What People Are Saying

  • “Let me tell you, she is just fantastic at teasing out the truth and the deeper reasons why we are who we are, and we react the way we do, as well as being a fun person to talk to.”

    ~ CMSgt Casy Boomershine, MHRM, SPHR

    Retired Air Force Command Chief

    Human Resource Business Partner and Human Resource Manager at Spectrum

    Public Speaker

    E18 Podcast Guest

  • Joanna Rajendran Keynote Speaker, Mindset Mastery Coach, Author of MY GURU WEARS HEELS & her latest book BEST. LIFE. EVER.

    "Charlie’s wisdom and insight are matched by her wit and relatability. Everyone will want to tune in to everything she does!"

    Joanna Rajendran

    Keynote Speaker, Mindset Mastery Coach, Author of MY GURU WEARS HEELS & her latest book BEST. LIFE. EVER.

    joannarajendran.com

  • Sraboni R., Dedicated Viewer

    “Your videos have had such an impact that I couldn’t hold back—I’ve been binge-watching your content, and it even made its way into my dreams thinking about making these changes for myself - it was so unforgettable.“

    Sraboni R.,

    Dedicated Viewer

  • "Charlie is very talented and professional in all aspects of her work. She has a way of making you feel comfortable to share your thoughts in a way that does not feel awkward. I was blessed to share my experiences and hopefully encourage others. Keep being Great!"

    Mayor Mary Dennis,

    Mayor, The City of Live Oak, Texas

  • "Dr. Charlie Hornes offers hands-on, practical advice for those dealing with trauma and life’s tough challenges. Her insights are a game-changer for anyone seeking to heal and grow into a healthier self."

    Dr. Katy Stenta

    Spiritual Leader, Author, Blogger, Justice-Seeker

    https://katyandtheword.com/

  • Dr. Charlie Hornes is the real deal! She knows how life experiences, circumstances and cultural norms influence all human relationships. Learning from her is enlightening, challenging, and practical!

    Lynette Solomon, MDiv, BCC

  • "This is one of those podcasts that will stick with you..."

    ~ Janina S.

    Podcast Community

  • "Charlie is a sponge for knowledge, always one step ahead in applying what she’s learned. Now, I’m learning deeply from her. Her blend of formal education, research, and life experience makes her guidance invaluable. She’s not just a coach—she’s a mentor."

    ~ The Rev. Jonathan M.,

    Head Pastor, Spiritual Leader,

    Master Educator, All-around kindest human 

  • Mehedi H. Subscriber and Regular Listener

    “Your YouTube channel is incredibly engaging! The content is both instructive and informative, with top-notch production quality and clear passion in every video. I’m hooked—keep up the fantastic work!”

    Mehedi H.

    Subscriber and Regular Listener

  • Did you know that The Charlie Hornes Coaching Studio has a Youtube Podcast Channel? Our Channel is about to hit 350,000 SUBSCRIBERS in ONLY 6 MONTHS!! Clearly our content is resonating! @charliehornescoaching

    ~ The Art of Managing Your Brain Podcast Youtube Channel

  • "Your authentic energy is showing in all of your posts! Your episode about "Why burnout feels like a loop you can’t escape and what you can do to break free" is so insightful! The actionable takeaways, like the "Burnout Audit" and "Recalibration Routine," are such practical ways to reclaim our energy. 💪🌿 The "Reclaim Your Morning" tip is so simple yet powerful! ☕️✨ Thanks for sharinggg, Dr. Charlie! 🙌 "

    Sali Bina

    Regular Listener, Subscriber

About The Charlie Hornes Coaching Studio, LLC

You’re not the problem.

The system is.

Let’s name it—before it takes you down.

Hi, I’m Dr. Charlie M. Hornes -

I am here to tell you this:
There’s nothing wrong with you.

If you’ve been told you’re too sensitive, too intense, too reactive, too emotional, too ambitious—

You’re probably just too aware.

You’re reading the system before it reads you.

And for high-functioning people inside broken ecosystems, awareness gets mistaken for dysfunction.

That’s where I come in.

Dr. Charlie M. Hornes, DMin, BCC, MCPC

Clinically Trained Board Certified Spiritual Counseling Strategist
Certified Thought Work Strategist
Master Certified Professional Coach

Why I Didn’t Get a Counseling Degree

I  didn’t want to treat symptoms.

I wanted to name the system.

When I made the decision to pivot my entire life toward helping people, I was standing in the wreckage of something I couldn’t make sense of. The trauma was personal, professional, spiritual—and systemic. And I realized something: traditional counseling wasn’t built to answer the questions I was actually asking.

What happens when the problem isn’t you—but everything around you keeps telling you it is?

