Burnout is emerging as one of the most significant health challenges among today’s workforce, says Stephanie High, founder of Spokane-based Kaizen Catalyst, a trauma-informed performance psychology coaching practice.

Many employees are struggling with blurred boundaries, chronic overwork, and the rapid pace of technology and artificial intelligence. These factors are leading to more exhaustion, less productivity, and declining mental health, High explains.

“The most impactful part of rebuilding back from burnout is boundaries,” she says. “It’s one of the most fundamental skills that most of us are not actually taught. A lot of times, burnout comes from saying ‘Yes, yes, yes, I’m going to do everything.' … But we also sacrifice ourselves in the process, … our energy, and how we recover.”

Kaizen Catalyst, a trade name for We Are Kaizen LLC, approaches burnout as a workplace health issue. Her company, she says, combines performance psychology, neuroscience-based coaching, and organizational review to help businesses redesign their work cultures, support trauma-informed leadership development, and prevent organizational burnout.

Mentions of burnout among U.S. professionals have increased by 50% since the end of 2019 and are up 32% year-over-year as of early 2025, according to a report by Glassdoor LLC, a job posting and employer review platform. This year's jump is the highest the company has recorded since it began tracking data in 2016. 

High, 39, describes burnout as a “slow burn,” noting that many people burn out without noticing it. She’s experienced it in her own career, working in Tokyo as a marketer and business development professional for Japanese multinational corporations Sony Group Corp. and Asics Corp., she says. Seeking to understand how people perform under pressure, she earned a master’s degree in sports and performance psychology from National University and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in psychology with a focus on trauma and disaster relief from the same institution. 

The dual experiences in high-performance corporate environments and psychology now shape the foundation of Kaizen Catalyst. 

Kaizen is a term for the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement through making small, incremental changes over time to improve efficiency, productivity, and quality. It has been implemented by companies like Honda Motor Co. Ltd. to reflect that everyone, from the CEO to the janitor, contributes to shared progress, High says. The concept holds deep meaning to High, who lived in Japan for seven years, she adds. A Kaizen catalyst is a person who guides a team through the improvement process.

"Together, the name represents my philosophy: Meaningful, sustainable growth happens through small intentional improvements guided by awareness, science, and human connection," High says.

High, who works remotely from home, is the company's only employee. Over the years, High says she has worked with dozens of individual clients and multiple organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, schools, and athletic teams. Her workshops have ranged from five-person groups up to 250-person groups, she says.

Kaizen Catalyst's one-on-one coaching service is a monthly subscription costing an average of $175 per month, while group workshops typically start at about $500, she says. Community support programs start at about $75 a month.

Through Kaizen Catalyst, High advises employers how to notice early signs of burnout, strengthen leadership communication, and build healthier systems of accountability. 

Burnout, she says, is not a lack of motivation but a lack of recovery. By helping people understand their limits and creating environments that respect those limits, performance improves, she adds.

“My work is at the intersection of trauma and performance,” High says. “Meeting people where they are and helping them propel into the future by using mental skills as tools in your toolbox.”

High offers workshops on team performance and organizational training through one-day workshops or as a multiday training series. She spends time with a business to evaluate the organization’s strengths and weaknesses — including identity, leadership skills, effective communication, emotional regulation, and teamwork — and designs workshops tailored to the company’s profile. Her sessions combine short lessons in the neuroscience behind performance psychology with interactive exercises designed to help employees focus and respond to distraction under pressure. Her workshops often draw parallels between athletic teams and workplace collaboration, she says.

“Sometimes it will be drill-driven,” High says. “I will set out cones … for effective communication. We’ll run drills where I’ll have half the team yelling at the other team. Because that’s what happens in life, we get distracted by things. It forces you to focus, and it forces you to have better communication.”

High adds that many of the same tools used in sports psychology — such as visualization, goal setting, and feedback — translate directly to workplace performance when teams are under stress or adapting to new technologies.

In addition to corporate training, High offers one-on-one coaching for professionals navigating burnout or high-stress careers, as well as a private women’s group designed to help professionals rebuild confidence and ambition after experiencing burnout or trauma. The groups, typically between 15 and 20 women, meet monthly and share weekly texts offering reflection prompts and motivation. High emphasizes that the group is not therapy, but is built on the idea that healing happens in community, not isolation.

“My goal is to help women who have been through some (stuff) and help them continue to show up and help them perform,” High says. “And be ambitious, but within the context of being able to have that rest, so they don’t burn out. Healing is not you on your own. … It truly takes a village.”