"More than anything, I want people to experience me as someone who brings humanity into difficult conversations."
Meet The Founder, Catie Egan
Catie brings a multidisciplinary background in counseling, neuroscience, education, and behavioral health to her work. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master’s in Counseling, along with postgraduate study in Applied Educational Neuroscience through Butler University. She is also completing a year-long immersion focused on the nervous system and behavior with Robyn Gobbel and has completed training in Jessica Sinarski’s Behavior Rewired Framework.
Her work extends beyond the classroom and into professional training and speaking. Catie has presented at The Attachment & Trauma Network’s National Conference and The Learning Brain Exchange, with another presentation scheduled for their Building Resilient Communities for Children conference this September. Through her work with Region 9, she has also presented at conferences across Texas, including the Texas Council of Administrators of Special Education.
Real change begins with understanding—
Not shame, blame, or being told that everything is being done wrong. When people can recognize what is happening beneath the behavior and understand what they may not have been able to see before, new possibilities for change begin to emerge.
The goal is for people to leave feeling hopeful, capable, and motivated to create change. Not because they were given another list of things to fix, but because they gained a deeper understanding of themselves, others, and what is possible moving forward.
At the heart of this work is a simple belief: when we understand more, we can respond with more compassion, curiosity, and intention.
The Burnt Toast Project Helps Participants Move Through Four Essential Shifts:
See Beneath The Behavior
Recognize Their Own Alarm
Participants learn to look beyond labels such as defiant, manipulative, unmotivated, or disrespectful and consider the stress response, nervous-system state, unmet need, environmental demand, or lagging skill that may be influencing what they see.
Professionals examine how challenging behavior affects their own nervous systems. They learn to identify their stress patterns, triggers, protective responses, and early signs of activation before those responses begin driving the interaction.
Respond With Greater Intention
Create Conditions For Lasting Change
I provide practical strategies for regulation, co-regulation, communication, de-escalation, boundary-setting, and accountability. Participants learn what they can do before, during, and after difficult moments without adding more threat, shame, or disconnection.
I help teams look beyond isolated interactions and consider how relationships, environments, policies, expectations, and organizational culture influence behavior and staff well-being. The goal is to build shared language and consistent practices that support both the people being served and the professionals serving them.
As a Licensed Professional Counselor, behavior specialist, trainer, and consultant, I have spent years working alongside children, families, educators, counselors, administrators, and other helping professionals. I understand challenging behavior not only from a theoretical or clinical perspective, but from inside the systems where people are expected to respond to it every day—often with limited time, competing demands, and their own activated nervous systems.
I approach this work with credibility, humility, and compassion. I understand that most professionals are not failing because they do not care. They are working within demanding systems and often have not been given the language, support, or practical tools they need. My role is to help provide those tools in a way that feels respectful, engaging, and immediately useful.
Who This Work Serves
Whether the setting is a school, law firm, mental health agency, juvenile justice program, law enforcement agency, healthcare organization, social service program, or human resources team, the environment may look different—but the underlying challenge is often the same.
Professionals are expected to remain thoughtful, communicate clearly, make sound decisions, and respond effectively in moments when someone else’s nervous system—and often their own—is under significant stress.
This work helps teams better understand human behavior, reduce unnecessary escalation, maintain appropriate boundaries and accountability, and navigate difficult interactions with greater confidence and clarity.
Just as importantly, it recognizes the cumulative impact of high-stress work and the importance of helping professionals protect their own well-being while continuing to show up effectively for the people they serve.
