Burnout and a Work Crisis: How Psychotherapy Helps You Find Your Own Path
When diverse professional roles meet in the therapy room
For many years, I have worked closely with people – first supporting them in personal development and psychoeducation, then in HR, and today in the therapeutic consulting room. Thanks to this, I understand professional crises from two perspectives: that of the individual seeking meaning and security, and that of the organization, which needs engaged and well-matched employees to function effectively. I know how much tension comes from being stuck in a role that no longer brings joy, and what great relief even a small step in the right direction can provide. I have changed my own career path twice, which helps me support those facing similar challenges and searching for their way.
When work no longer brings satisfaction
Burnout usually doesn’t appear suddenly. Most often, it is a process: from engagement and enthusiasm, through routine, to mounting fatigue and a sense of meaninglessness. Tasks that once gave you energy start costing more and more effort; they become irritating. I meet people who used to like their work, but today they mainly think about “surviving until the weekend” or “holding on until vacation,” feeling a knot in their stomach and immense dread at the thought of Monday.
Symptoms of burnout can affect all areas of our functioning: emotional (overload, indifference, irritability), cognitive (concentration problems, “brain fog”), physical (chronic tension, pain, sleep problems), and behavioral (withdrawal, isolation, cynicism). Although these are difficult experiences, I invite you into the therapy room to stop and look at them with mindfulness. Honestly naming our experience is the first step toward change.
Crisis as information about important needs
From experience, I know that these painful states often point to unmet needs – something significant has been neglected or ignored. Therapeutic conversation creates an opportunity to see this without the pressure to make quick decisions. Together, we look for answers to questions that open space for deeper reflection:
- Why am I doing what I’m doing?
- What will my life look like if I change nothing?
- What motivates me? When do I feel my work has meaning?
- When do I feel I am wasting time, or even my life?
- Is the problem a mismatch with the role or profession, or perhaps a lack of appropriate skills or support?
What am I not ready to give up right now?
These are questions I asked myself at various stages of my professional life. Change is fruitful when it stems from real needs – not just from frustration or a desire to escape. Otherwise, one can easily find themselves in a similar situation again.
"I know I want things to be different, but I’m scared" – the natural fear of change
Between “I want change” and “I am acting,” there is often a tension-filled space where one can get stuck.
Most often, we are blocked by:
- Fear regarding security – especially financial security; fear of making a wrong decision.
- Fear of loss – of stability, previous achievements, a built identity; fear of confronting one’s dreams.
- Excessive inner criticism – demotivating thoughts that “it’s already too late,” “it definitely won’t work,” or that change is an admission of failure; negative beliefs about oneself or the world.
- Lack of contact with own needs and values – the compass that allows us to set life goals and decide how we want to achieve them
Fear of change is not a signal that a decision is wrong or that something is wrong with us – it is a natural reaction to the unknown. In therapy, I don’t encourage “overcoming fear by force,” but rather understanding it: what is it protecting, what is it informing us about, and how can it accompany change instead of blocking it?
Change doesn’t have to be a revolution – what therapy can offer
It rarely happens that a major professional change is born from a single impulse with a crystal-clear concept emerging immediately. I favor an approach where I support clients in acting as much as possible in harmony with themselves, while remaining highly mindful of their actual current possibilities.
A person who comes to therapy feeling exhausted because for years they have taken on too much – additional projects, responsibility for an entire team, constant availability – may begin to notice that their behavior is driven by fear of disappointing others and unrealistic expectations toward themselves. With this understanding, and by learning to set boundaries, delegate tasks, and care for their own needs, they can gradually begin to reclaim their space and energy.
Someone else, determined to change professions but afraid of losing stability, may in therapy begin to recognize their resources and build a realistic, gradual action plan. Fear then becomes information about what requires preparation. As a result, they may decide to spread the change over time – completing additional training, gaining first experiences in a new field during their free time – until they feel confident enough to work exclusively in the new profession.
psycholog • terapeutka • trenerka psychoedukacji
I also know from personal experience that courage isn’t always about taking a leap into the unknown. Sometimes, it’s about the quiet, conscious decisions made with self-care in mind that lead us in the right direction.
If you feel stuck and need to look at your situation—I invite you for a consultation in Piaseczno or online. In the therapeutic process, we can pause together at your needs—without pressure, haste, or judgment—so that you can then translate that into real actions, step by step.
During our meetings, I ensure a space where clients can independently find their own direction—one that is consistent and true, rather than created under the pressure of external expectations.
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