Living in Alignment — Without Burning Out

Erica Johnson is a licensed therapist, educator, and founder of Affinity Counseling and Affinity Pathfinder.

Her work is shaped by lived experience, global travel, creative practice in theatre, and years of supporting people navigating trauma, burnout, and moral injury.

As a Peace Corps volunteer, Erica led theatre-for-social-change and community health education programs, learning firsthand how creativity, ritual, and collective regulation support resilience under pressure.

She later developed and taught the university course Self-Care in Theatre, which reframed self-care as self-preservation and community responsibility, grounded in Audre Lorde’s work and trauma-informed practice.

Across her teaching, curriculum design, and clinical work, Erica has seen the same truth again and again:

Most people are not broken.

They are overwhelmed.
Misattuned to.
Carrying too much alone.

Her work centers nervous system safety, honest relationship, creative expression, and deep respect for each person’s values and context.

For Erica, coaching is not about optimization.

It is about helping people come back to themselves—
so they can return to their communities with clarity, courage, and care.

She considers it a privilege to walk alongside people as they reclaim their energy, creativity, and sense of purpose.