The Emotional Toll of High-Stress Careers: How EMDR Therapy Helps You Recover from Work Trauma
Have you ever felt like your career is taking more from you than it gives? It’s a quiet feeling that can build over time, leaving you drained and disconnected. For many high-achieving women and overwhelmed moms, the pressure to excel at work while managing life’s other demands creates an immense emotional weight. You might feel like you're constantly running on empty, trying to be everything to everyone. When the stress of your job becomes chronic and deeply impacts your well-being, it can feel like a form of trauma. If this resonates with you, please know that healing is possible. A specialized approach like EMDR therapy in Columbus, Ohio, offers a path to recover from work trauma, regain your confidence, and find a sense of balance once again.
What Makes Work-Related Stress Different?
We often think of trauma as a single, overwhelming event. But work trauma can be more subtle, developing slowly from prolonged exposure to a difficult environment. It can manifest in many different ways, each creating its own unique emotional burden. Perhaps you work in a toxic environment, where you constantly feel degraded or put down by a boss or coworkers. This form of emotional abuse can chip away at your self-worth, making you second-guess your every move. You might start to believe that you can never do anything right. This can lead to negative self-beliefs like "I am not good enough" or "I need to be perfect to be valued."
Over time, this can make you feel unsafe to speak up or connect with those around you. In other situations, work trauma stems from burnout. This happens when you face high-pressure demands with little to no support, leaving you feeling stuck and completely overwhelmed. For those in helping professions like first responders, doctors, nurses, and police officers, work trauma can stem from repeated exposure to violence. It can also arise from witnessing human suffering. The cumulative effect of these experiences can leave your nervous system in a constant state of high alert.
Recognizing the Signs of Work Trauma and Burnout
When your body and mind are overwhelmed by a high-stress career, they send out signals. It can feel like your nervous system is stuck in survival mode, fight, flight, or freeze, and you’re constantly running on overdrive. Acknowledging these signs is the first step toward understanding the depth of the issue. You might notice persistent symptoms such as:
Ongoing racing thoughts that make it hard to quiet your mind.
A feeling of restlessness or being constantly on edge.
Physical signs like a racing heart, muscle tension, or headaches.
Difficulty sleeping, either falling asleep or staying asleep.
Trouble concentrating or remembering things.
Feeling numb or detached from yourself and the people you love.
A lingering sense of sadness or loneliness, even when you're surrounded by others.
Finding a healthy work-life balance can feel impossible. The stress from your job may spill over into your personal life. This can affect your relationships with your partner, children, and friends. It’s a heavyweight to carry, and it’s okay to acknowledge how much it’s impacting you.
The Emotional Toll on High-Achieving Professionals
When high-achieving women first come to therapy, they often describe a profound sense of exhaustion. You might say you feel like you’re "running on empty," with nothing left to give at the end of the day. This exhaustion isn't just physical; it's deeply emotional and mental. Many describe feeling detached, struggling to find any balance between their demanding career and their personal life.
This can be especially difficult for moms who are trying to be present and engaged parents while navigating intense professional pressures. You might find it hard to be in the moment with your family. It can be a struggle to concentrate on conversations because your mind is still at work. These feelings are valid, and they are not a reflection of your worth or capability. They are a natural response to an unsustainable level of stress.
Common Misunderstandings About Work Trauma
Many people misunderstand what work trauma truly is. There’s a common belief that it only applies to professions involving direct exposure to life-threatening situations. While those careers certainly carry a high risk of trauma, the definition is much broader. A toxic work environment characterized by emotional abuse, harassment, or constant undermining can be just as damaging over time.
Because these situations often become a "new normal," many people struggle to see the severity of their experience.They know they aren’t doing well and that something feels deeply wrong. However, they’ve gotten so used to the environment that they minimize its impact. Recognizing that a psychologically unsafe workplace can cause genuine trauma is a crucial step toward healing.
Why EMDR Therapy is a Game-Changer for Work Trauma
If you’ve been feeling stuck, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy can be a powerful tool for healing. It is a structured therapy that encourages the patient to briefly focus on the trauma memory while simultaneously experiencing bilateral stimulation, typically eye movements. This process is associated with a reduction in the vividness and emotion of the trauma memories.
EMDR works with both sides of the brain and engages your nervous system to help release the trauma that gets stored in your body. This is why it can be so effective for work-related stress. It doesn’t just talk about the problem. