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Health & Fitness

Women Under Pressure

Are you a high-performing woman working in healthcare, emergency services or another demanding leadership role? Maybe you can handle the crisis, make the difficult decision and be the person everyone relies on, but when the workday ends, you have a much harder time leaving it behind.

Women Under Pressure is a podcast for ambitious women who want to succeed at a high level without sacrificing their mental health, physical health, relationships or the rest of their lives in the process.

Hosted by Kristen Plake, a licensed trauma therapist and founder of Frontline Wellness Group, the show explores what demanding careers ask of women and how to build a life that can sustain both ambition and wellbeing.

Through practical solo episodes and honest conversations with experts and women doing demanding work, Women Under Pressure goes beyond traditional conversations about stress management and self-care. You’ll learn more about how your experiences affect you, why it can be so difficult to switch off even when the crisis is over, and what can help you recover without asking you to become less driven or walk away from work that matters to you.

Learn more about Kristen and Frontline Wellness Group at frontlinewellnessgroup.com.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Latest Episodes:

Emotional Labor: What Composure Actually Costs You Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

This episode is about emotional labor and the gap between what you feel and what you actually show when a job requires composure. Kristen looks at why staying steady for others has a cost, even when you look calm on the outside. She separates the research on display rules, surface acting and expressive suppression from her own clinical view, then asks a simple question: did you calm down, or did you just look calm?

Some takeaways:

What display rules are and how they shape which emotions feel acceptable to show at work
The difference between surface acting and deep acting, and why surface acting is more consistently linked to exhaustion
Why hiding your feelings can increase physiological strain even when you appear calm
Why generic advice to just feel your feelings misses what composure actually costs
How gendered expectations add pressure, including research on how women's anger gets judged differently depending on whether a reason is given
A reflection practice to try this week: pick one moment you had to pull yourself together, then ask what you actually felt versus what you showed, and whether you calmed down or just looked calm

Connect with Kristen:

🌐 Frontline Wellness Group

📋 Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

🎙️ Work with Kristen

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:38 The Quiet Pressure

01:18 The Switch You Make

04:21 The Unspoken Rules at Work

04:58 Surface Acting vs. Deep Acting

07:26 Suppression and the Body’s Stress Response

09:36 Gendered Expectations at Work

12:55 A Weekly Reflection Practice

13:51 A Clinical Note and Next Steps

15:06 Outro and Free Leadership Assessment

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How To Pursue Ambition with Intention, with Chelsea Ryckis Sep 29, 2026

Show notes

In this episode, Kristen talks with Chelsea Ryckis, a business owner, wife, and first-time mom of a one-year-old. She shares how she learned to stay accountable as a leader by deciding where her involvement is necessary.

Some takeaways:

How becoming the woman who handles everything lead to a physical and mental decline
The burnout moment that pushed her to a 360 life change that operationalized accountability in her team
Operating in survival mode and how motherhood impacts mindset
How to pursue ambition with more deliberate choices about your time and involvement.
A practical exercise that will help you pause and reflect

Connect with Kristen

🌐 Frontline Wellness Group

🌐 Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

🎙️ Work with Kristen

Conect with Chelsea

🌐EthoBenefits

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Understanding Overfunctioning: Why Delegating Doesn’t Mean Letting Go Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

This episode unpacks why even in the moments when you choose to delegate, you still can't stop yourself from taking the work back. Kristen shares the story of Danielle, an emergency management director who is over-functioning and why this pattern is damaging.

