Workplace & Career
If you are like the average American, you spend 40% of your waking life at work. Despite any of our best efforts, it is simply not possible to compartmentalize, or emotionally separate from, such a wide-swath of our existence. Feeling consistently stressed at work can lead to internalized feelings of personal failing and/or frequent irritability toward co-workers and family. Unfortunately, the modern work environment places undue emphasis on individual factors, making it seem as though any negative feelings we have toward work are a result of personal failings or a lack of resilience. Yet, we know that aspects of the working environment are as important, if not more important, than personality in determining your productivity, stress, and ultimate success (Aronsson et al., 2017).
In working to address your workplace and career concerns—from productivity to burnout—we are rarely interested in increasing your “willpower” as it relates to work. Instead, we are always interested in understanding your relationship with work and those factors which may be undermining your intrinsic motivation, creative drive, and the basic human desire to contribute meaningfully.
To be fulfilling, work must be a good fit with our values, skills, and interests. It must also meet our basic psychological needs of autonomy, relatedness, and competence. When barriers prevent this we lose sight of our contribution to the world and an important part of us is lost. In therapy we will take an extensive look at your personal and professional life context, values, aspirations, interests, and experiences. From changing jobs entirely (which the average person does 12.3 times in a lifetime) to bolstering productivity and getting things done, we have extensive experience in vocational counseling. Let’s make work work for you.