In January of 2020, I founded The Child Safety Collaborative LLC, the parent organization of the Teacher Care Network because I was concerned about the emotional development and emotional safety of children and teachers. When I founded the Collaborative, I had no idea we were a few months away from a public health crisis, the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Teacher Care Network was born out of request, meaning that I started receiving so many requests for teacher burnout workshops, coaching, and consulting that it took on a life of its own.

With a record-breaking teacher shortage, student learning loss, and increased mental health concerns among students and educators, education - as a system - is feeling the impacts of the post-pandemic world. In my online support community of over 1000 educators, and through consulting with schools across the U.S., one thing has become clear – educators are experiencing significant levels of burnout and telling them to do “self-care” isn’t cutting it.

I help districts and educators shift from surviving to thriving using evidence-based practices that are effective and sustainable.

I do that in two ways: 1) empowering individual educators by teaching them evidence-based strategies to change their personal experience at work, and 2) working with organizations to make strategic, data-driven plans to mitigate drivers of burnout.

If we are going to save education – a system which is the hallmark of our democracy and one that is worthy of saving – we have to prioritize educator well-being and implement evidence-based solutions in innovative ways.

Email my team today to set up a call where we discuss how I can help your organization strategically reduce burnout and retain teachers.

Jen Johnson, PhD

[email protected]

Dr. Johnson is an educational psychologist with a PhD specializing in emotional/behavioral disorders, a former special educator, and teacher burnout expert. She worked in public schools as a Deaf Education teacher and an Instructional Specialist in Special Education before transitioning into higher education where she worked as a Teaching Fellow at the University of North Texas and Student Teaching Supervisor at Texas Woman's University.

Since completing her PhD, Dr. Johnson has worked with school district, schools, and programs to improve the emotional health of both students and staff through strategic programming. Through her work focused on student emotional health, she heard story after story of teacher burnout and compassion fatigue. It became clear to her that while there was a focus on social emotional learning for students, many teachers were not experiencing emotional safety within themselves and their work environments. And not only did they need the emotional safety, they wanted it.

Dr. Johnson's burnout recovery model THRIV is based on evidence-based practices from educational research and from nursing research, which has arguably the most well-developed literature as it relates to compassion fatigue and burnout recovery. The model combines all of best evidence-based strategies for burnout reduction into an easily-digestible and effective set of sustainable practices that can be implemented for both systems and individuals. THRIV burnout recovery programming has been implemented with individual teachers, small groups, and large groups since 2020.

In 2023, Dr. Johnson launched the Educator Burnout Diagnostic Tool that prescribes personalized professional development to help individuals and organizations strategically target both personal and organizational burnout reduction in a systematic, data-driven way.

Dr. Johnson lives in a small Texas town with her husband and 4 year old son. She enjoys doing stitching embroidery, watching baking show, and being outdoors with her family. She implements the THRIV model in her own life and is a work in progress.

Picture of Jennifer Johnson in casual attire holding stuffed animals.

Published works related to burnout:

Published works and contributions related to child safety:

Testimonials

Jessica Alsip

Middle School Teacher

"Dr. Jen is the greatest lifeline and support I’ve had as a teacher. Anytime I’ve needed support she is quick to respond with encouragement and most importantly she affirms that my feelings are valid and natural. The suggestions she has given are realistic since she knows the time and material constraints that teachers face."

Amy Bennett

High School Teacher

"Yesterday was a rough day for me, snot and all. I found the courage to text Dr. Jen yesterday in between tears and she talked me through it.

I have known her for 6 or 7 years now. I highly suggest you check her out!"

Sofia Villa

Pre-Service Teacher

"Dr. Johnson's workshop was truly something I think we all needed, especially right now.

A reminder that if we are not our best selves, we cannot teach our students to be their best selves."

Book Editorial Reviews

Evan Robb

Educator, Author, Speaker

"Dr. Jennifer Johnson provides strategies and care tasks to enhance your life professionally and personally.

Learn positive ways to take care of yourself allowing you to thrive the way you want.

Live fully into your humanness."

Rebecca Atkinson, PhD

Licensed Specialist in School Psychology

“Once I picked up Thriving After Burnout: A Teacher’s Compassionate Guide,” I couldn’t put it down until I was finished. I have personally either witnessed or experienced everything Dr. Johnson addresses in this book. After an extremely difficult past few years, I am so excited to put these strategies into practice and reignite my passion for working with students!”

Kristi Brashier, M.S.

School-Based Speech Language Pathologist

"Dr. Jen gives realistic strategies that can be implemented immediately. She’s been in the trenches and gives easy to follow step by step instruction on how to dig yourself out. A must have, not just for teachers, but for anyone seeking to improve their lives."