I help professionals break free from feeling constantly overwhelmed and embrace a more present and connected life.
Is lack of work-life balance causing you career burnout? Are you a business professional who can’t seem to establish clear boundaries between work and home? Do you feel unfulfilled after putting so much time and effort into your career? Are you emotionally exhausted but haven’t figured out a healthy way to cope with the demands of your job?
If you are well-established in your career, you’ve likely invested a significant part of your life to attain your professional standing. But now that you have achieved your goal, perhaps you have realized that your dedication has taken an emotional toll, on yourself, your family, or your friends. Rather than feeling confident and secure in your leadership role, you might battle with anxiety, loneliness, and low self-worth.
The overwhelming stress you experience at work may bleed into your personal life. It can be hard to wind down, turn your brain off, and decompress at home. You may find you’re not sleeping as much—or not at all—or turn to numbing behaviors like doom scrolling or watching TV to avoid confronting how you feel.
Although you strive to be perfect, perhaps it feels like you are perpetually behind the curve. You may worry that it’s just a matter of time before your colleagues realize you’re in over your head. A nagging fear of failure could fuel looping thoughts that convince you that your work product is never good enough.
Without a healthy work-life balance, your relationships both in- and out- of- work could be suffering. You may have become embittered about your workplace and find that your negative attitude pushes others away. Or maybe you don’t make time to cultivate close relationships but blame it on the demands of your job or not having enough time.
Fortunately, therapy for professionals provides a safe space to address whatever has become out of balance in your life. By taking stock of your values and desires, you can learn how to set healthy boundaries while processing your emotions more effectively.
According to a recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association (APA), “92 percent of workers said it is very—or somewhat—important to them to work for an organization that values their emotional and psychological well-being.” However, 77 percent of the same respondents reported they had experienced work-related stress in the last month. [1]
Despite efforts to address mental health in the workplace, employers are still falling short. For many high-level executives and professionals, the boundaries between work and personal life are being constantly pushed. When the expectation is that we’re never officially off the clock, we become susceptible to burnout.
Historically, the “rags to riches” narrative has been an enduring symbol of the American Dream. Because our culture places such high value on material wealth and socioeconomic status, many of us were raised to believe that failure was not an option. And so, we set our feelings aside and white-knuckled our way through school until we landed a job we could be proud of.
Whether we’re in health care, education, or the private sector, most of us experience having high demands placed on us without adequate resources to handle the emotional load. Although we’re expected to be exceptional at what we do, the effort we put in doesn’t fulfill us. For some, burying ourselves in work becomes an excuse to avoid everything else going on in our lives.
Therapy for professionals focuses on debunking the false beliefs you have about yourself that lead to low self-esteem and imposter syndrome. In counseling, you can discover how to integrate your professional life with your personal life more effectively.
If the emotional strain of your career causes you to neglect important aspects of yourself, therapy for professionals with Dr. Bradford Stucki, LMFT can help. Stress management begins with recognizing the harmful thought patterns that arise at your workplace and understanding where these thoughts originate.
By taking stock of what you value most, counseling can help professionals with high-demand careers—such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, corporate executives, and business owners—improve life satisfaction. In therapy, we will work on setting realistic goals, establishing healthy boundaries surrounding work, implementing strategies to manage your emotions effectively, exploring the underlying reasons for the actions you take, and ensuring you are making time for yourself.
My approach is collaborative, meaning that I will honor that you are the utmost expert of your life and act as your guide. Whatever you share with me will remain confidential—with the exception of unsafe choices towards yourself or others. Once we determine your goals for therapy, we will structure sessions around meeting those goals. However, at any point, we have the flexibility to pivot whenever there is something else you would prefer to focus on.
To maintain a positive outlook during therapy, I will encourage you to share your achievements and successes every week. To ensure that you are consistently making progress, I may assign you some tasks to work on between our sessions, such as setting clear boundaries at work or becoming aware of any negative thought patterns that you may have so that you can consciously shift away from them. Moreover, I will teach you several strategies to cope with symptoms of anxiety and other emotions, such as grounding techniques, deep breathing exercises, meditation, positive affirmations, and effective communication skills.
In therapy, you will learn reflective-based strategies that invite you to check-in with the emotion(s) you feel at any given time. Developing emotional awareness in this way helps you attune to your feelings rather than suppress them. We will explore what guiding principles influence the decisions you make, using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — an evidence-based practice. For example, you may value monetary wealth, which leads to working long hours. However, this value may conflict with spending time with family, in which case we can collaborate to create goals that align with your values.
We will bring awareness to the distorted beliefs and negative self-talk that keep you stuck, such as catastrophizing about the future or thinking in absolute, “all-or-nothing” terms, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, also an evidence-based practice. You can break away from unhealthy narratives and negative thinking patterns by challenging flawed assumptions. Incorporating narrative therapy, we will examine the story you tell about yourself that affects how you think and feel. Rewriting a new story opens up new possibilities for yourself and your work.
When you take the time in therapy to step out of the daily grind, you can gain a fresh perspective on what’s most important to you. This will help you shift your priorities and re-establish the balance you need to thrive in all aspects of life.
If your career always takes priority, putting yourself first can feel counterintuitive. But unless you make a change, the emotional exhaustion you’re experiencing from living out of balance will persist. The sooner you address the stressors in your life, the sooner you can find relief. Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, executive, teacher, or business owner, therapy can help you discover better ways of coping with stress that will make your professional life more enjoyable.
Investing in yourself can sometimes be a difficult decision, when there are more tangible things such as taking a vacation or buying a new couch sectional. Yet, these purchases won’t lower the volume of your inner critic, make your fear of failure go away, or help you become more present for your family. Therapy for professionals and business leaders is a long-term investment for a better you.
To get good at what you do, you’ve learned effective strategies for success. However, these strategies often run counter to feeling emotionally fulfilled. With therapy for professionals, you can acknowledge how stress affects your mind, body, and relationships. Identifying what is lacking allows you to reimagine what you want from life and new ways of achieving it.
You’ve worked too hard to not be fulfilled by your career. If you would like to find out more about counseling for professionals with Dr. Bradford Stucki at BridgeHope Family Therapy, you can visit my contact page to schedule a free 15-minute call.
[1] https://www.apa.org/pubs/reports/work-in-america/2023-workplace-health-well-being
