Puzzle Exchange Podcast episode with Caitlin Blair (Tiny Cottage Therapy)

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapsing. Sometimes it looks like functioning… with a tight chest, a racing mind, poor sleep, digestive issues, and a constant sense of urgency that never turns off.

In this Puzzle Exchange episode, I sat down with Caitlin Blair, a psychotherapist and the founder of Tiny Cottage Therapy, to talk about what burnout really is—especially for people navigating cultural identity, people-pleasing, and the emotional load of caregiving.

This conversation is for anyone who’s been carrying a lot while still trying to “be fine.”

What we talked about

Caregiving pressure (especially in AAPI families).
For many adult children, love and obligation get tangled together. You can feel deeply devoted to your parents and still feel exhausted, resentful, or guilty for wanting space. Naming that tension is often the first real step toward change.

The “in-between” identity stress.
When you’ve lived between cultures, it can become second nature to code-switch, adapt, and perform competence—even when you’re depleted. That coping skill can quietly become a chronic stress pattern.

Why sitting-still self-care doesn’t work for everyone.
We explored realistic nervous-system tools for people who can’t just meditate their way out of overwhelm—starting with movement, sensory grounding, and small practices that create safety in the body.

How to find the right therapist.
Caitlin shared a grounded approach: the “right” therapist is often less about perfect credentials and more about feeling safe, seen, and able to be honest.

The bridge between mental health and acupuncture

In modern terms, mental health isn’t only “in your head.” Stress, anxiety, and emotional overload are whole-body experiences. When your nervous system gets stuck in a stress loop (fight/flight), your body may start sending louder signals:

• difficulty sleeping

• tight shoulders/neck or headaches

• digestion changes

• mood swings, irritability, low resilience

This is one reason therapy and acupuncture can pair well: therapy helps you understand patterns and build new internal frameworks, while acupuncture supports regulation through the body—helping the system downshift so change is actually sustainable.

What the evidence says

Research is still evolving, and results vary depending on the condition and study quality:

• For anxiety, the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) notes limited evidence that acupuncture may reduce symptoms, but overall study quality is low.

• For insomnia, NCCIH summarizes evidence suggesting acupuncture may help, but many studies are small and low quality, and results are mixed across reviews.

So I like to frame acupuncture honestly as: not a magic fix, but a potentially helpful lever—especially when your body is stuck in “on” mode and you need a reset you can feel.

A practical takeaway: build your “support stack”

If you’re in the middle of burnout, the goal isn’t “find the best single solution.” It’s to build a support stack that fits your real life. For example:

• Therapy for boundaries, identity stress, grief, caregiver guilt

• Acupuncture to regulate sleep/stress loops and reduce tension patterns

• Micro-tools like walking, gentle movement, and sensory grounding to keep momentum between sessions

That’s the spirit of Puzzle Exchange: curiosity, collaboration, and tools that actually work the next day.

Listen to the episode