Therapist Brittainy Noel on having a healed response

In the high-demand world of leadership and personal success, one of the greatest challenges women face is the weight of expectations from multiple sources. At the fifth annual Woman Ignite Success Summit (WISS), held last Saturday at The Jamaica Pegasus, licensed US therapist and first-time WISS speaker Brittainy Noel spoke about the silent pressures that leave even the most accomplished women running on low batteries.

For Noel, the struggle for many women begins with a crisis of identity. In an everyday environment where women are expected to be “a lot of things for a lot of people”, the self often gets lost.

“Sometimes in the midst of trying to meet those needs, we forget who we need to be for ourselves,” Noel said. This neglect often leads to burnout and a sense of being unsupported, largely because many women have not been taught how to identify their own needs or ask for help confidently from their communities.

The key to navigating high-pressure environments successfully, according to Noel, is maintaining a regulated nervous system. For the woman feeling overwhelmed, resilience is using practical coping skills, and not just “toughing it out”.

Noel recommends deep breathing, grounding, and removing oneself from situations that exceed one’s capacity. Her most powerful advice is the practice of the ‘delayed response.

“I make [it] a habit, especially if I know that I’m overwhelmed or I’m feeling a lot of emotions, to delay my responses,” Noel told Lifestyle.

Whether it is asking for five minutes or two days, this intentional pause allows for self-regulation. The goal is to ensure that a woman doesn’t act outside of her character due to temporary emotional states. It is the difference between what Noel calls a “Hurt Response” and a “Healed Response.”

“I will know that I am emotionally resilient when I am able to confront the things in my life in the healed response and not the hurt response,” she added.

Understanding resilience also means knowing its limits. Noel highlighted how women can recognise when anxiety is no longer fleeting but takes control. Signs include difficulty showing up for oneself or others, heightened emotional reactions, or physical dysregulation.

“When you get to that place where [you’re saying] ‘I can’t make decisions effectively, I can’t take care of my kids effectively,’ [that’s when] you need to see a doctor, see a psychiatrist, and talk about how we can get you regulated,” she explained.

This focus aligns with the core mission of WISS Founder Keneshia Nooks-Blake, who noted that the goal of the event is to ensure that every participant leaves with tools they can use in their day-to-day lives.

“We are always wanting to ensure that at the end of each year we can provide tools and tips to support a young woman who is either on her journey in career or a woman who is already in leadership,” Nooks-Blake shared with The Gleaner.

ruth-ann.briscoe@gleanerjm.com