Career & Creative Burnout in Los Angeles
Therapy in Los Angeles for high-achieving professionals AND CREATIVES
You worked hard to build your life. Maybe from the outside, it even looks successful.
But internally, you may feel exhausted, emotionally disconnected, overwhelmed, creatively blocked, anxious, or like you’re running on fumes trying to keep it all together.
At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, we help high-achievers, creatives, professionals, entrepreneurs, and burned out perfectionists navigate the emotional toll of chronic stress, over-performance, and identity-based pressure.
When Achievement Stops Feeling Rewarding
Burnout goes far beyond simply being “stressed.”
For many people, burnout develops slowly after years of:
over-functioning
high self-pressure
ignoring their needs
chronic people-pleasing
emotional suppression
perfectionism
hustle culture
and tying self-worth to productivity or success
You may find yourself:
Constantly overwhelmed, even when you’re resting
Feeling emotionally numb or disconnected from your work
Struggling to focus, create, or stay motivated
Feeling trapped between ambition and exhaustion
Procrastinating because everything feels too heavy
Unable to stop thinking about work
Feeling guilty when you slow down
Comparing yourself to everyone around you
Losing confidence in your abilities despite external success and praise
Feeling like you’re “behind” no matter how much you accomplish
Wondering why success no longer feels fulfilling
Many high-achieving adults in Los Angeles silently struggle with anxiety and burnout hidden beneath productivity, ambition, and competence.
Therapy can help you step out of survival mode and build a healthier, more sustainable relationship with work, creativity, achievement, and yourself.
Therapy in Los Angeles for High-Achievers, Creatives & Burnt Out Professionals
At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, many of our clients are:
creatives
entrepreneurs
aspiring or established entertainment industry professionals
helping professionals
founders
students
perfectionists
people-pleasers
high-achieving adults who feel emotionally exhausted by the pressure they place on themselves.
Many people seeking therapy for burnout are not “lazy” or unmotivated.
In fact, they are often highly capable people who have spent years overriding stress, ignoring emotional needs, and pushing themselves past their limits.
Our therapists specialize in helping clients navigate:
career burnout
creative burnout
anxiety
perfectionism
high-demanding jobs
emotional overwhelm
chronic self-criticism
imposter syndrome
people-pleasing
identity struggles
major life or career transitions
Why Our Approach to Burnout Therapy Is Different
Burnout advice tends to focus on surface-level solutions, like:
better routines
improved productivity
more self-care
or “finding balance”
But many people already know how to optimize themselves and their lives. What they struggle with is understanding why slowing down feels so unsafe in the first place.
At Sawtelle Psychotherapy Group, our work goes deeper than stress management alone.
As a practice deeply rooted in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), we help clients better understand the emotional and behavioral patterns that contribute to burnout — including perfectionism, emotional invalidation, overcontrol, black-and-white thinking, difficulty tolerating rest, and chronic self-pressure.
Therapy with us can help you:
Build healthier emotional boundaries with work
Reduce perfectionistic thinking
Learn how to slow down without guilt
Increase emotional awareness and self-trust
Tolerate uncertainty and failure more effectively
Stop organizing life entirely around productivity
Improve emotion regulation and distress tolerance
Reconnect with creativity, play, meaning, and values
Our therapists combine evidence-based behavioral therapies with warmth, humor, and genuine human connection — helping clients create meaningful change that actually feels sustainable.
Career Burnout vs. Creative Burnout
Burnout doesn’t look the same for everyone.
Career burnout may look like:
Emotional exhaustion
Dreading work despite being successful
Feeling detached or cynical
Escape fantasies about switching careers or moving far away
Chronic stress and anxiety
Difficulty turning work “off”
Feeling trapped in achievement cycles
Creative burnout may look like:
Feeling disconnected from inspiration
Creative paralysis or avoidance
Fear of failure or criticism
Constant comparison
Losing joy in creative work
Feeling like creativity has become performance rather than expression
Many clients experience both simultaneously — especially in high-pressure industries and achievement-oriented environments like Los Angeles.
