You’re still getting things done. Still showing up. Still checking boxes. But somewhere along the way, the work that once energized you started draining you instead. You’re not sure when “tired” became your personality, or when Sunday dread started creeping in on Thursday.

This isn’t just stress. This is burnout—and it doesn’t get better by pushing through.

At Therapy Group of DC, our therapists help professionals address burnout and build a life that doesn’t break them again. We work to alleviate burnout symptoms while also addressing the deeper patterns that got you here—so you can stop the cycle instead of repeating it.

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Is Burnout Therapy Right for You?

You might benefit from burnout therapy if you:

• Feel emotionally exhausted before the day even starts
• Notice burnout creeping in—cynicism about work that used to matter to you
• Can’t seem to rest even when you have time off
• Experience physical signs your doctor can’t fully explain—headaches, fatigue, insomnia
• Wonder if you’re depressed or if something else is going on
• Keep telling yourself you’ll slow down “after this project” but never do
• Feel like you’re going through the motions but not actually present
• Have tried vacations, self-care, and “wellness” without lasting change
• Struggle to maintain work life balance no matter how hard you try

What to know:

• A 2024 NAMI workplace poll found that 52% of employees reported experiencing burnout in the past year, with mid-level professionals reporting even higher rates
• Burnout is now recognized by the World Health Organization as an occupational phenomenon requiring professional attention
• Effective treatment addresses both the symptoms of burnout and the underlying patterns that created it
• Many people experiencing burnout also have other mental health conditions that need attention
• With proper support, you can restore your well being and build sustainable habits

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Understanding Burnout

Burnout isn’t a character flaw or a sign of weakness. It’s a predictable response to chronic stress that hasn’t been successfully managed—and in DC’s high-pressure professional culture, it’s alarmingly common.

Burnout syndrome goes beyond ordinary stress. While stress typically has a clear source and endpoint, burnout is a state of emotional exhaustion, mental exhaustion, and detachment that develops over time. Burnout reduces productivity and saps energy, leaving you feeling helpless, hopeless, cynical, and resentful. Contributing factors often include your work environment, certain personality traits like perfectionism or high achievement drive, and a lack of boundaries between professional and personal life. You might not even realize you’re burned out until you’re already past the breaking point.

How Burnout Shows Up

Emotional exhaustion — You feel depleted before the day starts. Not just tired—emptied out. The emotional reserves you once drew from feel completely tapped. Things that used to give you energy now feel like obligations.

Cynicism and detachment — Work that once felt meaningful now feels pointless. You’ve become more distant from colleagues, projects, and your own sense of purpose. Personal relationships suffer too—you may find yourself withdrawing from loved ones or having less patience with the people closest to you.

Reduced effectiveness — Despite working as hard as ever, you feel less effective. Self-doubt creeps in even when objective evidence says you’re doing fine. Concentration suffers. Tasks that used to be easy now feel overwhelming.

Physical symptoms — Persistent fatigue that sleep doesn’t fix. Frequent headaches, muscle tension, changes in appetite. Getting sick more often—burnout can lead to long-term changes in the body that make you more vulnerable to illnesses. Chronic stress takes a real toll on your body.

Burnout vs. Depression

Burnout and depression share symptoms like exhaustion and hopelessness, but burnout is typically tied to specific contexts (usually work) while depression tends to affect all areas of life.

That said, untreated burnout can develop into other mental health conditions, including depression and anxiety. Many people experiencing burnout also have underlying mental health issues that made them more vulnerable in the first place. A skilled therapist can help distinguish between them and develop an appropriate treatment plan that addresses what you’re actually dealing with.

Many clients come to us saying “I think I’m depressed” and discover they’re experiencing burnout. The symptoms are real and serious, but tied to unsustainable work patterns rather than a mood disorder—which changes the treatment approach.

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DC Professionals and Burnout

Washington DC has unique burnout risk factors. The city’s culture often rewards overwork and treats exhaustion as a badge of honor. Political volatility creates chronic uncertainty. Many professionals work in mission-driven organizations where the stakes feel too high to step back—and where taking care of yourself can feel like abandoning the cause.

Living in a high-pressure urban environment with long commutes, competitive work culture, and the expectation of constant availability exacerbates burnout risks. And DC’s transient population means many people are doing demanding jobs without the support networks that help buffer stress.

Who We See

Young professionals and millennials — Millennials are experiencing burnout at high rates due to work demands, economic uncertainty, and societal pressures. Many face identity overload—feeling stuck between ambition and meaning. Therapy can help manage the anxiety, self-doubt, and other mental health conditions that contribute to burnout in this generation.

Government and policy professionals — The combination of bureaucratic frustration, political pressure, and feeling like your work matters enormously creates a perfect storm. Many Hill staffers and agency professionals describe compassion fatigue layered on top of job burnout. The pace of policy work, especially during political transitions, leaves little room for recovery.

Healthcare professionals — Physician burnout and burnout among healthcare workers has been extensively documented in systematic review after systematic review. Burnout in healthcare is associated with poor outcomes for patients, clinicians, and organizations—including reduced quality of care and clinician turnover. The DC healthcare landscape carries its own pressures, and many healthcare professionals we work with also carry vicarious trauma from their patients.

