The Business of Burnout: Cat Triviño Wants to End the Hustle, Not Glorify It
From stigma to support, MindNation co-founder Cat Triviño is helping Filipinos rethink what therapy looks like—and who gets to access it.
In a world where the grind never stops, Cat Triviño hit pause. “I really thought that hustling my way through my feelings, through tiredness, through whatever it is I was going through, would be the ultimate solution,” she says. But instead of joy, the finish line was burnout. “It only made me feel more empty, more alone.”
That experience became the blueprint for MindNation, the mental health platform she co-founded to help others access what she couldn’t find at the time: support, healing, and a culture that doesn’t confuse exhaustion for excellence.
Shaira Luna
Triviño wasn’t always a believer in therapy. At one point, she actively avoided it. “I had thought that that was going to make me less of who I am,” she says. And even when she finally reached out for help, the barriers were staggering.
“At that time, I could only get a session after two to three months of waiting time, and it was about three to four thousand pesos per hour,” she recalls. “There are some rates that are still the same, and some waiting times that are still the same, because we have less than 2,000 psychologists in the Philippines, less than 1,000 psychiatrists. And even the thought of medication—it’s very expensive and inaccessible.”
Instead of accepting that status quo, she decided to change it. She connected with two co-founders: Kana Takahashi, with a background in psychology, and Monique Ong, with experience in tech and business. “They’ve been wonderful partners throughout this journey,” she says. “We’ve been doing MindNation for five years now, and it was a bittersweet launch. We introduced MindNation to the public just a month before the lockdown. So if the lockdown happened in March of 2020, we had already been talking about it and introducing it as early as January, February of that year. And of course, developing the brand even the year before. So it’s been a long journey, and I really wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Today, MindNation offers 24/7 teletherapy, workplace trainings, and mental health “micro-experiences” that reframe wellness as both proactive and practical. “We break it down into packages that seem like you’re just attending another spa treatment,” she says. Even an eight-minute conversation, she insists, can be powerful.
Shaira Luna
“We can no longer keep thinking of mental health as something that is a ‘nice-to-have.’ It should be part of your hygiene.”
But for all the innovation, Triviño’s message remains radically simple: Therapy is not a luxury. “We can no longer keep thinking of mental health as something that is a ‘nice-to-have’,” she says. “It should be part of your hygiene.”
And in a country where therapy is often wrapped in shame or seen as indulgent, change has to start with trust. “One of the biggest things when it comes to stigma is the uncertainty of what’s going to happen during a therapy session,” she explains. During the pandemic, MindNation partnered with local government units and Senator Risa Hontiveros to make therapy free and immediate. “That was one of the biggest icebreakers,” she recalls. It demystified what therapy actually is—a space for processing, regulation, and growth.
For Triviño, the work is also deeply personal. Diagnosed with major depressive disorder while working a high-pressure corporate job, she faced the very barriers MindNation is now working to dismantle. “I’m the eldest daughter in a conservative and somewhat religious family. Mental health was never something we even talked about,” she says.
Shaira Luna
But naming emotions, she says, is a first step to reclaiming power. And resilience, she believes, has to be redefined. “It’s about pacing,” she explains. “There are times we do have to feel sad and recognize our emotions… When we’re being resilient, it’s about us being able to acknowledge them as truth, while also being able to work on whatever healthy coping mechanisms we need.”
In Cat Triviño’s world, empowerment starts when you stop pretending you’re fine—and decide, finally, that your healing is worth the effort.
Photographer: Shaira Luna. Makeup: Lala Flores. Hair: Cats del Rosario. Styling: Joy Bernardo and Jolo Bayoneta of StyLIZed Studio. Clothing: Ditta Sandico Sculpted Hand-Draped Corset. Yong Studio Viera Top in Cream. Max Mara Rauce Trousers. Tiffany & Co. Tiffany T T1 Narrow Hinged Bangle in Yellow Gold, Tiffany T T1 Narrow Diamond Hinged Bangle in Yellow Gold, Tiffany Lock Bangle, and Tiffany Hardwear Large Link Earrings in Yellow Gold.
Frequently Asked Questions
MindNation is a Philippine mental health platform offering 24/7 teletherapy, workplace wellness trainings, and mental health micro-experiences designed to make support practical and accessible. Co-founded by Cat Triviño, Kana Takahashi, and Monique Ong, it launched publicly in early 2020, weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown.
The Philippines has fewer than 2,000 psychologists and fewer than 1,000 psychiatrists serving the entire population. In-person therapy sessions can cost between PHP 3,000 and PHP 4,000 per hour, with waiting times of two to three months — structural barriers that disproportionately affect those without institutional support or financial resources.
Burnout results from sustained overextension — particularly when effort is used as a coping mechanism for emotional distress rather than purpose. Unlike ordinary fatigue, burnout produces a persistent sense of emptiness and disconnection. MindNation’s Cat Triviño describes it as the outcome of believing that hustling through feelings is a solution, when it often deepens them.
During the pandemic, MindNation partnered with local government units and Senator Risa Hontiveros to provide free, immediate therapy sessions. This initiative demystified what therapy actually involves — creating an accessible first experience for people who had never considered it — and served as one of the most effective stigma-reduction efforts the platform undertook.
Resilience, as MindNation co-founder Cat Triviño defines it, is not about suppressing difficulty or pushing through pain. It involves acknowledging emotions as valid while actively developing healthy coping mechanisms. Pacing — rather than endurance — is the operative principle: feeling what needs to be felt, then working through it with appropriate support.
