryl unveils the Emotional Survival System, designed specifically for women who are often seen as the reliable ones, yet struggle silently under the weight of expectations. She challenges the damaging m...
Stress Recovery Through Real Gratitude | Beyond Toxic Positivity
Gratitude gets a bad rap—and for good reason. Cheryl explores why forced thankfulness is actually a trauma response and how authentic appreciation serves as a powerful tool for regulating the nervous systems of stressed women leaders.&nb...
Work Stress and Sleep Disruption: Because Apparently Your Job Needed a Night Shift Too
In this engaging episode, Cheryl Paris delves into the intricate relationship between work stress and sleep disruption, shedding light on the all-too-familiar struggle of high-functioning individuals, particularly women, who find themselves men...
Protect Your Energy Before Work Stress Becomes Anxiety
In this thought-provoking episode, Cheryl tackles the often-ignored yet vital topic of energy protection for high-functioning women. She highlights the misconception that our energy is an unlimited resource, urging listeners to recognise the si...
Burnout in Women: Why Pushing Through Is Not Recovery
In this enlightening episode, Cheryl dives deep into the often-overlooked phenomenon of high-functioning burnout in women. She reveals that burnout doesn't always manifest as a dramatic collapse; instead, it can look like merely keeping up with...
What ABGW Really Means: Real Relief for Women Who Look Fine but Feel Anything But
In this episode, Cheryl introduces the concept of Work Stress Anxiety, aimed at women who appear to be coping but feel overwhelmed beneath the surface. She discusses the importance of recognising emotional overload and the need for self-care am...
Work Anxiety and Overthinking at Night: Why Your Brain Keeps Doing the 2:03 a.m. Night Shift
In this insightful episode, Cheryl addresses the all-too-familiar struggle of work anxiety and the relentless overthinking that often strikes at night. Have you ever found yourself wide awake at 2:03am, replaying every email and conversation in...
