Your work life has become something you didn't expect
Getting yourself up and off to work feels like a slog. There’s a tightness in your chest as your mind darts from task to task. You watch your to-do list grow. Parts of you want to check out, and maybe you do. You start wondering, “What am I doing here?” and “Can I really keep this up?”
You wish your responsibilities weren’t dimming who you are, but feeling like yourself again seems out of reach.
Returning home brings little relief. You end up on the couch endlessly scrolling on your phone. It takes a lot to show up for friends, family, and even yourself. Even after sleeping, you don’t feel rested. When you wake up, it all begins again.
Some careers paths come with unique challenges
It starts with feeling unsettled and buzzy before you head to work. It continues with being on edge and stressed as your mind jumps from task to task throughout the day. Work never seems to slow, but when it does, your mind has a hard time following suit. You may feel the push to work harder and longer, leaving you working overtime with no room to breathe.
It’s hard to shut off the worry, with your mind still at work even after you’ve returned home. The anxiety you feel keeps pushing you forward, but something inside tells you that it’s time to slow down.
Your work life is burning a hole in your being and you’re not sure how to find relief.
It starts with feeling fatigued after work. Feeling unmotivated in the morning. Feeling repelled by work tasks. Over time, you feel empty and depleted, withdrawing from the people you care about. You feel tuned out and numb.
Burnout starts slowly and can be easily ignored until it completely takes over. Life doesn’t feel good with the effects of work following you wherever you go.
You’ve spent years of your life preparing for a career in academia. Now that you’re here, you don’t totally love it.
Working in academia can bring some majorly rewarding moments. It can also be the thing that absolutely drains you. On paper, this career touts a flexible work schedule, summers off, and the opportunity to be a leading voice on things you deeply care about. At the same time, you may find that:
-
You spend well over 40 hours a week working
-
You are on more committees than you can count
-
Whatever you do, there’s always at least one student evaluation that hurts
-
You wonder if you’re really making the difference you set your heart on or if you’re a small cog in the academic machine
-
You weigh whether leaving for industry or sticking it out for tenure is the right way forward
It started as a “what if,” but now you're thinking about it more seriously. The job you’re in just isn’t cutting it anymore. Perhaps this started as your dream job, and over the years, it’s taken more from you than you expected.
Your enthusiasm has waned and you no longer find the joy in your work that you once had. Now, sitting at your desk feels like a requirement, not a privilege, and more and more you realize it’s time for a change. You’re ready for a career shift, but you don’t want to jump into something that doesn’t feel right.
For others, you never loved your work and have been in roles that leave you feeling like your job is just a means to an end. You’ve never really found work that is truly you and this is starting to dull your shine. You’re done just getting by. You’re ready to move into a career that actually feels like it fits.
You’re stepping into what everyone says is an exciting time of life. You’re about to graduate and join the workforce. But the prospect of getting your first job has you feeling frozen. You think:
-
I didn’t love my major.
-
What if I get a job and hate it?
-
How can I pick a career that fits with who I am?
-
Is this first role going to lock me into a career path for the rest of my life?
You want to take your first step in your career with confidence, but no one ever taught you how.
It's time to make your job work for you
The work we do is much more than just a job. It is intimately connected to our sense of meaning, purpose, and wellbeing.
Imagine finding work that makes sense for you, work that complements who you are, what you value, and how you want to live. Imagine coming home and having energy to spend with your loved ones. Imagine facing the week feeling like you’ve got this.
I understand the powerful effect career has on our mental health, and the therapy I provide honors that connection. I help people who want to balance work and well-being, find new career opportunities, and learn how to navigate important career decisions. No matter where our work begins, your wellbeing stays at the forefront so that the choices you make support more than just your career.
My approach to care is holistic and integrative. I pull from approaches that bring the mind and body to the table, clarify values, and center relationships and who we are in them. The way this comes into play looks a little different for everyone, but the overall goal is to help you come home to yourself and move forward with clarity and confidence.
My methods
Therapy that considers the whole you
Mind-body therapy
When you feel disconnected from yourself and the world around you, it helps to get curious about what’s going on inside. Career stress and burnout take you out of the present, keeping your attention everywhere except the here and now. Mind-body therapy asks you to notice your inner world and listen to the messages of the mind and body, creating room for change.
Acceptance & Commitement Therapy
Life becomes more fulfilling when you make room for what matters most. Through ACT, learning to recognize discomfort and turn towards values helps you to reshape your relationship with work and stress. From there, you strengthen your ability to move towards what matters.
Relational-cultural therapy
Your relationship with work is sometimes just the beginning. Exploring relationships with colleagues, supervisors, employees, friends, and family can help you notice what you’ve learned about yourself. RCT also encourages you to consider what society has taught you about productivity, success, worth, ambition, and what a career should look like.
Career counseling can help you...
-
Get clear on what jobs make sense for you and what jobs don’t
-
Notice when your career starts taking more than it should
-
Live a more balanced life where you are running the show, not your job
-
Make important decisions about your career with confidence
Career Counseling FAQs
Yes. I specialize in working with people who are burned out, career changers, new grads, academics, and people looking to cultivate greater balance between their work and personal lives.
I welcome working with people in various lines of work. The issues that present themselves in the career counseling space are not limited to just one group and tend to be represented across many fields of work. If you feel like I’m a good match for you, I encourage you to schedule a free consultation to discuss what working together could look like.
I offer career counseling, which is therapy and not coaching. Working with me incorporates mental health treatment while also addressing career needs. Because career counseling is therapy, you are able to use your insurance toward sessions. Using insurance requires me to establish a diagnosis and treatment plan as we work together. I currently accept United Healthcare, Aetna, ASR, CIGNA, BCBSM, and Medicaid. In-network status is currently pending with BCN, Medicare, Molina, Priority Health, and McLaren.
I help people with some of the practical things, like practicing for interviews, but my work centers on the internal aspects of career development. For the external work, like resumé writing, job search strategies, etc., I provide referrals to trusted colleagues who specialize in these areas.
Yes. I use the Campbell Interest and Skills Survey as well as the O*Net Interest Profiler when appropriate during the career counseling process.
Yes. If you find yourself not knowing how to move forward in your career life and unclear about what career could be right for you, career counseling is an excellent service that can help you get clear about what the right path forward could be.
The length of career counseling varies depending on your needs. Therapy focused on treating burnout or other mental health challenges can take anywhere from a few weeks to months. Other issues, like finding a career fit, can be achieved in as little as four sessions.