Women leaders face chronic cognitive overload in silence, lacking the language and support to recognize burnout. This article explores how mental health literacy, meaningful training, and cross-sector collaboration can transform workplace culture and restore genuine capacity for leaders and their teams.
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Influential Woman · Education, coaching, psychology, neuroscience
Dr. Amanda Helman
Founder, Cognitive Release Coaching TM & Consulting, Author, Speaker, Healthy Roots LLC
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 18018
2021Years experience
1Article published
Her Story
About Dr. Amanda
Dr. Amanda Helman is a Cognitive Release Coach, Consultant, Author, Speaker, and Founder of Healthy Roots LLC, founded in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. . She launched her consulting practice five years ago following more than two decades of experience in education, leadership development, psychology, and related fields. Dr. Helman has built a career dedicated to helping individuals, leaders, and organizations overcome challenges, release brain overload to restore genuine capacity. Her professional journey began as a special education teacher supporting individuals with disabilities, which led to roles in transition coordination, education consulting, coaching, and leadership development. With extensive expertise in autism, trauma-informed approaches, inclusive practices, communication, nervous system regulation, and cognitive transformation, Dr. Helman developed Cognitive Release Coaching™ and Consulting,, a proprietary methodology designed to help high-performing leaders and entrepreneurs identify and overcome the internal barriers that limit their capacity. Through Healthy Roots LLC, she provides executive coaching, consulting, leadership workshops, keynote speaking, and training programs focused on psychology, neurobiology, physiology, neuroscience, personal growth, and sustainable transformation. She has authored multiple books, including her autobiography published in 2021, which shares her journey of overcoming complex trauma, as well as a children’s book and additional works focused on leadership. A dedicated writer, she continues to create content daily to inspire and empower others. Dr. Helman holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education, a doctorate in special education from Lehigh University, and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Thomas Jefferson University. She credits her success to embracing challenges, learning from mistakes, and choosing to “fail forward” by using setbacks as opportunities for growth. She believes that surrounding herself with honest mentors, coaches, and supportive relationships, while continuously investing in her own development, has been essential to her journey. Guided by the values of honesty, accountability, integrity, and truly listening to others without an agenda, Dr. Helman continues to make an impact by helping people create meaningful change, build confidence, and step into their full potential.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dr. Amanda
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to the lessons I have gained from the challenges, setbacks, and mistakes I have experienced throughout my journey. Each obstacle has provided an opportunity to learn, grow, and move forward with greater clarity and resilience. I have learned that what may feel like failure in the moment is often a chance to fail forward, gain valuable insight, and become stronger. By acknowledging my mistakes, embracing growth, and having the courage to try again, I have continued to evolve both personally and professionally. I also credit my success to surrounding myself with honest and supportive people, seeking guidance from coaches and mentors, and making a continuous investment in my own development. These experiences have shaped my mindset, strengthened my leadership, and helped me become the person I am today.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I have ever received is to grow in humility, remain curious, and be committed to lifelong learning. Throughout my journey, I have been fortunate to have incredible mentors who have shaped the way I lead, teach, coach, and serve others. One lesson that has stayed with me came from Dr. Brenna Wood, who reminded me of the importance of embracing the mindset of “I know I don’t know.” To me, those words represent the value of staying open, asking questions, and recognizing that growth comes from continuously seeking knowledge and new perspectives. I have also been deeply inspired by mentors like Sherry Ward, whose resilience, determination, and dedication to empowering others have shown me the importance of perseverance and purpose. Additionally, Louise Taylor helped expand my understanding of neuroscience, human behavior, and the power of asking meaningful questions to create lasting change. Each of these women has reinforced the importance of leading with humility, embracing curiosity, and remaining open to growth. The greatest lesson I have carried forward is that success is not about having all the answers—it is about continuing to learn, evolve, and use what I have gained to help others succeed.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
