The nurse who learned
the hard way.
Hello! I'm Karen Burgess, NBC-HWC, RN.
I know exactly what it feels like to achieve everything on the outside and feel like you're dissolving on the inside. As a registered nurse and respiratory therapist, I was trained to suppress my own stress response and keep moving. I was good at it. Dangerously good.
My own diagnosis marked a turning point — forcing me to stop overriding my body and start actually listening to it. What I found in that process, combined with years of advanced training, became the foundation of the Mindful Retriever Method.
I completed iPEC's Core Energy Leadership, COR.E Wellbeing Dynamics, and Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner programs. I pursued Duke University's Health and Well-being certification with its deep focus on mindfulness-based stress reduction, trauma-informed care, and resilience building. I earned my National Board Certification as a Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC). I trained in somatic practices and studied polyvagal theory — the neuroscience of how our nervous systems move between safety and threat.
What emerged was the Mindful Retriever Method and the PAWS daily reset: a framework built for the specific nervous system profile of a high-achieving woman. Someone who has learned to perform. Who has never been taught to recover.