What happens when the system that hired you starts to break you?

And what happens when your purpose gets weaponized against you?

These weren’t clinical intake questions. They were existential ones. And I needed a framework that could hold all of it—human suffering, spiritual rupture, systemic violence, and the unbearable silence that follows.

So I didn’t go to an LMSW program.

I went to seminary.

And I didn’t stop there. I spent over a decade in trauma bays, ICU units, ERs, and crisis command rooms. I completed a 12-month ACPE clinical residency. I became a Board Certified Clinical Spiritual Provider with over 3,600 supervised hours. And I earned a Doctorate of Ministry focused on leadership systems, institutional breakdown, and the diagnostic misnaming of burnout.

I now have more education, training, experience, and clinical supervision that most therapists out there.

But. I wasn’t looking to become a counselor.

I was learning how to help high-functioning people name what’s actually happening—before they get crushed by it.

Because in my experience?

People don’t break.

Systems do. Whether we are talking about institutional systems theory or family systems theory.

And the worst ones make you believe you’re the problem.

I’m here to tell you the truth: you’re not. And I’ve got the tools to prove it.

I’ve Been Where You Are (But I Didn’t Stay There)

I didn’t just study system failure—I don’t just see it. I survived it.

I know what it feels like to question your instincts, your calling, your entire career—because no matter how competent you are, someone still finds a way to make you feel like a liability.

Like you’re too much. And somehow just not enough.
I call this The Double Bind.

I’ve been the youngest person in the room, the only woman at the table, the most qualified hire they wanted on paper but rejected in practice.

It’s demoralizing.

I get it.

It’s confusing.

I that too.

You do everything right. And still feel like you’re failing.
I. Get. It.

Whether you are leading a team, running an org, or struggling with relationships.

I spent too many years thinking I was the one not cut out for it.

Until I learned to spot the pattern.

What looked like burnout or blow up was actually purpose being beaten out of me by people who were threatened by it.
Who refused to allow me to just to the job I was hired for. Equipped for. Trained for. Good at.
Who refused to let me just be me. Without harsh judgment and unwarranted criticism.

What looked like emotional fragility was actually my instincts doing their job inside an unstable environment or unsafe interpersonal relationships.
An environment my instincts new was never going to be a safe space to begin with.
So my instincts took over and kept me from making it worse.

For me, that looked like freezing.
And if I had said what I had practiced or ruminated for hours over, I would have only made things worse.
In times of trauma, crisis, unsafe spaces - the very thing we get the most frustrated by - our instincts - are really our greatest superpower.
You just need to learn to manage it. Direct it. Take control of it.
My work will show you how to do it just like I did.

The moment I stopped blaming myself and started tracking the system was the moment everything changed.

Now I teach that to other people.

Because the way out isn’t “self-care.”

It’s not a new planner or morning routine.
It’s not “affirmations” or “mindset.”
None of that works when things get real
And things can get real
Real quick.

This is language, strategy, and precision—so you can see clearly, decide cleanly, and move forward without apology.

You don’t need permission.

You need a new framework.

I’ve built one I wish I had so you can have it.

This Is Not Empowerment. This Is Exit Strategy.

I’m not here to make you feel better.

I’m here to help you see clearly—so you can get out. So you can interrupt the cycle that is causing you to question yourself so harshly.

Out of the loop.

Out of the fog.

Out of the story that says you’re the problem when the truth is, the system was never built to hold you.

Most frameworks will tell you to regulate your nervous system and get back to work.

Mine will show you how to interrogate the conditions that made regulation impossible in the first place.
Because if people don’t show you the how-to-do-it piece, you are left with no path towards the change you already know you want to achieve for that success you have been working so hard for.
Wishing for.
Hoping for.

This is not about burnout recovery.

This is upstream from what I describe as a Cat 5 Level Burnout Event.
When you are just done.
When you quit.
When you yell.
When you cut off.
When you walk away.
When you disappear into the shadows - blaming yourself for what was never yours to own.


My methodology is forensic.
It’s diagnostic.
It’s strategic.
And it’s preventative in a world that doesn’t teach the urgency of prevention.

Because with prevention you can stay in the relationship if that’s your goal.

  • You can leave and be ok with it. Without the rumination.

  • You can stay in that job and find contentment, success, and reignite the purpose that brought you there in the first place.

  • You can leave in a healthy way without the blow up.

  • You can keep those high performers who are struggling and you can’t seem to fix it.

  • You can keep your struggling teams intact and functioning well.

  • You can find the success you know you have been searching for.


The success that you deserve.
Whatever the circumstance, situation, and environment you are struggling in.
You CAN be entirely successful.
And do it. For real.

