9: The Getting Real with Hilary Show with Hilary Burns and guest Chyna Bratcher9: The Getting Real with Hilary Show with Hilary Burns and guest Chyna Bratcher
UK Health Radio Podcast
Kindergarten teacher Chyna Bratcher shares her journey through grief, burnout, health challenges and a major career shift, explaining how SEL and Kokori/Kikori helped her rebuild both her classroom and her own wellbeing. The conversation highlights the power of caring teachers and daily emotional skills in creating safe spaces for children.
42:32•27 Jun 2026
From Burnout to Breakthrough: Chyna Bratcher on Kindergarten, SEL and Healing
Episode Overview
- Stress and unresolved grief can seriously affect both physical health and teaching performance, making self-care a necessity rather than a luxury.
- Supportive, emotionally aware teachers can change a child’s life, especially when others have already labelled that child as a ‘problem’.
- Social Emotional Learning and Kokori/Kikori activities can be woven into daily classroom routines to build community, empathy and self-regulation.
- Kindergarten offers a unique chance to lay foundations in reading, self-control and social skills that older pupils may be missing.
- Teachers need backing from leadership and grace from parents, as harsh criticism and lack of support can push good educators out of the profession.
“Don’t give up on teachers, and teachers, let’s not give up on teaching. We really, truly are the foundation of the world.”
What remarkable journeys have people faced head-on against addiction? Here, the focus is on a different kind of addiction – to stress, overwork, and people-pleasing – and how one determined teacher chose health and heart over burnout. The Getting Real with Hilary Show brings on kindergarten teacher Chyna Bratcher, who shares a candid story that many educators, parents and carers will recognise.
From discovering her love of teaching at 16 in her sister’s kindergarten class, to working across multiple grades and virtual schools, Chyna talks about the moment a struggling pupil said, “Don’t leave, you help me learn,” and how that single sentence confirmed, “I realised at that very moment, I’m a teacher. That’s it.” Things aren’t sugar-coated. Chyna walks through grief, family illness, homelessness as a teen, hostile parents, and leadership that didn’t back her when false accusations were made.
On top of that, her body finally gave out: “My A1C was a 9.7 at 26 years old… my cholesterol was through the roof.” She connects the dots between chronic stress, poor self-care and serious health issues, and how choosing to resign from a toxic role became an act of survival. Kindergarten, though, turns into her healing ground.
Chyna explains how Social Emotional Learning and the Kokori/Kikori activities help her create a classroom where “kids are more than just their minds, they have hearts, they have souls.” You’ll hear how daily SEL routines, simple games and conversations build community, calm dysregulated children and even help a child who hit, threw things and refused to write move towards safety and connection.
Aimed at teachers, parents and anyone who cares about kids’ emotional health, this conversation shows how small relational moments can change a child’s – and an adult’s – entire trajectory. It might leave you asking: what if one caring adult really can make all the difference?
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