Work Stress and Burnout Therapy in San Francisco
The work isn't the problem. You like the work, or at least you used to. You're good at it. You've built a career around being the person who can handle things.
That's part of how you got here.
What's changed is that the recovery isn't working anymore. Weekends don't reset you. Vacations barely touch it. Sunday nights feel like something closing in. You're tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix, and a little numb about things that used to matter to you.
Work stress and burnout aren't the same thing, but they live on the same continuum. Stress is what happens when the demands are high. Burnout is what happens when the demands have been high for too long and something in you has started to shut down in response.
It's a real thing. It's treatable. And it usually doesn't require quitting your job.
What Brings People to Work Stress and Burnout Therapy
The clients who come to Therapy Now SF for work stress or burnout tend to share a few patterns, in different combinations:
Persistent exhaustion that doesn't resolve with normal rest. Not tired after a hard week, tired as a baseline.
Cynicism or detachment from work you used to care about. Going through the motions. Harder to care about outcomes.
Reduced effectiveness. Tasks that used to be easy take longer. Decisions feel heavier. Small things drop.
Physical symptoms. Sleep problems, gut issues, tension headaches, getting sick more often.
Resentment that's hard to place. At the job, at colleagues, at family, at yourself for not being able to handle it.
Loss of boundary between work and everything else. Checking messages on weekends, working during dinner, thinking about work while trying to fall asleep.
Anxiety or depressive symptoms that have crept in alongside the work stress and are starting to feel like their own problem.
If several of these are true, it's worth taking seriously. Burnout tends to get worse without intervention, not better.
How Work Stress and Burnout Therapy Works at Therapy Now SF
The work usually moves on two levels at once.
The first level is immediate and practical: what can change now to reduce the load and restore some capacity. That might mean examining the actual shape of the work week, identifying the patterns that are costing the most (the meetings that drain you, the after-hours creep, the perfectionism tax), and testing what happens when you change them. This is also where the cognitive distortions that drive overwork tend to come up: "if I don't do it, no one will," "I can't say no," "I should be able to handle this."
The second level is slower and deeper: the patterns underneath the burnout. Many people who end up in burnout therapy have a long-standing relationship with overwork, achievement, or self-worth tied to output. Those patterns usually started well before the current job. Addressing them is what makes the change stick, rather than just relocating to a new job and running the same pattern there.
Different clinicians on our team draw from different approaches depending on the client. That can include elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, somatic work, and others. The through-line is practical work that produces change you can feel in your daily life.
Our team also works with clients who are navigating burnout while still inside the job that caused it. The goal isn't always to leave. Often it's to be different inside the same role, or to make an intentional decision about next steps rather than a reactive one driven by exhaustion.
Our Team
Therapy Now SF is a team of licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and clinical counselors. Many of our clients are professionals in tech, finance, law, healthcare, and other high-demand fields in San Francisco, and our team is practiced at the specific shape burnout takes in these environments. When you reach out, we'll ask a few questions and match you with a clinician whose training, style, and availability fit. Because our team spans different levels of licensure, we're able to offer sessions on a sliding scale from $195 to $275.
Sessions are 50 minutes, available in person at our San Francisco office or by secure video anywhere in California.
When to Consider Work Stress or Burnout Therapy
Early is better. Most people come in when they've already been running on fumes for months or years, and the body has started to notify them in ways that are harder to ignore.
Reasonable reasons to start: the rest isn't restoring you anymore. You're dreading something that used to be neutral. You're snappish with people you love. You're considering big career decisions while too depleted to make them well. Or you've been told by someone who knows you that something has changed, and you're quietly worried they're right.
You don't need to be collapsed to come in. The clients who do best are usually the ones who recognize the pattern before the full burnout has taken hold.
What to Expect in Your First Session
The first session is 50 minutes. You'll talk about the shape of the current situation: what work actually looks like, what's been going on for how long, what you've already tried, and what a better version of this would look like. It's a conversation, not an interrogation.
Most clients start weekly, then shift to biweekly as things stabilize. If the therapist you meet with isn't the right fit, we'll say so and help you find someone on our team (or elsewhere) who is.
Related Resources
Book a Consult
If work has been costing you more than it should for longer than it should, we'd like to hear from you. Our team works with clients in San Francisco and across California. Book a free 15-minute consultation to find out if we're a good fit.
About Therapy Now SF
Therapy Now SF is a San Francisco practice offering individual and couples therapy for anxiety, relationships, work stress, burnout, depression, trauma, and life transitions. Founded and directed by Dr. Andrea Zorbas, PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist, our team includes licensed psychologists, marriage and family therapists, clinical counselors, and supervised associates. We offer in-person sessions at our downtown San Francisco office and secure video sessions for clients across California.
582 Market St., Suite 1203, San Francisco, CA 94104