About
Why Soul Care™ Matters
In the field of mental health, we often talk about trauma, burnout, and compassion fatigue. But what if there's something deeper—something harder to name, yet widely felt? Something that doesn't just affect our energy or emotions, but touches the core of who we are? That’s what we call Soul Exhaustion™.
We have more than 25 years of experience working in mental health, suicide prevention, and trauma recovery. We’ve walked with people through profound loss, addiction, and life-altering events. We’ve also lived it—grieved deeply, lost loved ones to suicide, and had to rebuild ourselves from the inside out.
That lived experience is what led us to develop the Soul Exhaustion and Soul Care™ framework.
What is Soul Exhaustion™?
Soul Exhaustion™ is more than being tired. It’s a deep, spiritual depletion that occurs when our experiences overwhelm our capacity to process and integrate them. It often arises from:
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Chronic exposure to trauma or crisis
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Grief, especially suicide loss
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Systemic injustice and generational pain
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Burnout that goes beyond physical exhaustion
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Feeling unseen, unheard, or disconnected from meaning
People experiencing Soul Exhaustion™ often say things like:
“I don’t feel like myself anymore.”
“I’m so tired but sleep doesn’t help.”
“I’m numb. I feel like I’m just going through the motions.”
It’s not a diagnosis—it’s a human experience. And once we have language for it, we can begin to heal.
Our research has indicated that many life experiences can cause someone to feel soul exhaustion. The most commonly identified experiences have been grief and loss, and trauma. But other life experiences that have been acknowledged are living with a mental health condition, loneliness, and a sense of not belonging, among several other things. The graphic below displays results from a survey conducted in workplaces, highlighting the factors that could contribute to Soul Exhaustion™.
It’s Important to acknowledge that Soul Exhaustion™, like nearly all other conditions a person may have, occurs on a spectrum. Some people may experience Soul Exhaustion™ in a mild form. This can impact their overall contentment and sense of satisfaction within themselves and in their lives. Others may experience Soul Exhaustion™ moderately, while they are likely still function relatively well in their lives, they do not feel connected or satisfied. They are getting by but they do not feel that they are thriving at all. And there are also people who are experiencing Soul Exhaustion™ in the severe range. This can mimic severe depression or be seen in conjunction with severe depression (because mental health conditions can attack our sense of self!). In severe cases, people may not be functioning or are barely functioning, experience deep disconnection and exhaustion, and sometimes even experience suicidal despair.
There is good news, though. Soul Exhaustion™ can be reversed. It’s not easy, and it’s not quick. But it can be done, and when it is, we can feel connected back to our authentic self.
So how do we do this? Through Soul Care™!
Soul Care™
If Soul Exhaustion™ is the condition, Soul Care™ is the healing.
Soul Care™ looks like:
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Setting boundaries that honor your truth
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Finding meaning in your pain and struggles
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Forgiving yourself and others
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Seeking to know and cherish your deepest self
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Claiming your personal truth and space
It’s personal. Soul Care™ is a much deeper layer of self-care; it isn’t about bubble baths or spa days (although those have their place). It’s about restoring the essence of who we are. It’s about reconnecting with our humanity, our values, and the parts of us that feel most alive. It is about identifying what we need to do to care for the “who” we are, our deepest selves, our souls. We have done some research around this too and identified many different ways in which people take care of the deepest parts of themselves.
The Soul Care™ team has taken all of the information we have gathered from 1:1 interviews, surveys, and our own lived experiences, and we have put it into a workbook. While the workbook is not yet available for purchase, we are preparing to roll out our first pilot program in September 2025 and expect to publish the workbook virtually by January 2026. So if you want to stay connected and be notified, please make sure you subscribe to our newsletter below!
Subscribe to our Soul Care™ Newsletter!
Soul Exhaustion™ doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’ve endured. And Soul Care™ isn’t indulgent—it’s necessary.
Whether you’re here because you're personally feeling depleted, or because you’re trying to support others who are, we hope you’ll explore this work. You’re not alone. Your story matters. And healing is possible.