Therapy for work stress and burnout in NYC

Our team of therapists with doctoral-level training bring a wealth of knowledge about the neuroscience of stress and expertise in helping you manage the demands of your professional life. In a fast paced and high-achieving city like NYC, you can spend a lot of your waking hours working, or thinking about work - which can lead to anxiety and feeling deeply unsatisfied. Over time, this can turn into feeling chronically depleted, questioning your career path, or burnout that isn’t fixed by a long weekend.

The good news is therapy can help you manage your stress more effectively, practice self-care or work-life boundaries, or gain new perspective on your job or career priorities. Therapy can also help you understand what led to burnout so you can prevent it in the future while you take steps to heal. While it’s unlikely you can avoid work stress entirely, you can learn to respond in healthy ways and feel energized or purposeful at work. To learn more, book a free 15-minute consultation with us today.

What is work stress and burnout?

Is there such a thing as healthy work stress?

Yes! Stress is a natural reaction to situations that tax your energy or resources and is a clue for us to adapt. Therefore it’s normal to experience some work stress in response to things like long hours, being evaluated for promotion, or difficult dynamics with a boss or team project. These are all clues that are meant to help you problem solve effectively, increase resources and support, or prioritize rest. Work stress dissipates as you adapt successfully or when the situation resolves. It’s meant to be temporary and manageable.

Chronic work stress

Chronic work stress, on the other hand, can have a significant impact on mental health. Chronic work stress can be caused by work environments that by nature are fast-paced or high-intensity (like corporate settings, health care, emergency services, graduate training, etc). It can also be caused by jobs with long work hours, unrealistic expectations, or working within a system that lacks adequate resources or support. For people with marginalized identities, they may experience negative biases or unfair treatment (e.g., sexism, racism, transphobia) from colleagues or bosses instead of support. If you face relentless pressure and demanding expectations, that means you’re mentally and physically taxed on a constant basis.

Sometimes chronic work stress is exacerbated if you struggle with work-life boundaries, imposter syndrome, or perfectionism, which may drive you to work even more. In a city of high achieving hustlers, being constantly busy and stressed may even feel like a badge of honor. Unfortunately, chronic work stress can lead to anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and strained relationships. You may notice having the “Sunday scaries” and start living for the weekends.

 

What is burnout?

Burnout is defined by the World Health Organization as “an occupational phenomenon” stemming from chronic workplace stress that hasn’t been adequately managed and is progressively detrimental.

Three key features of burnout are feeling depleted or exhausted; detachment or cynicism about one’s job; and reduced productivity. While symptoms of burnout are chronic work stress are similar, burnout is more severe, persistent, and can have greater consequences to a person’s mental health and career. Burnout is associated with life and career dissatisfaction, significant mental health concerns, poor health, and a negative effect on work culture and relationships.

 

Symptoms of chronic work stress and burnout

  • Rumination about work situations even when you’re off

  • Negative attitude towards your job, role, or colleagues

  • Problems with sleep or stress dreams

  • Physical exhaustion

  • Emotional fatigue or weariness that decreases ability to adapt

  • Somatic complaints such as muscle tension, back pain, GI issues, headaches

  • Increased anxiety or depression

  • Difficulty with concentration or focus

  • Decreased productivity and effectiveness

  • Feeling consistently apathetic, cynical, or demoralized about work

 

How can therapy for work stress & burnout help?

Discussing the impact of your job on your mental health, relationships, physical health, and sense of identity gives you an opportunity to step back and see a bigger picture. It’s easy to get caught up in the demands or the responsibilities of your job, or try and simply make it to the weekend.

Personal factors

Your therapist can help you evaluate your relationship to your job and learn ways to manage stress that are more adaptive and useful. If you’re experiencing burnout, and confused why a vacation or PTO didn’t fix your exhaustion, being in therapy can clarify what’s maintaining burnout that you have control over and pinpoint the changes you need to make to recover.

For many, being a high-performer at work can be a double edged sword. It’s a source of identity and motivation - but can mean overworking at great personal cost. Getting curious about self-imposed expectations, self-worth, and your definition of success or failure can help you discover a healthier way to work that’s still fulfilling.

Relational factors

Our relationships at work can also deeply affect us. Responding to authority figures, managing people, or learning to get along with unideal coworkers can bring up a lot. A therapist can help you gain perspective on interpersonal and power dynamics at play or why that one colleague always seems to get under your skin. Therapy can help you problem solve, set boundaries, practice assertive communication, or manage frustration in a professional setting so you feel more in control and can let go of work stress when you’re at home.

Environmental factors

The truth is, sometimes it’s not a “you” problem. Unfortunately, many work environments are incompatible with what it takes to take care of your mental health, if not downright hostile. Sometimes a work culture elevates late nights and workaholism as a sign of commitment or “just what it takes” to be successful. And while it’s not up to you to overhaul a systemic-level problem (and it may be unrealistic to quit), you can exercise self-kindness or seek professional support as you seek other options. If you’ve been through a devastating layoff or major setback at work that was out of your control, being in therapy can help you process what happened as you get back on your feet. A therapist can help you reflect on your career priorities or values, and support you in taking steps that better support your overall wellbeing.

