Work and Career
Whether you're burned out in a job you once loved, questioning your career path entirely, or struggling with workplace dynamics, therapy can help you explore your relationship to work and career.
"Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am."
— Parker J. Palmer
When Work Becomes a Source of Suffering
You spend most of your waking hours at work, but instead of fulfillment, you feel drained, frustrated, or empty. Maybe you're successful on paper but feel hollow inside, or you're struggling with a toxic workplace culture that's affecting your mental health. Perhaps you're questioning everything about your career path but feel trapped by financial obligations or the fear of starting over.
Work problems often reflect deeper issues about identity, purpose, and what you value most. When your professional life doesn't align with who you are, it can create a persistent sense of being disconnected from your own life.
The Professional Struggles That Drain Your Life
Burnout and Exhaustion
You're running on empty, feeling physically and emotionally depleted by work demands. What once energized you now feels like drudgery, and you can't remember the last time you felt enthusiastic about your job.
Identity and Purpose Crisis
You question whether your work matters or reflects who you really are. Success might feel hollow, or you might wonder if you're in the wrong field entirely but feel paralyzed about making changes.
Toxic Workplace Dynamics
Difficult colleagues, unreasonable demands, or unhealthy company culture create chronic stress that follows you home. You might feel like you're constantly walking on eggshells or compromising your values to survive professionally.
Imposter Syndrome and Self-Doubt
Despite evidence of your competence, you feel like a fraud who's about to be exposed. You might downplay your achievements, overwork to prove yourself, or avoid opportunities because you don't feel qualified.
Work-Life Imbalance
Professional demands have taken over your life, leaving little time or energy for relationships, hobbies, or self-care. You feel like you're living to work rather than working to live.
Treatment Path
Finding Authentic Professional Expression
In therapy, we explore how your relationship with work reflects deeper patterns about self-worth, identity, and what you need to feel fulfilled. We examine the beliefs and fears that might be keeping you stuck in unsatisfying professional situations.
Using psychoanalytic and emotion-focused approaches, we work on understanding what meaningful work looks like for you specifically—not what you think you should want, but what actually aligns with your values and authentic self.
This work might involve processing past experiences that shaped your beliefs about success and security, developing strategies for navigating difficult workplace relationships, or exploring what career changes might be possible given your current circumstances.
What Might Change After Therapy?
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Career clarity: You understand what kind of work actually fits who you are
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Healthy boundaries: You maintain professional relationships without sacrificing yourself
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Confident self-advocacy: You ask for what you need and value your own contributions
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Stress management: You handle workplace pressure without burning out
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Authentic leadership: You show up as yourself rather than performing a professional persona
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Work-life integration: Your career enhances rather than dominates your life
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Purpose alignment: Your work reflects your values and contributes to your sense of meaning