Nonprofit and advocacy workers — When your job is trying to fix big problems with limited resources, burnout becomes almost inevitable without intentional prevention. The “martyrdom culture” in many nonprofits makes asking for help or setting boundaries feel like betrayal of the mission.

Consultants, attorneys, and other demanding careers — Billable hour cultures, client demands, and the pressure to constantly prove value create environments where work-related burnout thrives. Job dissatisfaction compounds when you’re working long hours without feeling valued. A toxic workplace makes everything worse—but even healthy organizations can push people past their limits. We regularly see professionals in these fields who’ve been running on empty for years.

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How We Help

Burnout therapy provides structured support for treating burnout at its root causes—not just temporary relief, but lasting change. Therapy helps you identify root causes of your burnout, process emotions you may have been suppressing, and reduce stress through evidence-based techniques. Research increasingly emphasizes nervous system regulation to address the core dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and reduced professional efficacy. Boundary setting is essential for protecting energy and managing work-life balance—and therapy helps you learn how to set and maintain those boundaries even in demanding environments.

Evidence-Based Treatment

Our therapists draw from approaches specifically shown to help with burnout:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) — CBT is one of the most well-researched therapies for burnout. It helps identify and change negative thought patterns that contribute to burnout, like perfectionism, catastrophizing, or all-or-nothing thinking. CBT teaches practical coping strategies for managing workplace stress and building healthier responses to pressure.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) — Teaches mindfulness techniques to manage stress in real-time and reduce the physical toll of chronic stress on your body. Through mindfulness practices, you learn to notice when your stress response is activating and how to shift out of that state. A 2025 meta-analysis found mindfulness-based interventions significantly reduced burnout while improving overall well-being.

Psychodynamic Therapy — Explores deeper patterns—often rooted in early experiences—that shape how you relate to work, achievement, and self-worth. For people who’ve burned out multiple times or whose burnout connects to deep-seated beliefs about their value, psychodynamic therapy addresses why you keep ending up in the same depleted place.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) — Builds psychological flexibility and helps you reconnect with what actually matters, rather than running on autopilot. ACT teaches you to accept difficult thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them while taking action aligned with your values.

Somatic Approaches — Somatic therapy connects mind and body through breathing and gentle movement to release stored stress. Because burnout affects your nervous system, body-based approaches can help regulate your stress response in ways that talk therapy alone sometimes can’t.

What to Expect

Early sessions focus on stabilization—helping you manage stress, establish boundaries, and start reducing acute burnout symptoms. We assess what’s happening, what’s driving it, and what’s already been tried. Stress management techniques include relaxation strategies like diaphragmatic breathing and implementing downtime for enjoyable activities.

Deeper work addresses why you burned out in the first place. Emotional clarity helps you untangle complex feelings of overwhelm and detachment. This might involve exploring beliefs about work and worth, patterns in how you relate to achievement and rest, childhood experiences that shaped your relationship to productivity, or values clarification about what actually matters to you beyond career success.

Building resilience means developing protective factors and habits that safeguard your emotional well being long-term—so burnout doesn’t keep recurring. Social contact is nature’s antidote to stress—talking face to face with a good listener is one of the fastest ways to calm your nervous system. Exercise releases endorphins that improve mood and reduce stress. This phase includes maintaining social support, creating sustainable routines, prioritizing sleep and a healthy diet, and recognizing early warning signs before you hit the breaking point again.

We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all burnout treatment. Some clients need practical stress management training and boundary-setting skills to alleviate burnout symptoms quickly. Others need to explore why they keep ending up depleted despite knowing better. We meet you where you are.

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The 3 R’s of Burnout Recovery

Mental health professionals often use the “Three R’s” framework:

Recognize — Acknowledging that you’re experiencing burnout, not just stress or tiredness. Many people spend months pushing through without naming what’s happening.

Reverse — Taking action to undo the damage: seeking support, reducing stressors where possible, prioritizing sleep and recovery, practicing self-compassion instead of self-criticism. Learning to completely disconnect from work during off hours is often essential.

Resilience — Building sustainable habits and boundaries that protect your energy levels and emotional health. This isn’t about becoming invulnerable—it’s about burnout prevention through creating a life where burnout can’t easily take hold again.

The 42% Rule

Researchers Emily and Amelia Nagoski suggest humans need approximately 42% of their time—about 10 hours daily—on rest and recovery to function optimally and prevent burnout. This includes sleep, stress-reducing connection with others, physical activity, and genuine downtime.

Most people experiencing burnout are operating far below this threshold. Recovery often involves honestly assessing how much recovery time you’re actually getting.

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How Long Does Burnout Recovery Take?

Burnout recovery isn’t a weekend project. Depending on severity:

• Mild burnout: 3-6 months with active work
• Moderate burnout: 6-12 months with professional support
• Severe burnout: 12-18+ months, often requiring significant life changes

Therapy typically involves weekly sessions initially, potentially moving to biweekly as you stabilize. Most clients find meaningful improvement within a few months, though building lasting resilience takes longer. Recovery isn’t linear—setbacks happen—but the overall trajectory should be toward feeling more like yourself again.

