Burnout and Achievement
Therapy for Burnout and High Achievers
From the outside you look like you have it handled. Inside you are running on empty, and slowing down feels riskier than pushing through.
Looking fine, running on empty
When you are the capable one, the people around you may stop asking how you are doing, because everything looks handled. Deadlines get met, the family is cared for, the team can count on you. Meanwhile you are sleeping poorly, snapping at the people you love, and feeling flat about things that used to matter. Burnout does not always look like collapse. Sometimes it looks like doing everything right while feeling very little, or like dreading Monday by Saturday afternoon.
- Rest requires an excuse
- Delegating feels riskier than doing it all yourself
- Your mood rises and falls with your results
- Weekends spent recovering instead of living
- A body that stays braced even on vacation
When your worth is tied to performance
Performance-based self-worth is the quiet belief that you are only as valuable as what you produce. It can fuel impressive results for years. It can also turn every mistake into a verdict on who you are and make rest feel like failure. Drive itself is not the problem. The trouble starts when drive becomes tied to worth, so slowing down feels like losing yourself. In our sessions we untangle the two: what you genuinely want to build, and what you are doing out of fear of being found lacking.
What we work on together
We start with your nervous system, because a body stuck on high alert cannot think its way into rest. Short grounding practices drawn from mindfulness-based therapy give you a way to come down between meetings, not only on vacation. Then we look at the beliefs holding the pace in place: that asking for help is weakness, that no one else will do it right, that a break has to be earned. Using CBT, we test those rules and practice new responses in real situations, like handing off one task or ending the workday at a set time.
Burnout can also sit on top of older pain, such as perfectionism, people pleasing or unprocessed trauma. If it does, we go there only when you are ready. Safety comes before breakthrough, and the pace belongs to you. If perfectionism is a big part of your story, therapy for perfectionism looks more closely at that pattern, including the nagging sense that you are never quite done.
Therapy that fits a full calendar
Your schedule is probably part of what brought you here, so we build around it rather than pretending otherwise. Online therapy across Texas by secure video removes the commute, as long as you are located in Texas during the session. In-person sessions are at my Southwest Austin office on Fridays and some select other times and days as schedules allow, and Friday appointments fill first. If you think better on your feet, walk-and-talk sessions take the work outdoors. Weekly sessions run 50 to 80 minutes, at $190 for 50 minutes or $275 for 80 minutes.
When weekly appointments are hard to sustain, an intensive concentrates the work into one to three days, with breaks and pacing built in. Intensives are offered for trauma, eating disorder and family work, so if one of those sits beneath your burnout, it may be worth discussing. Neither format is better. We decide together on the consultation, and weekly therapy or an intensive walks through the trade-offs in more detail.
Therapy, coaching and where each is available
Therapy with me is licensed clinical care, available in person in Austin or by telehealth anywhere in Texas. If what you want is future-focused and non-clinical, applying biblical wisdom to calling, leadership and personal growth, Christian coaching is a separate service available in all 50 states and globally. Athletes can ask about athletic mental health coaching and mentoring, which is also not therapy. If you are unsure which you need, therapy or coaching explains the difference, and we can talk it through on a call.
Not one more thing to perform well at
The aim is not to keep you in therapy forever or to add one more thing to excel at. It is to leave with skills, clarity and a way of relating to yourself that does not depend on your output. We review progress openly as we go. If you notice yourself trying to perform well at therapy too, we will name that kindly, because it is part of the pattern. Brief, solution-focused work is available if you want to stay practical. The goal is that you do not need me indefinitely.
Common Questions
Can therapy fit around a demanding job?
Yes. Telehealth by secure video works from anywhere in Texas, and weekly sessions run 50 to 80 minutes. In-person sessions are on Fridays and some select other times and days as schedules allow, and Friday appointments fill first.
Is an intensive an option for burnout?
Intensives are offered for eating disorder, trauma and family work, over one to three days with breaks built in. If one of those sits underneath your burnout and weekly sessions are hard to sustain, we can talk it through on the free consultation. Neither format is better.
What is the difference between therapy and coaching?
Therapy is licensed clinical care, available in Texas only. Christian coaching and mentoring and athletic mental health coaching and mentoring are non-clinical services available in all 50 states and globally, and neither is therapy.
The consultation is free and there is no obligation on either side.
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