Burnout & Work Stress Therapy

in Huntington Beach, CA & Online Across California

Work Shouldn't Take This Much
Out Of You

Maybe you're exhausted

A weekend takes the edge off and by Tuesday you're right back where you started. You get through the workday on momentum and there's not much left of you by the time you get home.

Or maybe the hours aren't the hard part. It's what happens while you're there.

A manager makes your stomach tighten every time you see their name come up. You second-guess yourself after meetings. There's conflict you can't get away from, pressure that never lets up, or a workplace that has you on edge long after you've gone home.

You might even like what you do and still know that the way you're doing it has stopped being sustainable.

Whether you're burned out, anxious about work, questioning your career, or tired of giving your job this much of your life, therapy gives you somewhere to sort out what's happening and what you want to do about it.

When Work Follows You Home

Recognize any of this?

You wake up thinking about work before the day has even started and you can't put it down when you're not there.
A manager, a coworker, or a situation at work has you constantly on edge.
You replay conversations and meetings afterward, wondering what you should have said differently.
Work you used to care about has started to feel like something you get through.
You're irritable or distracted with people you care about because so much of your attention is still at the office.
You've started wondering whether you need a different job, a different career, or a different way of doing this one.

Sometimes the problem really is the job. Sometimes the way you've learned to respond to pressure is making an already difficult situation harder. Often it's some of both. Therapy gives us room to work out which is which.

Have Something Left For The
Rest Of Your Life

Things can be different than they are right now. Imagine:

Getting to the end of a workday with something still left for your own life.
Being home without half of your attention still back at work.
Sleeping without running through tomorrow's problems first.
Handling a difficult interaction without replaying it for the rest of the day.
Saying no, setting a limit, or letting something wait until tomorrow without feeling like everything will fall apart.
Feeling clearer about whether something at work needs to change or whether you're ready for a bigger change yourself.

The goal is for work to take up an amount of your life you can live with, without you having to care any less about doing it well.

Get Clear About What Needs To Change

When work has been difficult for long enough, everything tends to collapse into one question. Do I need to leave?

You might need stronger limits in the job you already have. Help with a difficult manager or a difficult workplace might be what makes the difference. Sometimes it turns out that a career you spent years building doesn't fit you anymore. And sometimes you're too tired right now to know what you want, which is its own answer about where to start.

We don't have to decide anything before we
understand what's happening

Part of therapy is getting enough distance from the stress to see your situation clearly. From there you can make decisions about your work based on what you want, rather than from the middle of exhaustion, anxiety, or another terrible day.

Work Can Matter Without Taking Everything

What can change is that work stops following you everywhere

A difficult meeting gets to be a difficult meeting instead of the thing you replay all evening.

A full day doesn't automatically mean there's nothing left for the people you love. And when something at work does need to change, you can think it through in daylight instead of circling the same question at two in the morning.

Your job can be important to you without taking over your life.

How Therapy For Work Stress And Burnout Works

Sessions last fifty minutes, from my office in Huntington Beach or online anywhere in the state. Plenty of people take theirs on a lunch break.

1

We put the work situation on the table first. The workload, the people, the pressure, the dread, the exhaustion, or whatever has made work hard enough that you're looking for help.

2

We look at what happens inside you around it. That might be not being able to stop thinking about work, trouble saying no, feeling responsible for everything, or getting anxious around particular people and situations.

3

We sort out what you can change. Limits, difficult conversations, how you respond to pressure, and what you've been carrying that was never yours to carry.

4

We take the job itself seriously. If something about your workplace or your career needs to change, we look at that honestly rather than working on your tolerance for it.

5

We keep going until you feel the difference. Less of the job coming home with you, more left in you at the end of the day, and a clearer head about what you want from here.

What we work on together is what happens to you at work, what you're willing to keep carrying, what you can put down, and what you want your working life to look like from here.

Keep More Of Yourself For Your Own Life

Free 15-Minute Consultation

If work has been taking more out of you than you want to keep giving it, reach out for a free consultation. Walk me through how work has been, what's hardest about it right now, and what you want your life outside of it to look like.

Whether it's burnout, a stressful workplace, career uncertainty, or work that follows you home too often, we can talk about where I'd start. I'm in Huntington Beach and I work with people online across California.

Call me at 949-628-0101 or email me at [email protected] for your free 15-minute consultation.