Signs of Burnout and How Therapy Can Help You Heal
If you’ve ever found yourself staring blankly at your laptop, knowing you should care but feeling like there’s just… nothing left to give, you’re not alone. Burnout has become so normalized in our culture that many women assume it’s just part of being ambitious, responsible, and “put together.” But burnout isn’t the badge of honor we’ve been conditioned to think it is. It’s a sign your body and mind are asking for help.
And while it often shows up quietly at first, burnout has a way of taking more and more from you if it goes unaddressed. The good news? With the right awareness, boundaries, and support, recovery is absolutely possible.
Recognizing the Signs of Burnout
Burnout doesn’t always look like total collapse. It can start subtly, creeping into your energy, motivation, and mood until you take the time to tune in and realize you barely recognize yourself.
You might notice:
Physical symptoms like constant fatigue, headaches, muscle tension, trouble sleeping, or getting sick more often.
Emotional symptoms like irritability (think snapping at the barista), feeling detached or numb, struggling to care about things you usually enjoy, or crying easily.
Behavioral signs like procrastination, overworking to “catch up,” difficulty concentrating, or withdrawing from friends and family.
You may even find yourself thinking, If I can just get through this week, next month will be easier. But if that thought has been on repeat for months, burnout has likely already set in.
Why Ignoring Burnout Makes It Worse
Burnout isn’t something you can outwork. In fact, the more you push through, the deeper it tends to root itself. Ignoring burnout can lead to chronic stress that affects your physical health, your relationships, and your sense of purpose. You may start to lose confidence in yourself or feel like you’ve lost touch with the parts of you that used to feel vibrant and alive.
What’s even trickier is that burnout can disguise itself as laziness, apathy, or lack of motivation. But these are not character flaws - they’re genuine symptoms of exhaustion.
How Therapy Helps With Burnout Recovery
Recovering from burnout isn’t about learning to “tolerate more”, which would just be slapping a band-aid on the problem. It’s about learning to live differently through prioritizing, boundary setting, and rest.
Therapy offers a structured space to slow down, reflect, and reconnect with yourself. It helps you identify what’s draining you, what’s truly fulfilling you, and where boundaries need to shift. Together, we can rebuild from a place of clarity and intention so your ambition doesn’t come at the cost of your well-being.
In therapy for burnout, I often work with women on:
Reconnecting with their values and sense of purpose
Learning how to rest without guilt
Setting boundaries that protect their time and energy
Processing the deeper emotional patterns that lead to over-functioning or perfectionism
You don’t have to do burnout recovery alone. Therapy can help you feel more grounded, balanced, and capable of sustaining your goals in a way that actually feels good.
Ready to Begin Your Burnout Recovery?
If you’ve been feeling exhausted, disconnected, or like you’re running on fumes, therapy can help you come back to yourself.
I work with women in Virginia and Florida who are ready to recover from burnout and build a life that feels more balanced, intentional, and whole.
Get in touch to start your burnout recovery journey today.
Margaux Flood, LCSW, is a licensed therapist with over a decade of experience supporting clients in Virginia and Florida. She specializes in couples therapy, women’s mental health, anxiety, and self-esteem, using evidence-based approaches like Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), mindfulness-based techniques, and attachment-focused interventions to help clients strengthen connection, build confidence, and feel more grounded in themselves and their relationships. , Margaux Flood, LCSW is committed to providing compassionate, expert virtual care for clients across Virginia and Florida. Her team also provides individual psychotherapy services across the states of Mississippi and Missouri.