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Our Burnout Therapists

Our therapists who work with burnout understand DC’s professional culture and the specific pressures you’re facing.

Dr. Tyler Miles, Psy.D.

Dr. Miles specializes in stress, anxiety, and burnout using ACT, client-centered therapy, and CBT. Her expertise helps clients understand how work patterns affect their mental health and build more sustainable approaches. View Dr. Miles’s full profile →

Dr. Michael Burrows, Ph.D.

Dr. Burrows draws on psychoanalytic, psychodynamic, and relational therapy approaches. His focus on identity, self-esteem, and the patterns underlying chronic stress makes him well-suited for burnout work. View Dr. Burrows’s full profile →

Dr. Kevin Isserman, Psy.D.

Dr. Isserman uses client-centered and psychodynamic approaches to help clients develop greater self-compassion and understanding—essential for recovering from burnout and building healthier patterns with work. View Dr. Isserman’s full profile →

Dominique Harrington, MA.Ed., LPC, NCC

Dom uses relational and narrative therapy approaches to help clients explore what brought them to burnout and work toward building a more sustainable life. Her warm, authentic style creates space for honest exploration. View Dominique’s full profile →

Dr. Paul Rizzo, Psy.D.

Dr. Rizzo uses client-centered, existential, and humanistic approaches to help clients navigate work and career stress, life transitions, and the anxiety and depression that often accompany burnout. His focus on self-esteem and meaning-making helps clients reconnect with what matters beyond professional achievement. View Dr. Rizzo’s full profile →

Kevin Malley, MS, LPC, NCC

Kevin uses existential, relational, and person-centered approaches to help clients process the emotions underlying burnout and better understand themselves. His focus on meaning and identity is particularly relevant for professionals questioning whether their career path still fits who they are. View Kevin’s full profile →

Dr. Dana Treistman, Ph.D.

Dr. Treistman uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and mindfulness practices to help adults manage stress and burnout. Her warm, collaborative approach creates a supportive environment for addressing work-related exhaustion and building healthier patterns. View Dr. Treistman’s full profile →

Dr. Regan Mayo, Ph.D.

Dr. Mayo’s psychodynamic approach helps clients explore how patterns with work, achievement, and self-worth contribute to burnout—and how to build something more sustainable. View Dr. Mayo’s full profile →

Dr. Justin Hillman, Ph.D.

Dr. Hillman’s attachment-based, psychodynamic, and relational approach helps clients understand the deeper patterns driving burnout, including how early experiences shape relationships with work and rest. View Dr. Hillman’s full profile →

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Begin Burnout Therapy in Washington DC

You’ve spent enough time pushing through. Enough time wondering if this is just how work feels. Enough time running on empty.

Our therapists in Washington, DC specialize in work-related stress and offer tailored support, including telehealth options. Online therapy for burnout offers the convenience of receiving expert support from home—fitting treatment into your schedule without adding another commute to your day.

Burnout therapy at Therapy Group of DC can help you recover your energy, rebuild boundaries, and restore work life balance so your professional life doesn’t cost you your personal life.

Your past exhaustion doesn’t have to define your future. With proper treatment, you can understand what drove you to burnout, develop healthier patterns, and build a life that actually works.

Schedule an Appointment →

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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best therapy for burnout?

The best therapy for burnout depends on your specific situation. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps change negative thought patterns around work and perfectionism. Mindfulness-based stress reduction teaches stress management techniques that alleviate burnout symptoms. Psychodynamic therapy addresses deeper patterns driving chronic overwork. Most effective treatment plans combine elements from multiple approaches based on what you need.

How do you heal from burnout?

Healing from burnout requires more than rest—it requires understanding and changing the patterns that created it. This typically involves recognizing you’re burned out (not just stressed), taking action to address burnout through reduced stressors and prioritized recovery, and building long-term resilience through sustainable habits and boundaries. Most people benefit from working with a therapist who specializes in burnout to guide this process.

What are the 3 R’s of burnout?

The 3 R’s are Recognize (acknowledging you’re experiencing burnout), Reverse (taking action to undo the damage through stress reduction, support, and self-care), and Resilience (building habits and boundaries that prevent future burnout). This framework emphasizes both immediate relief and long-term prevention.

What is the 42% rule for burnout?

The 42% rule suggests that humans need approximately 42% of their time—about 10 hours daily—on rest and recovery. This includes sleep, stress-reducing connection with others, physical activity, meals, and genuine downtime. Most people experiencing burnout are operating far below this threshold.

Is burnout different from depression?

Burnout and depression share symptoms like exhaustion and hopelessness, but burnout is typically tied to specific contexts (usually work) while depression affects all areas of life. Burnout often improves when the stressor is removed; depression usually doesn’t. However, untreated burnout can lead to depression, and many people experience both. A therapist can help distinguish between them and develop appropriate treatment.

How long does burnout recovery take?

Recovery time varies by severity: mild burnout may take 3-6 months, moderate burnout 6-12 months, and severe burnout 12-18+ months. Full recovery requires addressing both symptoms and underlying patterns—which is why therapy is more effective than simply taking time off.