Therapy for Work & Career Issues in Chicago & Northbrook IL

A significant portion of most people’s lives is organized around work: their time, their identity, their financial security, and often their sense of purpose. When work is going poorly, or when it stops feeling meaningful, the ripple effects reach into nearly everything else.

Therapy for work and career concerns is not career coaching. It is a space to examine what is actually driving the difficulty, what your values tell you about the choices in front of you, and how your history and patterns are showing up professionally in ways you may not have fully examined.

What Brings People to Therapy for Work Issues?

Burnout: exhaustion, cynicism, and a reduced sense of efficacy that does not resolve with rest
Chronic work stress spilling into health, sleep, and relationships
Conflict with a manager, colleague, or team that feels unresolvable
Imposter syndrome and persistent self-doubt about competence
Career crossroads: uncertainty about whether to stay, leave, or change direction
Difficulty setting limits with work hours, availability, or demands
Job loss, layoff, or the identity disruption that follows
Perfectionism that is making work unsustainable
High-achieving professionals who feel chronically unfulfilled despite external success
Navigating difficult workplace culture, including discrimination or harassment

“At Midwest Counseling, we understand that people can feel stuck or overwhelmed in careers. We help individuals best manage work-related stress and improve decision making around big and small choices that people often face throughout their careers.”
– Danielle Doucette, PsyD, Midwest Counseling & Diagnostics

How Therapy Helps

Therapy addresses both the practical dimensions, boundaries, communication, decision-making, and the psychological dimensions: the patterns, beliefs, and history that shape how you experience professional challenges. This is particularly relevant for high-achieving professionals who have optimized external performance at a cost to their inner life.

Work and Career Therapy in Chicago, Northbrook, and via Telehealth

We work with adults at all life stages navigating change in Chicago and Northbrook, and via telehealth. Call (312) 291-9570 or book a consultation online.

Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy for Work Issues

What is the difference between therapy and career coaching for work issues?
Career coaching focuses on professional goals, skill development, and strategic action. Therapy addresses the psychological, emotional, and relational dimensions of work difficulties, including the underlying patterns and history that contribute to them. Therapy is appropriate when anxiety, depression, burnout, or deeper identity questions are part of the picture.

Can therapy help with burnout?
Yes. Therapy addresses burnout at multiple levels: the immediate symptoms of exhaustion and disconnection, the underlying patterns that led to burnout, and the values and boundary work needed to build a more sustainable relationship to work.

What is imposter syndrome and can therapy help?
Imposter syndrome is a persistent belief that success is undeserved and that one will eventually be exposed as incompetent. It is extremely common among high achievers. Therapy addresses the underlying self-concept and cognitive patterns that drive it.

Can therapy help me figure out what career to pursue?
Therapy is not vocational testing, but it is highly valuable for the psychological dimensions of career exploration: clarifying values, examining beliefs and fears that influence career choices, and processing the identity questions that major career decisions raise.

Is therapy for work issues available via telehealth?
Yes. Many professionals find telehealth more compatible with demanding schedules. Midwest Counseling offers telehealth for work and career concerns across Illinois and many other states.

Reach out to start
your healing journey today.

(312) 291-9570

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