Some takeaways:

The difference between being accountable for an outcome and personally carrying every action
How family systems of over-functioning and under-functioning create this pattern
Why the body feels relieved when you take over and trains the brain to repeat it
What inflated responsibility is
A reflection question to ask yourself before stepping in

Connect with Kristen:

🌐Frontline Wellness Group

📋Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

🎙️Work with Kristen

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Cost of Being the Woman Who Handles Everything: Identifying High-Performance Burnout Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This episode unpacks what you need to know about high performance burnout, a pattern in high-achieving women who are quietly running on empty. Kristen introduces the podcast’s focus: the type of burnout women experience that hides in plain sight because they still handle everything. As a licensed clinical social worker, founder of Frontline Wellness Group, and someone who grew up around frontline work as the daughter of a police officer, she is all too familiar with it. Kristen looks at why the body doesn't always get the memo that a crisis is over and why women in high-stakes roles carry a unique type of load.

Some takeaways:

What the clear signs of high performance burnout are
How competence can conceal distress
What the difference between a busy schedule and repeated exposure to crisis, grief, or high-stakes decisions is
How to identify data that will help in your recovery
A two-question check-in for the transition between work and home

Connect with Kristen:

🌐 Frontline Wellness Group

📋Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

🎙️ Work with Kristen

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How To Identify Functional Freeze: The Cost of Putting Yourself Second Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This episode unpacks everything you need to know about functional freeze, or what happens when women keep performing at a high level while feeling depleted, numb, or disconnected internally. Kristen looks at why this happens, why it can feel so confusing, and why “just resting” or "trying harder" doesn't fix it.

Some takeaways:

Why functional freeze is a pattern rather than a diagnosis
How under pressure the body prioritizes what you need to do over what you need to feel
What happens when you postpone physical and emotional red flags
What the difference between functional freeze and burnout is
How the nervous system is trained to deprioritize your needs
A mindfulness exercise for reconnecting with yourself

Connect with Kristen:

🌐 Frontline Wellness Group

🎙️ Work with Kristen

📋 Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How Can I Switch Off Stress? The Cost of Urgency Sep 15, 2026

Show notes

This episode looks at the gap between understanding your patterns and moving towards setting clear boundaries to interrupt them. Kristen introduces her "body first" approach and walks through a real case of a police sergeant to show how taking action can serve you in an emergency but work against you in a low-stakes moment.

Some takeaways:

Why understanding a pattern and interrupting it in are two different skills
How urgency can take over before a deliberate decision is made
The three parts of “body-first” work and how to apply it
How to use a simple moment of reflection to create real choice
A mindfulness exercise to buy yourself a pause this week

Connect with Kristen:

🌐 Frontline Wellness Group

🎙️ Work with Kristen

📋 Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introducing... Women Under Pressure! Sep 01, 2026

Show notes

Are you a high-performing woman working in healthcare, emergency services or another demanding leadership role? Maybe you can handle the crisis, make the difficult decision and be the person everyone relies on, but when the workday ends, you have a much harder time leaving it behind.

Women Under Pressure is a podcast for ambitious women who want to succeed at a high level without sacrificing their mental health, physical health, relationships or the rest of their lives in the process.

Hosted by Kristen Plake, a licensed trauma therapist and founder of Frontline Wellness Group, the show explores what demanding careers ask of women and how to build a life that can sustain both ambition and wellbeing.

Through practical solo episodes and honest conversations with experts and women doing demanding work, Women Under Pressure goes beyond traditional conversations about stress management and self-care. You'll learn more about how your experiences affect you, why it can be so difficult to switch off even when the crisis is over, and what can help you recover without asking you to become less driven or walk away from work that matters to you.

You’ll also hear answers to questions such as:

👉 Why can't I switch off after work?

👉 Why am I exhausted even when I'm still performing well?

👉 How do I stop bringing work home with me?

👉 What are the signs of burnout in high-performing women?

👉 How does trauma exposure affect me over time?

👉 How can I regulate my nervous system after a difficult shift or high-pressure day?

Follow Women Under Pressure wherever you listen to podcasts and learn how to keep pursuing the work and ambitions that matter to you without sacrificing yourself in the process.

Connect with Kristen:

🌐Frontline Wellness Group

📋Free High Pressure Leadership Assessment

🎙️Work with Kristen

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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