The Burned-Out Therapist’s Supplement Stack: What to Take When Holding Space Feels Like Holding Fire
Thursday, April 17, 2025.
Let me be blunt: therapists are the emotional sanitation workers of late-stage capitalism.
You hold other people’s pain all day while trying to remember your password for the EHR system, drink enough water, and somehow keep your own frontal lobe from melting into compassion fatigue.
The clients cry, the insurance claims glitch, the Zoom lags, and you start asking your cat reflective questions.
But what if you didn’t have to run on cold brew and unresolved idealism?
Here’s a science-backed, sincerity-soaked, slightly irreverent supplement stack for therapists who want to feel less like a burnt offering to the trauma gods and more like a grounded, well-resourced human with a functional vagus nerve.
This isn’t medical advice. This is nervous system harm reduction. It’s how I get through my days in the clinic and my afternoons and occasional evenings of private practice.
⚙️ 1. Ashwagandha (Found in UMZU’s Testro-X)
Use when: You’re holding space for four trauma clients in a row and realize your jaw is locked like a bear trap.
What it does: Ashwagandha is the adaptogen therapists didn’t know they needed. It modulates the HPA axis, reduces cortisol, and can improve resilience to stress (Lopresti et al., 2019). There’s growing evidence that it improves sleep onset and even mild anxiety.
Why it matters for therapists: You can’t Polyvagal Theory your way out of adrenal exhaustion. This is a root-level nervous system buffer.
🧠 2. Magnesium Glycinate + L-Theanine
Use when: You’ve got racing thoughts after your last session, and your client’s childhood is now living rent-free in your hippocampus.
What it does:
Magnesium Glycinate helps your GABA receptors chill out and improves sleep quality.
L-Theanine, found in green tea, promotes alpha brain waves and focus without sedation (Unno et al., 2013).
Best source: Magnesium is in UMZU’s Testro-X, but therapeutic doses often require a dedicated capsule. Thorne makes a pharmaceutical-grade version, or you can pair it with an L-Theanine supplement before sessions to stay calm but cognitively sharp.
🦠 3. A Targeted Probiotic (e.g., Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG or UMZU’s Floracil50)
Use when: You’ve stopped digesting food properly because your vagus nerve is tired of everyone’s unprocessed rage.
What it does: Probiotics don’t just fix your gut—they influence brain function. L. rhamnosus has been shown to reduce anxiety-like behavior in rodents via vagal modulation (Bravo et al., 2011). Humans aren’t rats, but our microbiomes are just as moody.
Bonus: UMZU markets Floracil50 with a wink and a nod toward hormonal benefits, but don’t get distracted—what matters is that it supports serotonin synthesis and inflammation reduction.
🔋 4. Vitamin D3 + K2
Use when: You’re in a windowless office in February counseling a client who believes they are a reincarnated owl.
What it does: Vitamin D deficiency is strongly correlated with depressive symptoms, fatigue, and low immunity (Holick, 2007). K2 helps D3 get into your bones, not your arteries.
Best source: Ancestral Supplements offers this in whole-food form (cod liver, anyone?), but Thorne’s D/K2 drops are precise and easy to dose.
💪 5. Rhodiola Rosea
Use when: Your caseload is 22 people and one of them wants to process a breakup by showing you screenshots for 50 minutes.
What it does: Rhodiola is another adaptogen, but one with unique nootropic effects. It improves mental stamina, reduces perceived fatigue, and may enhance mood under chronic stress (Panossian & Wikman, 2010).
Therapist angle: Helps with cognitive flexibility, which means more space between stimulus and response—and fewer moments of silently screaming “WHY?” while nodding empathetically.
🫀 6. Redwood (UMZU)
Use when: You feel physically drained after sessions and your circulation feels like molasses in January.
What it does: Boosts nitric oxide production and circulation. This is less about vascular swagger and more about brain perfusion and oxygenation. Also good for therapists with cold hands and colder hearts (just kidding... maybe).
Main ingredients: Vitamin C, Garlic Extract, Pine Bark, VasoDrive-AP® — all well-studied for endothelial function (Ried et al., 2013; Liu et al., 2019).
🧪 7. A High-Quality B-Complex (Thorne or Pure Encapsulations)
Use when: Your face is melting into the intake paperwork and your executive function is living on a prayer.
What it does: B vitamins support neurotransmitter production, energy metabolism, and cognitive clarity. The methylated forms (especially B6, B12, and Folate) are crucial for therapists genetically blessed with sluggish MTHFR genes.
Warning: Do not buy the drugstore ones. They smell like despair and turn your pee neon for no good reason.
🪑 8. Collagen + Protein Support
Use when: You forget to eat lunch again and dinner is string cheese and resentment.
What it does: Collagen supports joints, skin, and gut lining. A scoop of grass-fed collagen (Ancestral or Vital Proteins) in your coffee is a low-effort way to feed the infrastructure of your tired body.
Bonus: Adding protein helps blood sugar regulation — key to avoiding that 4 p.m. therapy fog where your client says something profound and you just blink.
Be Well, Stay Kind, and Godspeed.
📚 REFERENCES:
Bravo, J. A., et al. (2011). Ingestion of Lactobacillus strain regulates emotional behavior and central GABA receptor expression in a mouse via the vagus nerve. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(38), 16050–16055.
Holick, M. F. (2007). Vitamin D deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine, 357(3), 266–281.
Lopresti, A. L., et al. (2019). A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial examining the hormonal and vitality effects of Ashwagandha. American Journal of Men’s Health, 13(2).
Liu, X., et al. (2019). Effect of Pycnogenol® on endothelial function and blood pressure: A systematic review. Phytotherapy Research, 33(6), 1530–1540.
Panossian, A., & Wikman, G. (2010). Effects of adaptogens on the central nervous system and the molecular mechanisms associated with their stress—protective activity. Pharmaceuticals, 3(1), 188–224.
Ried, K., et al. (2013). Effect of garlic on blood pressure: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 13(1), 1.
Unno, K., et al. (2013). L-Theanine, a green tea amino acid, prevents stress-induced brain atrophy. Nutritional Neuroscience, 16(6), 254–263.