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5 Early Childhood Professionals Battling Burnout in the Field

Burnout is a growing challenge for those working in early childhood. Whether you’re an early childhood educator, an infant and early childhood mental health specialist, a family therapist or part of a community program, the emotional demands of this work are high.

Hear from five professionals who are actively addressing early childhood educator burnout while leading efforts to support resilience across their fields. From using mindfulness in early childhood settings to creating space for emotional reflection and advocating for systemic change, these leaders are finding ways to stay grounded and connected.

Each of them will share more during their sessions at the 2025 LEARN Conference, offering tools, insights and inspiration for those committed to caring for young children and the professionals who support them.

Yes, babies have mental health.

Katherine Endy, PhD, MSW

Founder & Lead Coach at The Family Life Coach, LLC

Katherine is a parenting researcher, educator and coach, supporting caregivers of children ages 2 to 10 — especially those raising neurodivergent kids. With a PhD focused on parenting stress, emotion regulation, self-compassion, and mindfulness, she helps parents build strong, lasting relationships with their children while navigating the early years and beyond.

Mindfulness tools help caregivers manage their nervous systems and stay present with the children in their care. This provides emotional stability for children, which is associated with myriad positive outcomes for kids.

Center directors can teach simple mindfulness techniques to their staff (thousands of videos are available on YouTube), perhaps starting each staff meeting or professional development with a new mindfulness tool, making this part of the workplace culture. Early childhood educators could write one mindfulness exercise on their whiteboard each week and start the day with that tool. The visual reminder will help providers remember to use the tool frequently, and they can even teach mindfulness exercises to the children in their center.

Grounding is a simple but very effective way to quickly self-regulate. Simply place your feet flat on the floor. Feel the places where your feet connect with the floor beneath you. Take a slow breath in through your noise and as you do, imagine there are roots dropping down into the earth from the bottoms of your feet. See if you can make your “out” breath a little bit longer than your “in” breath. As you continue to breathe slowly through the nose, pick a color — let’s say blue — and look around your environment, noticing and naming all the things that are blue.

This practice works because:

1. Slowing the “out” breath stimulates the vagus nerve, which in turn secretes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine onto the heart and

2. Looking around and noticing or naming objects engages the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain that can soothe and regulate the limbic system (emotional part of the brain) and brainstem (survival/fight or flight part of the brain).

Lili Gray, LCSW, RYT

Child Parent Psychotherapy National Trainer

Lili runs a consultancy for IMHEC professionals and is a Child Parent Psychotherapy National Trainer.

I find it really helpful to get outside every day. I try to put my feet in grass between consultation calls, pay attention to bird and insect sounds; the small details.

Distress tolerance helps professionals pause, reflect, and respond thoughtfully rather than react impulsively when faced with stress or frustration. Young children are constantly watching and absorbing adult behaviors. When an early childhood professional or parent shows patience, calmness, and empathy — even under stress — it teaches children how to handle their own emotions.

Organizational change begins at the top — lead by example.

Start meetings with a grounding practice that brings attention to the present moment. Incorporate ongoing professional development in mindfulness, or consider inviting Brian Miller to deliver CE-CERT training and offer CEUs to staff.

Foster a culture of humility and psychological well-being.

Create space for open conversations and reflection about the emotional challenges of the work. Resist the urge to immediately “fix” everything or to promote a culture of toxic positivity.

Support staff in accessing practical tools and resources.

For example, Headspace offers a free app for therapists, which can be a valuable tool for mental wellness.

Recognize that burnout is a systemic issue, not a personal failing.

Avoid placing the responsibility for recovery solely on individuals—don’t ask staff to address workplace burnout on their own time. Instead, take organizational responsibility for creating a healthier work environment.

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Kathy Kinsner

Senior Family Resources Manager, ZERO TO THREE

In her role, Kathy develops resources designed to support families and child care providers in nurturing the children in their care. Her work is dynamic and varied, encompassing the creation of an online learning module on mindfulness in early childhood settings, and curricula on topics such as supporting grandfamilies and introducing early learning concepts. 

I think it's really important for educators to know they're not alone in this work.

I’ve incorporated three small actions/outlooks that I think make a difference in how my day goes. The first is “noticing”— it might be the feeling of freshly washed wood floors under my bare feet, or watching the bumble bee that visits our back porch or checking in on the robins that built a nest within view of our kitchen door.

The second is “gratitude,” and I’m really not talking about waiting for huge wins here. It’s the difference between seeing the dishwasher is leaking and cursing under my breath about needing to call the plumber and pausing to note the floor isn’t ruined.

The last is “self-acceptance.” I used to think that my world/the world would be better if I just put in a little more effort — worked late, etc. I’ve come to recognize the importance of refreshing and recharging and not being “on” all the time — that I’ll have another opportunity to change the world tomorrow.

Michelle Roy, PhD, IECMH-E

Licensed Psychologist and Program Manager

Michelle Roy, PhD, IECMH-E

Michelle is a licensed psychologist and program manager, overseeing an infant and early childhood mental health therapy team at a community mental health center in Denver.

Emotion regulation is a foundational skill in building relationships, which is the cornerstone of our work.

At our clinic, we are fortunate to have an urban farm and accessible garden on site. Many times, we end therapy sessions with a walk in the garden to have a transition back into their day after processing challenging things in session. With one specific family, we would stop at the strawberry patch and practice mindful noticing of the strawberry- what color is it? Is it squishy or firm? Is the taste tart or sweet? Focusing on the senses with this little treat was something the family could extend out into their day-to-day interactions.

Emotion regulation is a foundational skill in building relationships, which is the cornerstone of our work. Whether that is in interacting with the families we serve, each other as colleagues, or in our personal lives, emotion regulation allows us to hold space for our own reactions while we are connecting with others.

Sarah MacLaughlin, LSW

Senior Training and Technical Assistance Specialist for Pediatrics Supporting Parents, ZERO TO THREE

Sarah MacLaughlin

As part of her role with the Pediatrics Supporting Parents program, Sarah provides support for five pediatric primary care practices at Proof Point Community sites. A key goal of this initiative is to strengthen early relational health for families through innovative strategies that are co-created and implemented with input from both staff and family leaders.

In the same way it "takes a village" to raise a child, it takes a village — a community — to ensure that providers are thriving and able to offer the most effective and compassionate support to families and their children.

The first thing that comes to mind is anything breath-related. Intentional breathing is one of the best ways to self-regulate because it’s the only autonomic (automatic) nervous system function that can be taken charge of by choice. Another in-the-moment “hack” is humming. I recently learned that humming reduces stress by stimulating the vagus nerve, which similar to breathing exercises can help shift the body from a stressed fight-or-flight response to a calmer rest-and-digest state.

 

Mindfulness and emotional regulation skills are essential for everyone! The stress reduction impact of self-care practices such as preventive daily meditation and/or mindfulness exercises is substantial for those who work with easily dysregulated children. Frameworks like Internal Family Systems theory that support understanding of our “parts,” or relational and communication tools such as Hand in Hand Parenting’s Listening Partnership can be supportive and game-changing approaches that, when practiced regularly, increase caregiving adults’ bandwidth and ability to respond to challenging child behavior.

Free Learning Module

Mindfulness for Early Childhood Educators

Access our learning module designed for early childhood educators and program directors interested in exploring mindfulness as a means of supporting staff and the children in their care. 

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