Burnout therapy for people who have been holding it together far too long

Does this sound familiar?

• Sunday evening brings a dread you can feel in your stomach.
• You wake up tired, no matter how early you went to bed.
• You used to care about this work. Now you feel cynical, detached, or numb.
• You are short-tempered with the people you love most, and you hate that.
• Brain fog, small mistakes, rereading the same paragraph three times.
• A weekend, even a vacation, does not restore you anymore.
• Headaches, stomach trouble, getting sick more often than you used to.
• You fantasize about quitting, then feel guilty for even thinking it.
• Resting feels like falling behind, so you do not really rest.
• You keep telling yourself it will calm down after this project. It never does.

Burnout is not weakness and it is not a character flaw. It is what happens when demand stays high and recovery stays low for long enough that your body stops getting the "all clear." I see it in healthcare workers, teachers, founders, lawyers, engineers, managers, parents working full time, and people caring for aging parents while holding down a career.

Why this happens

Part of it is the job: workloads designed for a team of three, always-on communication, and workplaces that quietly reward the people who never say no. Part of it is you, in the kindest sense: conscientious, responsible, the one others rely on. Those traits got you here, and under chronic pressure they turn against you. You keep absorbing more because that is what you do.

Your stress system was built for short bursts followed by recovery. When the bursts never end, sleep breaks down, patience thins, concentration goes, and the body starts to complain. Many people arrive in my office having already tried harder, which is the one thing that cannot fix this.

How therapy helps

1. Recovery first. Sleep, immediate relief for the stress response, and one or two boundaries that give you back some air this month. Mindfulness and relaxation skills are a big part of my practice for exactly this reason.
2. Then the drivers. Why is it so hard to put things down? Over-responsibility, perfectionism, fear of letting people down, old beliefs about your worth being tied to your output. We look at them honestly.
3. Then the pattern at work. Saying no, asking for help, delegating, leaving on time. We script the conversations and practice them, because knowing you should is not the hard part.
4. Then the bigger decisions. Stay, renegotiate, change roles, leave. Made from a steadier place, with your values clear, rather than from the bottom of the tank.

What working together looks like

Sessions are 50 minutes by secure video from anywhere in California. People in burnout do not need one more thing that is hard to get to, so there is no commute and you can join from home or a quiet room at work. We usually meet weekly at first.

I am in-network with most major plans, and with Lyra Health and Modern Health, the mental health programs many employers provide. If your company offers one, your sessions may be fully covered. Private pay is $140 per session. See insurance and rates.