Christina Baird

I am a NZ registered psychologist, I work with women in mission-driven sectors—nonprofits, healthcare, faith-based organizations, education, social services—who are experiencing the gap between their values and the systems they operate in.

These are women who came to their work with passion and idealism, deeply committed to the people they serve. But they’re finding themselves in systems that diminish their voice, extract their energy, and operate counter to the values that brought them there in the first place. I help these women reclaim their voice, agency and wellbeing.  

I can help you with

• workplace well-being
• burnout recovery
• burnout prevention
• stress management
• self-care
• work-life balance
• imposter syndrome
• grief
• supervision
• reflective practice 
• fighting for change
• navigating values clashes with your organisation

Burnout Recovery

For women who are dedicated to their work and believe they can make a difference for others.  Work in the human, education, social, and health services is difficult, the needs of clients keep increasing, as do the needs of family members. Sometimes juggling it all becomes too much. You’re exhausted beyond what rest can fix. Self-care isn’t working, and you’re wondering what’s wrong with you.

Your burnout isn’t personal failure. It’s what happens when systems extract everything from you without regard for your limits.

I work with you to:

• Understand what’s actually happening (it’s not you, it’s systemic extraction)
• Regain your effectiveness, compassion, and passion
• Navigate the stress and depletion you’re facing with wisdom and attention to your wellbeing
• Develop sustainable approaches to work that matters—not just “resilience”
• Reconnect to yourself and what brought you to this work

Struggling alone is not the answer. I know how hard it is to ask for help when you’re used to keeping it together for others. I’m here to work collaboratively and creatively with you.

Integrity Coaching

For women navigating values clash in mission-driven organizations.

You’re deeply dedicated to your clients and the mission, but you’re depleting yourself fighting an organization whose priorities don’t match your values. You can see yourself becoming cynical. You’re debating whether it’s time to leave, but your care for your clients keeps you stuck.

I help you:

• Reconnect to yourself, your values, and your purpose
• Navigate the tensions with clarity
• Discern whether to stay with boundaries, leave with integrity, or strategically adapt
• Advocate more effectively without burning out
• Maintain your voice and agency in systems designed to diminish them

This is intensive 1:1 work for women at a decision point. Not about coping better—about deciding wisely and maintaining integrity whatever you choose.

Supervision

For those in faith-based work or faith-based nonprofit organizations.

I provide ongoing supervision as a regular pause for reflection upon your wellbeing, your work, and yourself in the unique context of faith-based settings.

Together we:

• Disentangle yourself from others’ expectations
• Navigate the specific theological and cultural dynamics
• Work out what success actually looks like for you
• Discover what boundaries need to be set
• Prioritize self-care and wellbeing in ways that lead to long-term sustainability
• Gain insight about your own and others’ behavior

This is for women who need someone who understands the specific complexities of faith-based contexts—someone who’s been inside these systems and knows how they operate.

My supervision approach is informed by the 7 Eyed Model, The Reflective Learning Model, and Compassion Focused Therapy.

My Approach

I work at the intersection of systemic awareness and personal agency. I help you see clearly how systems operate (the structural dynamics), recognize how you’ve internalized those dynamics (the personal impact), and reclaim your voice and agency (the transformation).

My work is informed by:

• Research in gender discrimination and power dynamics
• Years working in mission-driven and faith-based contexts
• Understanding of how patriarchal systems operate in workplaces
• Frameworks for sustainable resistance and radical kindness

I also draw from:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Compassion Focused Therapy
• Positive Psychology
• Evidence-based Coaching Psychology
• Solutions Focused Therapy
• Adlerian Counseling

Working with me is like giving your mind a workout. I’ll help you reflect well and think about your thinking. You’ll leave sessions richer in insight, holding strategies and techniques you can use immediately. I encourage you to develop a richer understanding of yourself, your values, your wellbeing, and your path forward.

About Me

I’m a psychologist and researcher in gender discrimination. I spent years in conservative Christian spaces where women’s voices were systematically silenced. Now I help women navigate and resist those dynamics wherever they show up—in mission-driven organizations, faith-based work, healthcare, education, anywhere systems are designed to diminish women.

I bring to my work many years of experience in the for-purpose sector, including organizational-level work in leadership development, team leadership, staff care, development and training. I’ve worked one-to-one with individuals in coaching, debriefing, and therapeutic roles. I’ve been responsible for initiating internship programs, psychoeducational groups, and support groups.

I see people as indivisible—even though I focus on workplace wellbeing, I believe individuals bring all of themselves to their roles. And I believe that when systems are the problem, individual solutions aren’t enough. Real transformation requires both seeing the system clearly AND reclaiming agency within it.

I have fire in my belly about justice for women—and I refuse to accept that women should just “cope better” with systems designed to extract from them.