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SystemsCheck™: The Human Operating System for Ambition & Burnout

SystemsCheck™: The Human Operating System for Ambition & Burnout

Written by: Naina Rana
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SystemsCheck™ The show for high performers who look fine on paper — and know something's off underneath.

Hosted by Naina, LCSW — licensed therapist, former tech insider, and burnout specialist — Systems Check examines the human operating system behind leadership, ambition, and relationships. Through candid solo episodes and expert conversations, we explore how your nervous system, decision-making patterns, and relational dynamics quietly shape performance at work and at home. We look at burnout through the lens of chronic illness, couples and family systems, and substance and behavioral patterns — because high demand doesn't happen in a vacuum.

This isn't therapy. It's a strategic audit. New episodes every month. Subscribe wherever you listen.

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Episodes
  • Dr. Eric Williams on Burnout Doesn't Stay at the Office — It Comes Home
    Sep 28 2026

    In this episode, Naina sits down with Dr. Eric Williams — licensed clinical mental health counselor supervisor, marriage and family therapist, associate professor at Walden University, 82nd Airborne veteran, and founder of Coastal Family Services and Coastal Family Media. They explore what happens when high-performance culture follows you home, how adopted truths quietly drive relationship strain, and why the way you communicate at work is actively working against you in your marriage. Dr. Williams also shares his four Rs framework — retreat, regulate, reflect, reconnect — a deceptively simple model for transitioning out of work mode before you cost the people you love the version of you they actually need.

    Guest Resources Dr. Eric Williams — Coastal Family Services, PLLC coastalfamilymedia.com Free quiz: Why We Fight Free bi-weekly community sessions — Fridays at 12:00 p.m.

    Work With Me — Naina Rana, LCSW Peakworks Counseling Center — Private therapy for individuals and couples in Connecticut peakworkscounseling.com

    Keynote Speaking — Burnout, sustainable performance, and team culture.

    Organizational Consulting — S.Y.S.T.E.M.S. Framework™ for leadership teams.

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    56 mins
  • Megan Rees, LPC on Burnout Hits Differently When Your Brain Is Running a Different OS
    Sep 28 2026

    In this episode, Naina sits down with Megan Rees — drama therapist, ADHD assessor, organizational consultant, and founder of her own therapy and coaching practice — to make the clinical case for why burnout in a neurodivergent brain is a different experience requiring a different response. They cover psychological safety beyond the poster on the wall, what undiagnosed ADHD actually looks like in a high-performing tech professional, and why doing a burnout workshop for a company that won't change anything is something Megan refuses to do. This one is for anyone who has spent years interpreting their own brain as a character flaw.

    • Megan Rees — meganelrees.com
    • LinkedIn — Megan Rees
    • Instagram — @workshrink (consulting, coaching, and organizational content)
    • Amy Edmondson — researcher who coined psychological safety; original research conducted in hospital systems
    • Google's Project Aristotle — referenced in discussion of psychological safety as the common denominator in high-performing teams
    • Internal Family Systems (IFS) / Parts Work — referenced in relation to drama therapy techniques
    • Drama therapy — explained in episode; Megan's clinical training and modality

    Guest Resources Megan Rees, MA, Drama Therapist | ADHD Assessor | Consultant meganelrees.com LinkedIn: Megan Rees Instagram: @workshrink Services: Therapy (California), Coaching (worldwide), Executive Functioning Coaching, Organizational Consulting

    Work With Me — Naina Rana, LCSW Peakworks Counseling Center — Private therapy for individuals and couples in Connecticut peakworkscounseling.com

    Keynote Speaking — Burnout, disability & work and sustainable team culture

    Organizational Consulting — S.Y.S.T.E.M.S. Framework™ for leadership teams.

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    51 mins
  • Ingrid Johnston, LMFT on When Chronic Pain Becomes the Third Thing in Your Relationship
    Aug 31 2026

    In this episode of Systems Check™, Naina Rana sits down with Ingrid Johnston, LMFT, MDFT, a marriage and family therapist specializing in chronic pain, couples conflict, and the intersection of nervous system health and relationships.

    Together, they explore what happens when chronic pain becomes the “third thing” in a relationship—an organizing force that can quietly shape communication, intimacy, routines, conflict, caregiving, and emotional connection.

    Learn more about Ingrid Johnston, LMFT, MDFT: Ingrid Johnston Therapy

    https://www.ingridjohnstontherapy.com/

    This episode is for educational and informational purposes and is not a substitute for individualized medical or mental health care.

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    1 hr and 10 mins
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