Maike Bäcklin is a trauma-informed leadership coach for high-performing women who want to stop second-guessing themselves and lead from steady inner authority. I work with high-performing women who are externally competent and internally exhausted from carrying too much. Women who lead teams, families, organizations — and still second-guess themselves in private. I know that pattern well.

I built my career as a civil engineer in sustainability, designing systems for institutions and advising on long-term strategy. I became highly capable, reliable, and respected. And I also became exceptionally good at endurance. From an early age, I learned to anticipate needs, read rooms, and perform competence. Horses were my first experience of regulation — where presence mattered more than performance. A nervous system either feels safe, or it doesn’t.

That understanding shaped everything that followed. For years, I operated from over-responsibility and achievement. I could manage complexity and lead projects, yet internally I was still negotiating worth and bracing for failure.

Motherhood brought unresolved patterns to the surface. Titles and intelligence do not override the nervous system.

So I did the work. Not to become more impressive. But to give my children the chance of something else. I trained in trauma-informed subconscious methods. I invested deeply in my own therapy and coaching. I learned how to work with the body, not just the mind. I stopped optimizing survival strategies and began releasing them. Over time, something stabilized: Clear inner authority. Clean boundaries. Regulated leadership. Self-trust without performance. That is the work I now offer.