My advice to young women entering my industry is to meet yourself where you are and embrace authenticity. Too often, we hold back from sharing our true thoughts, challenges, and uncertainties because we assume we are the only ones experiencing them. When we are willing to be honest and vulnerable, we create connections and realize that many others have felt the same way. I want young women to know that they have what it takes to succeed. The biggest obstacles are often the internal narratives we carry, such as the belief that we have to be perfect, get everything right, or that we are not qualified enough. By recognizing and challenging those hidden scripts, we can move past self-doubt and unlock our full potential. Skills can be learned, confidence can be built, and growth comes from believing in yourself and taking the next step forward.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenges and opportunities in my field right now are centered around embracing change, fostering growth, and continuing to adapt in an evolving environment. Throughout my journey, I have learned that challenges, mistakes, and unexpected moments are not failures but valuable opportunities to learn, grow, and become more resilient. By acknowledging what does not work, seeking guidance, making adjustments, and continuing to move forward, I have developed a stronger ability to lead, coach, and support others. I believe one of the greatest opportunities in my field is the ability to build meaningful connections through authenticity, open communication, and a commitment to lifelong learning. By surrounding myself with mentors, coaches, and trusted relationships, I have continued to expand my perspective and invest in both my personal and professional growth. I strive to lead with honesty, integrity, accountability, and active listening, recognizing that these values are essential to creating positive change and helping others achieve their full potential.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values that are most important to me in both my work and personal life are honesty, accountability, integrity, and truly listening to others. I believe honesty begins with being truthful with myself and those around me, including having the courage to acknowledge mistakes and take responsibility when things do not go as planned. Integrity means ensuring that my thoughts, words, and actions are aligned with my values and that I consistently show up with authenticity and purpose. I also believe that meaningful connections are built through active listening—taking the time to truly understand others, hear their perspectives, and be present without an agenda. These values guide the way I lead, support others, and approach every relationship and opportunity with respect, empathy, and authenticity.
Her Content Hub
Articles by Dr. Amanda
From Silence to Strength
Breaking the silence: how women leaders can recognize cognitive overload and reclaim their capacity to lead authentically.
I have sat across from women leaders in university, education, and business boardrooms who command the room and still admit, in a lowered voice, that they have not felt rested in months. They lead teams, companies, and communities. Yet many of them carry a private truth they have not felt safe enough to say out loud: their brains are in survival mode—not because something is wrong with them, but because no one ever taught them how to recognize chronic cognitive overload or that there is a way out of it.
The Silence Beneath the Strength
Mental health conversations remain rare in most workplaces, and the silence runs deepest around the people expected to hold everything together. For women leaders, that expectation is doubled. They are expected to project composure while absorbing the emotional weight of their teams, their families, and their own ambitions, often without a single space where they can speak honestly about what is happening in their own minds and bodies.
This is not a personal failing. It is a communication gap. Around the world, workplaces still lack the basic capacity to recognize the signs of chronic cognitive overload in the people leading them. A widely cited global survey found that fewer than half of employers had proficient policies in place to support mental health. In many regions, the ratio of trained mental health professionals to the population also remains far below what is needed. When leaders themselves have never been given the language to describe what they are carrying, the silence simply moves up the chain.
What Genuine Capacity Requires
Restoring genuine capacity within a team starts with the leader at the front of the room. Women leaders who invest in meaningful training—whether through mental health literacy programs, trauma-informed leadership education, or professional coaching—gain far more than information. They gain the vocabulary to respond when someone discloses something serious, the judgment to know when a conversation requires a higher level of care, and the self-awareness to recognize cognitive overload in themselves before it becomes a crisis.
This kind of literacy changes what is possible in a workplace. A leader who can recognize the early signs of chronic cognitive overload, in herself or in someone on her team, can respond with a plan instead of a shrug. She can build policies that create space for conversations before they become emergencies rather than scrambling to react after a crisis has already occurred.
Healthy Communication Beyond the Workplace Walls
Addressing cognitive overload at the individual level is only part of the work. Women leaders who want lasting change also build bridges beyond their organizations by connecting with community resources, universities, and other organizations that share the same commitment. Regular conversations across these sectors—whether through monthly roundtables or informal peer networks—create the kind of collective intelligence that no single leader can build alone.
These conversations matter because the stigma surrounding mental health rarely disappears from within a single organization. It begins to fade when leaders across sectors agree, both publicly and through policy, that seeking help is a strength, not a liability—for women, for men, and for the next generation of leaders watching how this generation responds.
From Silence to Strength
The workplaces that will lead the next decade are the ones willing to start the conversation first. Women leaders are uniquely positioned to model this—not because they carry every burden perfectly, but because they have spent their careers proving that strength and honesty are not opposites.
Releasing cognitive overload, restoring genuine capacity, and redefining what leadership sounds like when it tells the truth—this is the work in front of us.
Sources
World Health Organization. Mental Health Atlas 2014. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2015.
Willis Towers Watson. 2019/2020 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey.
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