Hearing the Helper: An Interview with Ellen Tanner, MS, OTR/L

Therapists Unchained

In this week's episode of Therapists Unchained, Sivie Suckerman, MA, LMHC, ACS sits down with Ellen Tanner, MS, OTR/L occupational therapist and founder of Hearing the Helper. Ellen shares her personal journey with burnout and how it opened her eyes to the deeper systemic challenges facing helping professionals. Together, they discuss why self-care alone falls short—and how storytelling can spark collective healing and drive change across education, healthcare, and social services.

Ellen Tanner’s mission is to heal burnout and co-create a regenerative new paradigm in education, healthcare, and social services. She cultivates this work from two angles: as a coach and consultant, she helps helpers rise from acute burnout and guides leaders to reimagine systems with upstream solutions that spark resilience, restore meaning, and minimize downstream harm; as Executive Director of Hearing the Helper, she leads a storytelling movement that transforms lived experiences into collective wisdom. A licensed occupational therapist for 20 years, Ellen has served across the lifespan in schools, healthcare, mental health, and social services, experiences that fuel both her credibility and her conviction. Through speaking, teaching, and visionary workshops, she illuminates pathways of healing and possibility, transforming exhaustion into resilience and organizations into life-giving cultures where helpers—and those they serve—can truly thrive.

To inquire about Ellen's services as a coach, consultant, speaker or for workshops, you can get in touch at https://www.ellenmarietanner.com.

**As you explore my site, know that I'm still transitioning my coaching and consulting practice to fully focus on burnout recovery and prevention, it takes time to catch up on all the things!

If you'd like to know more about Hearing the Helper or Submit a Story you wish people would listen to as a helping professional visit us at https://www.hearingthehelper.org.

If you'd like to learn about inspiring research on burnout recovery and prevention visit https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/coral.

This episode was produced and edited by Mckenna Paddock, MA, LMHCA, ATR-P.