Starting Point

Trillion Institute is a global human development institute dedicated to understanding, strengthening, and restoring human psychological and behavioral systems across the lifespan—from early formation to leadership, performance, and deep healing. We serve as a hub for soft skills education, emotional and relational capacity-building, and applied human systems literacy for individuals, teams, and institutions.

Our work spans multiple pathways, including Mind•ternship™, an early-career and university program focused on emotional intelligence, decision-making, and human skills readiness; executive and organizational development initiatives centered on performance under pressure; and trauma-informed therapeutic and coaching services for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing.

As the Institute grows, Trillion Institute is expanding its use of AI-enabled tools to support scalable learning, reflection, and human capital development—bridging education, performance, and wellbeing. Our mission is to become the trusted place people and organizations turn to when they want to understand how humans work, grow, and thrive—at every stage of life.

Dr. Trillion Small is the founder of Trillion Institute and the creator of the Human Hardware™ framework. Her work focuses on how pressure, stress, and unfinished internal processes shape human behavior, decision-making, and performance.

She is a TEDx speaker, known for her talk "Overcoming the Fear of Love," and the author of eight books exploring human development, emotional systems, and relational patterns. With a background spanning behavioral psychology, neuroscience-informed practice, and executive leadership development, she has worked with CEOs, founders, professional athletes, and high-performing teams across corporate, academic, and community settings. Her approach bridges human systems literacy with practical application with the goal of helping individuals and organizations restore capacity, clarity, and sustainable performance.

Dr. Small holds a PhD in Clinical Counseling and a Global Executive MBA from Duke University. She works globally at the intersection of human performance, leadership, and systems design.

Human Hardware™ is a systems-based framework that helps individuals and teams understand how the brain, nervous system, emotions, and relational patterns operate under pressure. Rather than focusing on behavior change alone, the framework addresses the underlying processes that drive decision-making, performance, and leadership responses.

By restoring flow and completion within the human system, Human Hardware™ enables more sustainable performance, clearer judgment, and greater adaptability without relying on therapy or traditional coaching approaches.

Trillion Institute offers individual therapy and mental performance coaching through secure telehealth sessions for clients seeking emotional healing, resilience under pressure, and sustainable personal growth. Services are trauma-informed and grounded in evidence-based practices that support nervous system regulation, emotional processing, and psychological integration.

Therapy provides a confidential space to address trauma, grief, anxiety, relationship challenges, and long-standing emotional patterns. Mental performance coaching focuses on clarity, confidence, and effectiveness in high-pressure personal or professional environments. Sessions are tailored to each client's goals and may integrate neuroscience-informed approaches to support emotional regulation, insight, and forward movement.

Mind•ternship™ is an experiential learning program designed to help college students and early-career professionals build essential human skills that are rarely taught but critical for success. The program focuses on emotional intelligence, decision-making under pressure, communication, self-regulation, and adaptability in real-world environments.

Through guided reflection, applied practice, and systems-based learning, participants develop greater self-awareness, confidence, and readiness for leadership and professional life. Mind•ternship™ bridges the gap between academic knowledge and human performance—equipping participants with the internal skills needed to thrive in work and life.