Is Therapy the Secret to a Stress-Free Work Life?

No job is free from its tough moments. Between personality clashes, work-life imbalance (hello, 2 a.m. emails), communication breakdowns, paycheck envy, and imposter syndrome, even your dream job can start to feel more like a nightmare. With the right tools and strategies, therapy can help you clarify your values, career goals, and motivations. Understanding these things is like having a compass to guide your decisions so you can confidently manage challenges and take your next best steps.

Why is work so stressful?

The pressure to succeed at work can be overwhelming. Stories you’ve inherited from your family, friends, and society can make it really difficult to disentangle your professional success from your identity and self-worth. Plus, the stakes are incredibly high: If things go south, you may not be able to pay your rent, go to the doctor, or support your family.

The context of work has also changed dramatically over the last 5 years. Since 2020, we’ve muddled through a sudden shift to remote work, sweeping return-to-office mandates, massive layoffs, growing unemployment rates, and an explosion of precarious gig work. Not to mention the looming, hard-to-predict threat of artificial intelligence.

According to a 2023 Pew Research Poll, only 50% of US workers are highly satisfied with their jobs. Even fewer workers said that they were happy with their training opportunities, growth opportunities, or compensation.

These challenges are compounded for many marginalized groups. Women, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, and people of color report facing discrimination at staggering rates in the workplace.

How therapy can help you at work

As a starting point, therapy can help you understand how you’re really feeling about work, especially if you’re struggling with mixed emotions. (You might be thinking, “Uh, I already know work is slowly sucking the life out of me,” but hang on — this could be more complicated than it seems.)

Try thinking about mixed feelings as a tug-of-war between different parts of yourself. For example, your driven side may be pushing you to work hard for that promotion, while another part of you just wants to relax and binge-watch your favorite show. Your therapist can help you understand what each of these parts truly needs and how to find a balance that works for you.

Therapy can also help you get really clear about what you want to take and leave about your current role. Maybe you find your job super meaningful, but it’s eating up all of your free time. Or maybe your work-life balance is perfect, but the work itself is putting you to sleep. Together, you’ll figure out what to dial up and down to create a fulfilling career for you that’s aligned with your goals and values.

A toxic work environment or a job that just isn’t right for you can slowly chip away at your confidence, making you question your skills, your worth, and your ability to make decisions. Therapy can help you step back and take a clear-eyed look at what’s really going on. With the right support, you’ll recognize your strengths, your growth areas, and learn how to assert yourself without feeling like you’re walking on eggshells.

Living with OCD, ADHD, autism, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and other mental health conditions can make work especially challenging. Therapy can help you identify if you have a mental health condition and help you manage your symptoms.

For instance, if anxiety is keeping you up at night, constantly stressing about deadlines or Slack messages, therapy can offer strategies to reduce that overwhelming sense of dread. If you have ADHD, you and your therapist can explore how to improve your focus, organization, and efficiency.

Treating your depression can help you rediscover motivation and joy in your work. And if you have OCD, therapy can help you break free from the cycle of intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors that interfere with your productivity.

In short, therapy isn’t just a place to vent about your latest performance review (though feel free to do that too!) It’s a space to explore your relationship with work, understand where your beliefs about work come from, and discover what you truly want and need from your job. Therapy can also equip you with practical strategies to manage mental health challenges, helping you perform confidently and effectively in your role.

Do you need career counseling or a therapist for work issues?

While both career counselors and therapists can support your professional journey, their roles are quite different. Career counseling typically focuses on helping you explore career options, improve job-search strategies, and make decisions about your career path. They offer practical advice on resumes, job interviews, and skill development.

In contrast, a therapist takes a deeper approach to your well-being, focusing on the mental and emotional challenges that affect your professional life. They can help you manage work-related stress, build confidence, overcome anxiety, and tackle issues like burnout and imposter syndrome. If you're feeling stuck or overwhelmed in your career, a therapist offers emotional support and practical tools to address these underlying issues, helping you perform better at work while also protecting your mental health.

How to find a therapist who can help with work life

A great way to get started is by searching Alma for a therapist who specializes in “Personal growth and self-esteem”. Depending on your specific needs, you may also want to find a therapist who specializes in a certain therapeutic modality, which you can easily do on Alma.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provides practical ways to manage stress, anxiety, ADHD, and your mood. You will identify and challenge negative thought patterns so that you can cope with stress more effectively. Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy can also help you stay calm and focused, reducing anxiety even in the most chaotic work environments.

For help managing OCD, CBT with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the gold standard. You’ll gradually confront the things that trigger your OCD and learn how to manage the compulsions that interfere with your daily life.

In psychodynamic therapy, you’ll dive deep into your personal history and explore how your past experiences and unconscious influences affect your emotions and behavior.

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and searching Alma can connect you with a therapist who’s equipped to help with your specific needs. Regardless of which modality you choose, you will learn tailored techniques to discover your best path forward.