In my practice, I meet a particular kind of client again and again: high-achieving, insightful, often already in therapy for anxiety or burnout, who says some version of “something’s off, but I can’t point to why.” She’s not imagining it. And more often than she’s been told, the answer isn’t purely psychological—it’s endocrine. Hormonal mood … Read more
New motherhood is supposed to feel like joy. For a significant number of women, it also feels like drowning quietly while everyone around them assumes they’re fine. In my practice, I meet women who are exhausted, capable, and used to succeeding at everything they set their minds to—and who are stunned to find themselves unable … Read more
There’s a phrase clients bring into my office often: “I just want to leave this behind me.” It’s an understandable wish. It’s also, clinically speaking, a bit of a misnomer. The goal of trauma work isn’t erasure. Nothing in the research supports the idea that a difficult history simply disappears with enough therapy, enough time, … Read more
If you’re a high-achieving woman in therapy—or have ever been in therapy—you know the feeling. The session where something clicks. You finally see the pattern: why you over-function at work, why rest feels like danger, why you can name the exact origin of your perfectionism down to a specific moment in childhood. And then… nothing … Read more
There’s a particular kind of dread that lives in the body of a high-achieving woman. It’s not the fear of trying something hard. It’s the fear of what it will mean about her if it doesn’t work. In my private practice, I sit with smart, capable, driven women every week who are quietly terrified of … Read more
There is a particular kind of grief that doesn’t announce itself as grief. It doesn’t look like sadness, exactly. It looks like replaying a phone call you didn’t make. It looks like feeling vaguely wrong for laughing at something, for being hungry, for still being alive on a Tuesday when your brother or sister is … Read more
She arrives early, stays late, and never misses a deadline. Her inbox is organized, her presentations are polished, and she somehow manages to remember everyone’s coffee order. From the outside, she looks like she has it all together. On the inside, she hasn’t stopped mentally rehearsing tomorrow’s meeting since 2 a.m. This is the quiet … Read more
How Women Who Strive for Perfection End Up Meeting Anxiety and Burnout Instead She has a career. The apartment. The relationship (or the plan for one). The healthy habits she manages to maintain — most of the time. From the outside, she looks like she has it all together. But inside? She’s exhausted. Her mind … Read more
Were you the daughter who always held it together? The one who managed the household, kept the peace, and made sure everyone else was okay — often before you even knew how to take care of yourself? If so, you’re not alone. And there’s a name for what you experienced. What Is “Eldest Daughter Syndrome”? … Read more
You’ve probably heard phrases like “nervous system dysregulation” or “getting into your window of tolerance” — and if you’re the kind of woman who researches things thoroughly, you may have already read about polyvagal theory, vagal tone, and the science of the stress response. Understanding it conceptually, however, is very different from being able to … Read more