Research & Frameworks

The frameworks behind this practice were developed through lived experience, validated through formal research, and center the experiences of high-achieving, high-masking, and neurodivergent women navigating High-Functioning Survival Mode™ and burnout.

The High-Functioning Survival Mode™ Research Study

The HFSM Research Study is a formal multi-phase phenomenological study examining the lived experiences of high-achieving, high-masking women and femme-presenting people in High-Functioning Survival Mode™. When the study is complete, findings will be published here. A summary blog post will be available to all readers, with the full white paper accessible via free download.

THE GLOBAL STUDY

1,004+ qualified participants in the study
Across 29 countries and 5 continents
A three-phase phenomenological study led by a doctor-level researcher with 15+ years in public health, organizational strategy, and biomedicine.
14-item proprietary Likert scoring system to assess an HFSM composite score

PHASE 1 OF THE STUDY

A virtual survey with a 70% completion rate (well above industry average), assessing the experiences of high-achieving, high-masking women and femme-presenting folks globally.

PHASES 2 & 3

Virtual live focus groups and asynchronous group forums stratified by HFSM score, education, income, and birth order.

Proprietary Frameworks

High-Functioning Survival Mode™ Framework

HFSM describes the nervous system state where a person maintains external success while internally operating from survival through masking, performance, and earning safety instead of feeling it. This framework explains why traditional burnout advice fails for high-masking women, and what's actually happening underneath.

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Soul Activation Model™

The Soul Activation Model™ is the structured pathway out of High-Functioning Survival Mode™. It guides the transition from survival-mode functioning to soul-led alignment through four phases: recognition, nervous system re-anchoring, identity reorganization, and self-leadership. This model anchors the cohort, private 1:1 work, and all assessment pathways.

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Timeline Anchor Theory™

Timeline Anchor Theory™ explores how pivotal moments — both chosen and inherited — anchor patterns in the nervous system that shape identity, decision-making, and life trajectory. This framework informs the deeper layers of Soul Activation™ work, particularly around ancestral patterns and the in-between spaces of major life transitions.

Articles & Writing

What Is Autistic Burnout? Stages, Signs, and Why Recovery Isn't Linear

If you're autistic and you've ever hit a wall where your words stop working, your body feels like it's shutting down, and the things you used to do with ease suddenly feel impossible, there's a chance you might be in autistic burnout . And it's fundamentally different from the burnout everyone else is talking about. What Is Autistic Burnout? Autistic burnout is what happens when autistic people face prolonged physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion from existing in environ

Samantha Rae

Apr 95 min read

How High-Achieving Women Can Get Out of Survival Mode & Burnout

If you’re a high-achieving, high-masking woman, you’ve likely experienced the familiar cycle of high performance and success, followed by burnout and overwhelm — only to rest, recover just enough, and then return to performing at high levels again. When you've been operating in survival mode —making choices from emotional scarcity, performing for recognition, striving to be the 'best' within systems that don't value you—you develop a version of yourself that's rooted in const

Samantha Rae

Feb 113 min read

What Is High-Functioning Survival Mode™?

High-Functioning Survival Mode™ is a term I developed to describe the psychological and behavioral pattern where high-achieving people continue to operate from a place of survival , even when their external circumstances appear stable or successful. When you use an intersectional lens to examine the layered impact of High-Functioning Survival Mode™, I noticed a recurring pattern showing up for high-achieving, high-masking (often neurodivergent) individuals—particularly women—

Samantha Rae

Feb 113 min read

This page houses the original frameworks and research developed by Dr. Samantha-Rae Dickenson. All frameworks, theories, and models are proprietary intellectual property. © 2023-2026 Dr. Samantha-Rae Dickenson. All Rights Reserved.