I don’t hand you affirmations—I hand you a blueprint.
I am not here to tell you what you already know.
You know what isn’t working.
You just haven’t been taught the how-to.

It’s the how-to that I teach.

  • Because you’re not actually doing it wrong.

  • Other people aren’t actually doing it right and you just can’t figure it out.

  • There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.

You’re trying to function in an environment that rewards silence, penalizes clarity, and gaslights high-performers into thinking their exhaustion is personal failure.

I build diagnostic tools, strategic language, and system maps so you can track the exact moment the structure started failing - and what to do next.

This isn’t empowerment.

This is success strategy to stay.
It’s an exit strategy if it’s time to leave

And it’s built with data, with language, the purpose and clarity reignition, and with your dignity intact.

You can choose your next moves with precision, clarity, and contentment.
You can avoid the conflict and fall out.
You can do it. And do it well.

No matter what you choose.

What I Do (That No One Else Is Doing)

I don’t sell empowerment.

I dismantle misdiagnosis.

What I do isn’t therapy. It’s not performance coaching. And it’s definitely not personal development fluff.

What I do is name what’s actually happening—underneath the chaos, underneath the shame, underneath the survival instinct that’s gotten so smart it even fools you.

I work at the intersection of three high-voltage zones:

  • Neuro-behavioral science

  • Spiritual and existential trauma

  • System-level dysfunction

And I work with licensed clinical therapists. I don’t replace them.
We do very different yet complimentary things.

I’ve sat with presidents during institutional collapse.

I’ve guided boards through moral injury and governance failure.

I’ve coached high-performing women who thought they were “burned out”—but were actually stuck inside systems designed to break them.

Often because they were actually doing a great job.
And the system couldn’t handle it.

Most people think they need a mindset reset.
You don’t.

What you actually need is a diagnostic framework that explains why everything that used to work… suddenly doesn’t.
Why you have lost your purpose - your meaning - your fire.

This is where I come in.

I don’t co-sign victimhood.

I don’t bypass pain.

I hold the forensic mirror up to your story and show you what no one else has named yet.

So when it’s not burnout

When it’s not your fault

When it’s not just you

You’ll have someone in your corner who can prove it—systemically, spiritually, and strategically.

It’s time to reignite your purpose.
And I will teach you how to protect it.
No matter what difficult people or circumstances come your way.

And that is not the goal.
It’s just a guaranteed byproduct of the work that I teach.

The Archetype Quiz Is the Gateway—The Work Is the Way Out

The quiz isn’t a gimmick. It’s a doorway.

Most people can’t explain what’s happening inside them—because they’ve never been taught the language for it. The Survival Archetypes™ give them that language. Fast.

  • Are you the Lion who explodes and regrets it later?

  • The Deer who runs before you’ve had your say?

  • The Fox who adapts to keep the peace—then forgets what you even wanted?

  • The Owl who freezes mid-sentence and blames yourself for not speaking up?

  • Or maybe you’re the Seeker: watching, waiting, scanning for what doesn’t yet have a name.

Each archetype is a survival instinct. And each one makes sense in the context of a dysfunctional system.

You’re not fragile. You’re responding.

You’re not lost. You’re adapting.

The quiz helps you see that. But it doesn’t stop there.

Once you see the pattern, I teach you how to shift it—strategically, neurobiologically, and without ever blaming yourself for the instinct that tried to keep you safe.

The quiz is just the first signal.

The work is what gets you out.

Take the Quiz Now!

How I Help (And Who I Don’t)

I don’t help people feel better about staying stuck.

I help people get honest about what’s not working—so they can do something about it.

My clients are high-functioning, highly intelligent, and usually the one everyone else leans on. They don’t fall apart. They hold the thing together—until they can’t. That’s when they find me.

PRIVATE CLIENTS

One-on-One Work (Application Only)

I work with high-functioning people who’ve hit a point where things stop adding up. They’re not falling apart—but they’re starting to feel something’s off. Something unnameable. Something they used to be able to push through…until now.

My 1:1 clients usually fall into one of these categories:

  • People everyone leans on—until they quietly burn out

  • Women who know they’re not crazy, but can’t get traction

  • Professionals who’ve outgrown their original career map but don’t know the next move

  • Coaches, therapists, and clinicians who need sharper tools, real mentorship, and zero fluff

  • People who’ve already tried therapy or coaching—but still feel trapped because it’s just not the right fit for the circumstances

They’re smart. Committed. Highly self-aware. But they’ve never had someone show them how to do the kind of strategic, soul-respecting work I do.

And here’s who I don’t work with:

  • People looking for permission to stay stuck

  • People unwilling to examine their own thinking

  • People hoping I’ll co-sign their pain so they don’t have to change

  • People who treat “clarity” like a vibe instead of a skill

If you want someone to make you feel better about staying where you are—I’m not your coach.

