​Burnout, Boundaries and Belonging

​For many women, AI is landing on top of an already full plate: big careers, caring for others, invisible labour, and sky‑high expectations. You’ve been told to work hard, never drop the ball, and be grateful for every opportunity—so when AI, monitoring, and “productivity scores” show up, it can feel like there’s even less room to be human.

​In this therapist‑supported circle, burnout specialist Dr. Ruth C. White and AI strategist Keerthana Mahadevan will unpack how impostor feelings, perfectionism, people‑pleasing, and relentless work ethic collide with AI at work. We’ll explore how to stop relating to AI as another judge or competitor and start using it, selectively, to protect your time, energy, and nervous system.

​Welcome to real talk, and simple tools you can actually use. You’ll leave with one realistic 30‑day “AI + mental health” experiment that fits your life, not a fantasy schedule.

​⏰ 6:00 PM — Doors & Networking
⏰ 6:30 PM — Fireside Chat (Therapist x Strategist)
⏰ 7:00 PM — Open Q&A
⏰ 7:30 PM — Open Sharing
⏰ 8:00 PM — Wrap Up

​Who it’s for

​This circle is for you if you:

• ​Are a professional woman (roughly 10+ years in) who somehow became “the responsible one” at work and at home.

• ​Identify as a hee‑haw high‑achieving woman: you step up, over‑prepare, and hold everything together, even when you’re running on fumes.

• ​Grew up with strong messages about working hard, being grateful, and not “dropping the ball,” and now notice that voice running your calendar and your body.

• ​Spend most days in go‑mode—decisive, productive, always “on”—and miss your softer, intuitive, “awesome feminine” energy.

• ​Know burnout a little too well (or are determined not to get there again) and can see how impostor feelings, perfectionism, or people‑pleasing might be part of the pattern.

• ​Feel curious about AI but also pressured, skeptical, or low‑key anxious about surveillance, productivity scores, or the idea of being “replaced,” and want a human, nuanced space to talk about it.

​Who it’s not for

​This is probably not the right fit if you:

• ​Want a technical AI training (prompts, tools, dashboards, coding).

• ​Are mainly looking for a generic “Intro to AI at work” lecture.

• ​Need crisis‑level mental‑health support or one‑to‑one therapy.

​Why this, why now

​Behind the light tone, this conversation is rooted in some sobering realities:

• ​A recent meta‑analysis across more than 100 studies confirms that women experience impostor feelings more frequently and more intensely than men, especially in high‑achievement contexts. These feelings have been linked to anxiety, depression, and overwork.

• ​Work on perfectionism and people‑pleasing in high‑achieving women shows how “being the reliable one” and “never dropping the ball” quietly push women toward chronic stress and burnout, especially when they’re also managing invisible labour at home and in their communities.

• ​Large‑scale workplace surveys on AI and monitoring (including from major psychological associations) suggest that when employees feel watched, scored, or replaceable by algorithms, their stress and mental‑health risks go up—along with drops in trust and wellbeing at work.

• ​Emerging business research also points to a gender gap in AI adoption, with women often avoiding AI tools because of fears around judgement, looking “inauthentic,” or “cheating”—even in roles where these tools could actually reduce overload and protect mental health.

​This circle exists because those threads meet in one very real woman: the high‑achieving, often immigrant or first‑/second‑generation professional who is already doing too much, and now is being told she has to “keep up with AI” too.

​Where:

​🌟 Official Space Partner of The AI Collective Toronto: The Village Hive Eglinton – Coworking & Meeting Space

​Know your therapist

​Dr. Ruth C. White is a psychotherapist, clinical social worker, educator, and writer who has spent her career at the intersection of mental health and high performance. Her work focuses on anxiety, burnout, and workplace wellbeing, with a particular emphasis on women and marginalized professionals.

​She has written and spoken widely on:

• ​Women’s mental health in the workplace and what organizations often miss when they design policies without gendered and cultural realities in mind.

• ​How to recognize and manage panic and acute anxiety in professional settings—including practical, in‑the‑moment tools you can use when your body is in full alarm mode but you still have to be in the room.

• ​How to navigate the stress of return‑to‑office, hybrid work, and shifting expectations, especially for people who tend to over‑function and under‑rest.

​Ruth’s day‑to‑day clinical work is with high‑achieving women (many of them first‑ or second‑generation) who are trying to prevent or heal from burnout while holding complex family, cultural, and career expectations. Her approach blends evidence‑based mental‑health tools with deep respect for your context: your culture, your upbringing, and the real pressures you’re facing—not some theoretical “ideal worker.”

​In this circle, Ruth pairs that lens with Keerthana’s lived and professional experience in the AI space to create something rare: a room where you can talk honestly about burnout, identity, ambition, and AI, without having to translate yourself first.

​As always, food and drink, engaging conversation, and incredible company will all be provided!

​​Please be advised: Unfortunately, space is very limited at these community events and we can not always accept everyone we would like to. If you are not accepted to this event, please keep applying! We appreciate your application tremendously and we are looking forward to seeing you at a future event very soon!

​The AI Collective is a global non-profit building the human layer for the AI era. We unite 200,000+ leaders, builders, and stakeholders across 100+ forums worldwide to democratize the frontier, build trust, and coordinate how society navigates the rapid acceleration of technological progress.

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