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GXC 2025 Online Virtual Conference - Mental Health Without Borders

Workaholism: The “Respectable” Addiction

Dawn Nickel, Ph.D.
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Pricing

Information

Date & Time

Learning Objectives

Participants will be able to:

  • Explain the emotional, mental, and physical costs of chronic overworking—for individuals and their relationships.

  • Identify signs and patterns of overworking using relatable questions and simple assessment tools.

  • Describe at least two practical tools and/or recovery strategies that support healthier boundaries with work and more balanced living.

Educational Goal

The educational goal of this presentation is to increase awareness of the personal and relational impacts of chronic overworking and to equip participants with accessible tools and recovery strategies for fostering healthier boundaries and more balanced, sustainable ways of living.

Description

Overworking is frequently mischaracterized as ambition or commitment, yet it can signify workaholism—a process addiction associated with compulsion, perfectionism, and anxiety. While culturally reinforced, chronic overworking can undermine physical health, emotional well-being, and interpersonal relationships. In this thought-provoking presentation, Dr. Dawn Nickel, founder of the SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, examines the psychological and systemic dimensions of workaholism. Integrating emerging research and lived experience, she invites participants to critically reflect on cultural narratives of success and their own productivity. The session also explores how work environments can reinforce maladaptive behaviors, and how recovery frameworks can support healthier, more sustainable work-life integration.

Target Audience

  • Addiction Professional
  • Counselor
  • Marriage & Family Therapist
  • Psychologist
  • Social Worker

Presenters

Dawn Nickel, Ph.D.
Dr. Dawn Nickel is a respected leader in the women’s recovery movement and the founder of SHE RECOVERS® Foundation, a nonprofit that inspires hope and reduces stigma for women in or seeking recovery from substance use, mental health challenges, and other life issues. With a PhD in healthcare policy, Dawn has spent over three decades working in mental health, addiction, and trauma-informed care. In recovery since 1987 from substance use disorder, domestic violence, and later workaholism, anxiety, and cancer, she brings both lived and professional experience to her work. Dawn is also a Certified Professional Recovery Coach and a passionate advocate for individualized, holistic recovery paths. She is frequently called upon to share her expertise and experience in recovery with diverse audiences—offering insight, humor, compassion, and practical tools for healing and growth.