FRIED. The Burnout Podcast Coaching with Sarah: How to Manage The Panic of Not Being Able to Control All The Things
Oct 12, 2025
In this enlightening session, Sarah coaches Christy, a dedicated parent grappling with long-term burnout and people-pleasing tendencies. They delve into Christy’s realization of her exhaustion stemming from a need to control outcomes. Together, they explore the emotional toll of parenting crises and practice the Tree of Life exercise to assess energy levels. Christy learns to establish boundaries, including renegotiating an overwhelming carpool commitment, reclaiming her time and emotional space, and embracing the discomfort of prioritizing her needs.
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Control Feels Safe But Drains Energy
- Christy described controlling outcomes to avoid disappointment and hurt as a core pattern.
- That drive for control costs energy and prevents healing because many outcomes are outside her influence.
Codependency Shifts Your Center Outside
- Sarah frames Christy's pattern as codependency: feeling okay only when others or situations are okay.
- This externalized sense of safety makes one's center of gravity unstable and easily disrupted.
Parenting Crisis Was The Breaking Point
- Christy recounted a parenting crisis with her eldest that left her feeling defeated after years of trying to fix things.
- Sending him away and being blamed marked the turning point for her burnout.