Burnout Therapy in West Los Angeles & Throughout California
We provide in-person therapy in West Los Angeles near Sawtelle, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Westwood, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Culver City, and Century City.
We also offer virtual therapy across California, New York, Florida, and Vermont.
Our therapists work with adults navigating emotional burnout, anxiety, creative pressure, career changes, family stress, caregiving fatigue, and chronic relational overwhelm.
MEET THE TEAM
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Brooke Schwartz, LCSW
Founder & Therapist
Areas of expertise: perfectionism, anxiety, depression, first time in therapy, personality disorders, relationship and interpersonal challenges, and life transitions.
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Mitchell Hale, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: LGBTQIA+ issues, trauma symptoms and PTSD, OCD, body dysmorphia, anger, anxiety, career changes, critical self-talk, and depression
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Sara Arpiarian, LCSW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: anxiety, depression, relationship and interpersonal challenges, trauma, grief and loss, ADHD, adoption-related issues, parenting skills, and navigating life transitions.
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Sophie Elkins, MSW, ASW
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: teen and young adult mental health, anxiety, perfectionism, body image, life transitions, self-esteem, trauma, couples, relationship dynamics, and effective communication strategies.
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Kaitlin Christy, LMFT, APCC
Staff Therapist
Areas of expertise: child, teen, and young adult mental health, emotion dysregulation, anxiety (OCD, panic, phobias), depression, self-esteem, family dynamics, play & art therapy, parent-child work, impulse control, ADHD, and personality disorders.
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy for Burnout
What is burnout therapy?
1
Therapy for burnout helps people understand and address the emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and relational patterns contributing to chronic stress, overwhelm, and emotional exhaustion.
Can therapy help with creative burnout?
2
Absolutely! Therapy can help creatives navigate perfectionism, self-criticism, comparison, performance pressure, creative paralysis, and identity-related stress connected to creative work.
Can therapy help me set boundaries?
3
Yes. Many clients struggle with guilt, fear, anxiety, or conflict when trying to set boundaries. Therapy can help you build healthier relational patterns while staying connected to your values.
Is burnout the same as anxiety or depression?
4
Not exactly, although they often overlap. Many people experiencing burnout specifically struggle with chronic overwhelm, emotional exhaustion, detachment, perfectionism, and stress related to work or achievement.
5
What types of therapy help with burnout?
Therapies like DBT, CBT, ACT, and mindfulness-based approaches can help clients better manage stress, emotional overwhelm, perfectionism, emotional regulation difficulties, and self-critical thinking patterns.
Can I be burnt out even if I’m not currently working or creating?
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100%. Burnout is not only about workload — it’s also about the long-term emotional, mental, and physiological impact of chronic stress, pressure, perfectionism, anxiety, and over-functioning.
Many people continue experiencing burnout symptoms long after stepping away from a job, creative project, academic program, or demanding season of life. Others feel burnt out from constantly operating in survival mode, emotionally caretaking others, or tying their self-worth to productivity and achievement.
What if I’m burnt out but can’t slow down financially?
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Many people feel trapped between emotional exhaustion and real financial or professional pressures. Therapy is not about telling you to quit your job or completely change your life overnight. It can help you better understand the patterns contributing to burnout while building more sustainable ways of coping, setting boundaries, and caring for yourself within the realities of your life.
Can perfectionism contribute to burnout?
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Very often, yes. Perfectionism can create chronic pressure, self-criticism, overworking, difficulty resting, and fear of failure — all of which can contribute to emotional exhaustion and burnout over time. Therapy can help you build a healthier and more sustainable relationship with achievement and self-worth.
You don’t have to navigate your way through life in a constant state of overwhelm.
Therapy can help you build a healthier relationship with work, achievement, creativity, rest, and yourself — one that feels more sustainable, intentional, and emotionally grounded.
Schedule a Free Consultation
In-person therapy in West Los Angeles
Virtual therapy across California
Evidence-based and personalized care