When Success Isn’t Enough: Understanding Burnout in High-Achieving Racialized Women
- Nada Johnson
- Dec 2
- 4 min read
When Achievement Isn’t the Whole Story
For many racialized women, success has never been optional, it’s been a form of survival.
Years of navigating demanding workplaces, cultural expectations, and systemic inequities often lead to impressive achievements on paper. But beneath the polished résumé, awards, and outward confidence, there can be a quieter reality: deep exhaustion, emotional strain, and the invisible weight of carrying far more than anyone realizes.
And when burnout shows up, it often goes unnoticed, even by the women experiencing it.
The Hidden Weight Behind the Burnout
Burnout looks different for high-achieving Black, South Asian, Latina, and other racialized women because the pressures run deeper than deadlines or workload. Research shows that burnout is strongly connected to chronic stress, identity-related pressures, and emotional labor, burdens disproportionately experienced by racialized women (Hall et al., 2019; Lewis et al., 2013).
These pressures often include:
💙 Being “the only one” — navigating spaces where representation is limited
💙 Microaggressions and bias — constant emotional vigilance
💙 Cultural expectations — feeling responsible for family, community, or generational hopes
💙 Suppressing emotions — staying composed to avoid stereotypes
💙 High personal standards — feeling you must excel to be taken seriously
Burnout, in this context, isn’t simply about doing too much. It’s about carrying too much alone.
How Burnout Shows Up — Quietly, but Powerfully
Many racialized women don’t notice burnout until it begins affecting:
➡️ Emotional health — irritability, numbness, or feeling disconnected from yourself
➡️ Work performance — difficulty focusing, people-pleasing, or overcorrecting
➡️ Body symptoms — headaches, fatigue, or tension that never fully goes away
➡️ Relationships — withdrawing, shutting down, or feeling misunderstood
➡️ Sense of identity — questioning your worth despite your achievements
These signs aren’t weaknesses. They’re signals that your mind and body are asking for gentleness, rest, and support.
The Emotional Toll of Being “The Strong One”
The “strong woman” narrative, especially for racialized women, often leaves little room for vulnerability.
Many clients quietly share:
🌿 “I’m exhausted, but I don’t know how to slow down.”
🌿 “I feel overlooked and undervalued, but I keep pushing.”
🌿 “People depend on me; I can’t fall apart.”
🌿 “I don’t feel seen — at work or at home.”
Carrying strength is admirable. Carrying it without support is exhausting.
What Healing Can Look Like
When burnout is influenced by systemic inequities, racism, identity stress, and cultural responsibilities, traditional self-care tips are not enough.
In therapy, we work toward:
🌿 Processing racialized and identity-based stress
🌿 Naming burnout without shame or self-blame
🌿 Creating boundaries grounded in self-worth, not guilt
🌿 Exploring the emotional impact of microaggressions and workplace stress
🌿 Reclaiming rest without apology
Therapy becomes a space where racialized women don’t have to translate their experiences or minimize their fatigue. It becomes a place to finally breathe.
NJCCS Is Here for You
At NJCCS, I support high-achieving racialized women in navigating burnout, trauma, workplace stress, and major life transitions. Together, we work on:
🌿 Understanding burnout through a trauma-informed and culturally aware lens
🌿 Rebuilding confidence beyond productivity and achievement
🌿 Exploring identity stress and the emotional impact of systemic inequities
🌿 Learning how to rest, restore, and reconnect with yourself
🌿 Creating supportive patterns in both personal and professional life
You don’t have to keep pushing through exhaustion. Burnout is not a failure, it’s a message that your body and mind need care.
Healing begins with acknowledging that even strong women deserve support.
With warmth,
Nada Johnson, MSW, RSW
Registered Social Worker, Psychotherapist / trained Family Mediator / EMDR Trained Therapist / Certified Racial Trauma Clinician / Mental Health & Sexual Violence Consultant / Professional Speaker
🌍 Website: www.nadajohnsonservices.com
📩 Contact: info@nadajohnsonservices.com
Nada Johnson Consulting & Counselling Services – Online phone and video sessions available
Village Healing Centre: 240 Roncesvalles Avenue
Please share this post to support another woman who may be quietly carrying too much. 🤝
References
Hall, W. J., Chapman, M. V., Lee, K. M., Merino, Y. M., Thomas, T. W., Payne, B. K., Eng, E., Day, S. H., & Coyne-Beasley, T. (2015). Implicit racial/ethnic bias among health care professionals and its influence on health care outcomes: A systematic review. American Journal of Public Health, 105(12), e60–e76. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2015.302903
Lewis, J. A., Mendenhall, R., Harwood, S. A., & Browne Huntt, M. (2013). Coping with gendered racial microaggressions among Black women: A qualitative study. Journal of African American Studies, 17(1), 51–73. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12111-012-9219-0
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry. World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1002/wps.20311
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