From Burnout to Balance: Build the Release Valve

If we expect educators to carry the weight of the work, we have to build systems that help them set it down.

There was a moment recently, nothing dramatic, nothing unusual, just a quiet comment from an educator in the hallway.

“I’m fine,” she said quickly, before I even asked. And then, just as quickly, she added, “I just feel like I don’t have anywhere to put all of this.”

She didn’t mean her schedule. She meant what she was carrying.

And that stayed with me.

Because it’s not just one person. It’s many of us.

In earlier pieces, I’ve written about the weight educators carry. This time, I want to focus on what we build so they don’t carry it alone.

Because our systems are full of people who care deeply—people who show up every day, who stay late, who think about students long after dismissal, and who carry far more than what is ever visible on the surface.

A consistent message I hear from superintendents across the country is this:

“They’re overwhelmed.”

“We’re doing everything we can.”

“It still doesn’t feel like enough.”

And I believe that.

Because our systems are full of people who care deeply—people who show up every day, who stay late, who think about students long after dismissal, and who carry far more than what is ever visible on the surface.

But here’s the shift we need to make:

What if the issue isn’t how much we’re asking people to carry, but how little opportunity we’ve built for them to release it?

In education, we are incredibly good at building systems of support for students. We have MTSS frameworks, intervention blocks, data teams, and behavioral systems. We analyze, adjust, and respond.

But for adults?

We rely on hope. Hope that they’ll take care of themselves. Hope that they’ll "find time." Hope that a break will be enough to reset what has been building for months. It’s not.

Because the nature of this work doesn't allow stress to dissipate on its own, it accumulates. It lives in the conversations we carry home, the decisions we replay, the students we worry about. And anything that accumulates without release becomes unsustainable.

Research confirms this. Chronic exposure to others' trauma, secondary traumatic stress, leads to emotional exhaustion, reduced efficacy, and burnout when not addressed systemically.

So the question is no longer whether our staff are feeling it. The question is: What have we built to help them move it?

The Missing Structure: A Release Valve

We don’t need another initiative. We need a structure.

A release valve is not a wellness day or a one-time activity. It is a predictable, embedded part of the system where adults can process what they are carrying, briefly, safely, and without pressure.

Not therapy. Not problem-solving. Not evaluation. Just reflection and connection. Something small enough to be doable, but consistent enough to matter.

This is where Tripods come in.

Why Tripods Work

Tripods are simple by design: groups of three staff members who meet for 15 minutes a week.

That’s it. No preparation. No outcomes. Just a prompt and protected time. But the structure matters. Three people creates balance.

In pairs, one person often ends up being the fixer. In larger groups, people fade out or defer.

In threes, the weight is shared. There is space to speak, and space to be heard without interruption or expectation.

Tripods:

• Normalize that this work is complex and human
• Reduce the isolation that so many educators quietly experience
• Interrupt stress before it builds to a breaking point

This aligns with research from Amy Edmondson on psychological safety—people are more likely to speak honestly and engage when they feel safe in small, trusted groups.

PIES: A Simple Way In

To keep this time meaningful, but not overwhelming, we anchor it in a simple structure: PIES.

P – Physical: What has your body been holding this week?

I – Intellectual: What’s been taking up space in your thinking?

E – Emotional: What have you been feeling?

S – Social: How have your interactions impacted you?

No one has to answer all four. It’s simply a doorway. A way to “name it to tame it,” as Daniel J. Siegel describes—engaging the thinking brain to regulate emotional intensity. But more importantly, it gives people language. Because what stays unnamed tends to stay stored. And what stays stored eventually shows up—often as exhaustion, frustration, or disconnection.

Connection Is the Mechanism

We often frame wellness as an individual responsibility, but neuroscience tells us something different.

Bruce D. Perry reminds us that regulation happens in a relationship. We calm in the presence of another regulated person. That means the connection is not extra. It is essential.

And in systems where connection is not intentionally built, disconnection becomes the default.

Leadership Is in the Design

This only works if it is built into the system. Leaders don’t suggest Tripods, they design them.

That means:

• Assigning groups so no one is left out
• Protecting the 15 minutes so it doesn’t get taken over
• Setting clear norms so people feel safe
• Modeling the purpose so it is understood as meaningful, not optional

Because if it’s optional, it becomes one more thing. But when it’s embedded, it becomes part of how we do the work.

Research from Christina Maslach reinforces this: burnout is driven by workplace conditions, not individual weakness.

Fifteen Minutes That Change the Trajectory

Fifteen minutes a week will not eliminate stress. That’s not the goal. The goal is to prevent accumulation. To create a consistent release valve so that stress doesn’t build into burnout, disconnection, or disengagement.

In a profession where people are constantly pouring into others, Tripods create a moment, brief but intentional, where someone pours back into them. Where someone listens. Where someone understands. Where someone says, “That makes sense.”

And over time, that matters. Because sustainability in this work isn’t about removing the weight.

It’s about making sure no one is carrying it without a place to set it down.

This post is part of an ongoing series exploring key strategies for preventing burnout and setting boundaries.

• Part I - From Burnout to Balance: Leading Schools Through Trauma
• Part II - From Burnout to Balance: Boundaries Without Guilt
• Part III - From Burnout to Balance: Building Cultures of Support
• Part IV - From Burnout to Balance: The Appreciation Jar as a System-Level Wellness Practice
• Part V - From Burnout to Balance: Tell Your Story Through Systems of Support Building up your teachers by design—not by chance