If you’re ready to do the deep, strategic work of becoming who you actually are—I’m here for that.

INSTITUTIONAL + ORGANIZATIONAL ENGAGEMENTS

For Teams, Boards, Founders & Systems Leaders

What I do isn’t “coaching” in the traditional sense. It’s strategic intervention with clinical weight and systems-level traction. My advisory work supports leaders and institutions at key inflection points—when clarity, trust, and aligned action have started to slip.

I partner with:

  • Boards facing post-crisis, succession, or trust fallout

  • Systems leaders navigating role confusion or organizational fatigue

  • Directors triaging emotional shrapnel instead of building actual culture

  • Mission-driven orgs trying to hold values and performance without burning out their people

  • Institutions ready to name what’s really not working—before morale, mission, or leadership walks out the door

WHO THIS WORK IS FOR

(Across org, institutional, and exec-level systems)

  • For leaders inside reactive, high-volatility systems

→ You’re navigating fallout, not leading forward. You don’t need hype—you need traction.

  • For people holding the line in dysfunctional systems

→ You’re doing the emotional labor and the strategic lift. And it’s burning through you.

  • For teams running on urgency, not strategy

→ Performance is getting propped up by silent exhaustion.

  • For directors expected to manage chaos—not people

→ You were trained to lead. But you’re spending your energy cleaning up emotional residue.

This work doesn’t live in HR. It doesn’t belong to EAPs or DEI slogans. This is upstream repair with measurable ripple effects. It doesn’t require your org to be “broken”—just ready to stop bleeding talent, morale, or trust. And avoid the PIP headache.

Work With Me

If you’re ready for real traction - not platitudes - if you are ready to get started now, I offer three paths:

1:1 Coaching

High-trust, high-impact work for individuals who are ready to get honest, go deep, and move forward without the self-blame spiral.

This is for high-functioning people who are done masking, done guessing, and done going it alone.

Application required.

Institutional Consulting

Strategic advisement for teams, execs, and boards navigating volatility, fractured trust, or post-crisis recalibration.

Includes executive debriefs, cultural diagnostics, post-exit or succession strategy, and team re-alignment.

Application required.

Keynotes + Executive Teaching

I speak to what systems miss: how identity, biology, and belief get misread as burnout—and what to do about it.

If you’re looking for someone who can articulate the unspoken and name what’s really happening in the room, let’s talk.

Booking via application only.

Schedule a free Discovery Call to see if we are the right fit.

Book Your Call Now

Start Here: Take the Quiz

If you’re not sure which path is yours yet, start with the quiz.

Your archetype will help name the pattern that’s been driving your decisions—and give you the first language for breaking it.

Take the quiz. Get your first tool.

Let’s Go!

Take the Quiz Now!

Talk soon,

~ C

The Methodologies (Pl.)

This isn’t just the latest “framework.”
I don’t do fads.

It’s a full system—built from thousands of hours in clinical rooms, trauma bays, boardrooms, and human subject doctoral research.

Most people teach one method. I built an ecosystem. And it doesn’t stop here. There is so much more to learn and build. Always.

Each model I use is designed to answer a different kind of problem, with different kinds of people or institutions, at different stages of breakdown or decision.

Here’s what that includes:

  • The STORM System™

    For leaders in override environments. This is my five-part diagnostic model for post-crisis recovery and leadership recalibration. Rooted in neurobiology and theology. Designed to surface what’s unraveling before it costs someone their clarity, team, or role.

  • The Survival Archetypes™

    For everyday high-functioning humans who can’t figure out why their brain keeps flipping to fight, flight, freeze, or fawn. This is where most of my clients start: the moment they realize their instinct is trying to save them. The quiz isn’t cute—it’s clinical.

  • The Thought Work Stack

    This is my philosophical-meets-practical upgrade to cognitive behavioral models and coaching protocols. Yes, I’m trained in The Model—but I go further. I teach people how to actually manage their mind under threat, without spiritual bypass or coach-speak.

  • Aerial View + Identity Reframe

    This is my system-aware method for helping clients recontextualize what happened to them without collapsing their sense of self. It draws from systems theory, ethics, evolutionary psychology, vocational discernment, and lived trauma-informed experience.

  • Clinical-Level Listening + Strategic Counsel

    I’ve logged over 3,600 hours of supervised trauma-informed spiritual care in ICUs, ERs, and executive offices. My methods integrate that training with the strategic frameworks boards, CEOs, and clients actually need.

In short: I don’t offer vibes. I offer clarity.

And I don’t hand you a mirror—I hand you a map.