A woman with glasses reading a book titled "In Pursuit of Soul Joy" while sitting on a couch in a cozy room.

You’re Not Falling Apart.

You’re Operating Past Capacity.

I work with high-achieving professional women over 50 who are still functioning — but exhausted, disconnected, and carrying more than their nervous system was ever designed to hold.

This doesn’t just show up as burnout.
It shows up as emotional flatness, loss of desire, and intimacy that feels effortful or distant.

This is not a motivation problem.
It’s not a mindset failure.
And it’s not solved by “self-care.”

It’s a nervous system issue — and it requires a precise approach.

Find the exact pattern your nervous system is running right now.

Take the Somatic Signature Quiz
Start with the Book (In Pursuit of Soul Joy)

Featured on national television and top wellness podcasts

TV: Hello Iowa · North Dakota Today · Great Day Washington · KATU

Podcasts include: I’ll Have What She’s Having, Shine In Shine Out, Dance to Heal, Wellness Growth, Soul Loom, High Vibe Mom’s Club, Arise, Passion, Sapphire’s Ear Play, The Practice of Therapy, Soulshift, The Meredith Patterson Show, The Daily Influencer, Butterfly Days, and more.


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If any of this is true, you’re in the right place:

  • You’re capable and respected — and privately depleted

  • Rest doesn’t restore you the way it used to

  • You feel more reactive, numb, or detached than you want to be

  • Desire or intimacy feels distant, effortful, or absent

  • You keep thinking, Something is off, but I can’t name it

This isn’t collapse.
It’s over functioning.

Most high-achieving women don’t burn out dramatically.


They burn out quietly — while still performing, producing, and holding everyone else together.

Your body signals strain through exhaustion, irritability, numbness, and disconnection — including in intimacy.

These are not character flaws.
They are adaptive nervous system responses to decades of responsibility, care, and chronic demand.

This work is not:

  • Motivation or mindset coaching

  • Productivity or resilience advice

  • Hormone-only explanations

  • “Push through it” culture

This work is:

  • Nervous-system-informed clarity

  • Practical interventions you can use immediately

A framework that restores capacity across work, relationships, and body

A woman with long, wavy gray hair, wearing a teal dress and a pearl bracelet, is standing against a yellow and black artwork background, holding a book titled 'In Pursuit of SUL Joy.'

Who I Am

I’m Julie Merriman, Ph.D., LPC-S — counselor educator, licensed clinician, speaker, and author of In Pursuit of Soul Joy: A 12-Week Guide for Overcoming Burnout and Compassion Fatigue.

My work focuses on burnout, compassion fatigue, and nervous system depletion in high-achieving women over 50 — including how this stress shows up as disconnection, shutdown, and loss of intimacy.

I also host two podcasts grounded in this same clinical lens:

  • Compassion Fatigue Cure: From Burnout to Radiance for Women Healers Over 50

  • Sexy After 50: Improve Sex and Intimacy by Healing Your Nervous System

A book titled 'In Pursuit of Soul Joy' by Julie Merriman Ph.D., standing on a surface with white orchid flowers and greenery in the background.
A woman with gray hair, wearing a white shirt and black pants, stands with her arms open wide and is holding a book in her right hand. She has a joyful expression and is posing against a black background.

Identify Your Somatic Signature

Burnout does not look the same in every body.

The Somatic Signature Quiz helps you identify the nervous system pattern you’re currently running — so you can stop guessing and start using the right intervention.

Your results will identify whether you’re operating as:

  • The Wired & Tired Warrior

  • The Disappeared Woman

  • The Resentful Saint

  • The Golden Cage Prisoner

(Each result includes a targeted somatic relief map designed for women over 50.)

→ Take the Somatic Signature Quiz

Burnout & Compassion Fatigue

If exhaustion, resentment, identity erosion, or feeling trapped is where this shows up most:

  • Podcast: Compassion Fatigue Cure

  • Book: In Pursuit of Soul Joy

Somatic Relief Maps: Available after the Somatic Signature Quiz

→ Start With the Quiz
→ Or Start With the Book
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Sex & Intimacy After 50

If desire feels shut down, effortful, or distant — and you want a nervous-system-based way back to aliveness:

  • Podcast: Sexy After 50: Improve Sex and Intimacy by Healing Your Nervous System

  • Reset: The Desire & Fire Reset™ (72-hour guided reset)

  • Upcoming Book: Are We Gonna Have Sex or What? (Spring 2026)

Loss of desire is not a moral failure or a libido defect.
It is often a protective shutdown — and it can be reversed safely.

→ Begin The Desire & Fire Reset™
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Start With the Foundation

A book titled 'In Pursuit of Soul Joy' by Julie Merriman, Ph.D., standing upright on a wooden surface, with other books stacked to its left and a picture frame behind it.

If you want the full framework — structured, grounded, and built for women who need clarity fast:

In Pursuit of Soul Joy offers a 12-week guide for understanding burnout and compassion fatigue and restoring capacity without dismantling your life.

→ Read the Book

This work is not about becoming someone new.
It’s about restoring access to the parts of you that adapted in order to survive.

Your nervous system learned these patterns wisely.
Now it’s time to teach it something different.

A woman sitting on a park bench holding a paper coffee cup with the cityscape in the background.
  • A woman with curly gray hair, wearing glasses, a white blouse, and black pants, is sitting on a sofa reading a book, smiling. She is in a cozy indoor setting with a large plant nearby.

  • A woman in a teal dress standing by a marble table with a book titled 'In Pursuit of Soul Joy' and a pot in the background.

  • A woman with wavy gray hair smiling while sitting on a beige couch, holding a book and a pair of eyeglasses, surrounded by large green plants.

  • A woman with wavy brown hair, wearing a white blouse, black pants, and leopard print flats, stands excitedly against a black wall, holding a colorful flyer above her head.

  • A woman with glasses and wavy brown hair sitting in a cushioned chair, reading a book titled 'Pursuit of Soul Joy' in a well-lit room with large windows.