 

Types of therapy for work stress & burnout

There are a number of therapy approaches that can help you address work stress and burnout. Some types of therapy that our team is trained in include:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT can help you identify the underlying thoughts, emotions, and behaviors you have that may be contributing to chronic stress or burnout. By challenging and reframing unhelpful patterns, you can channel your attention and energy in constructive ways that promote work-life balance.

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)

MBCT focuses on incorporating mindfulness, non-judgmental acceptance, and self-compassion as you work on the thoughts that may be exacerbating mood difficulties or work stress. Techniques can include meditation, breathing, and body scans that help you remain calm and grounded at work.

Emotion Regulation Therapy (ERT)

ERT was originally created to treat generalized anxiety and focuses on a combination of education about feelings, mindfulness practices, and prioritizing values-based actions over anxiety-based ones. ERT can help you reconnect with your professional goals or values, especially if you’re struggling with burnout.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a practical and skills-based approach that can help you manage strong emotions and relationship difficulties. DBT skills are geared towards distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness. If you work in an environment that elicits intense feelings, DBT provides practical strategies to help you respond.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT focuses on relating to your thoughts and feelings from a helpful distance so you don’t get stuck or expend a lot of energy wrestling with them. ACT also highlights the importance of clarifying and committing to a life guided by your personal values. If you have trouble letting go of nagging thoughts or feelings about work, ACT can help.

 

Effects of untreated work stress & burnout

It can be easy to normalize chronic work stress and burnout, especially since it’s incredibly prevalent. However, there are many negative effects of untreated chronic stress and burnout.

Psychological effects

In addition to prolonged anxiety and depression, the psychological effects of work stress and burnout can mean poor decision-making, concentration, and memory. If left untreated, chronic stress and burnout can lead to poor self-worth, isolation, shame or self-criticism, regret, career aimlessness, and life dissatisfaction. Struggling at work can impact confidence and the longer it is left untreated, the harder it can be to believe change is possible.

Health effects

Research shows that unrelenting stress has a negative and direct impact on all areas of physical health, including cardiovascular health, immune system, digestive system, and many others. Stress disrupts sleep, and can cause insomnia, fatigue, or migraines. Struggling with work stress and burnout can also lead to increased substance use, addiction, and disordered eating.

Behavioral effects

Over time, stress and burnout often lead to low engagement at work and declining performance, sometimes meaning that people are more vulnerable to layoffs or bouncing from one job to another in an effort to feel better. You may isolate from others if you’re always feeling exhausted or escape into your phone rather than spend time with others. The impact of diminishing collegial support or connection may make you feel worse over time. If you’re in a position of leadership, being burned out can affect your ability to guide effectively or be present, which can negatively affect those you manage.

Relationship effects

Being chronically stressed or burned out has strong implications for those that are close to you. You may be more irritable with well-intentioned friends, or relationships with family members can become strained over time as they struggle to know how to help. Being present as a caregiver, partner, or parent is much harder when you’re depleted yourself.

 

NYC psychologists specializing in work stress & burnout

Our work and careers can bring out so much on an deeper level - it’s often tied to our sense of self, usefulness, value, skill set. Work can also mean complicated interpersonal dynamics or activate bigger questions like “what am I doing with my life”. At its best, your work gives you the opportunity to provide for yourself and others, a sense of purpose or identity, and healthy challenge or fulfillment. At its worst, work can be our greatest source of stress and disempowerment.

Therapy for work stress and burnout provides a safe space to explore the underlying causes of exhaustion and overwhelm related to your job. Through targeted interventions and coping strategies, you can regain a sense of balance between work and other important areas of your life. Working with a therapist can help you cultivate self-care practices or take steps towards making the changes you want.

Our team of psychologists at Manhattan Therapy Collective are trained in a range of evidence-based therapy approaches for work stress and burnout, such as CBT, ERT, ACT, and mindfulness interventions. We encourage you to reach out for support - to learn more, book a free, 15-minute consultation today.

 
 

FAQs about therapy for work stress & burnout

 

  • Career counseling and executive coaching can help you consider a career pivot or identify leadership strengths that you can leverage at work. This is often done through personalized assessments or an evaluation of your career history and personality strengths.

    Therapy for chronic work stress and burnout focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying causes of work-based distress or fatigue. While you may talk about a career change or professional strengths, it's done so ultimately in the service of your emotional health and well-being.

  • Yes, our therapists have supported patients requesting workplace accommodations for mental health reasons and do so on a case-by-case basis. Sometimes this means a request for time off or flexibility in how work is completed (WFH policies). Please speak with your therapist about your individual situation and needs.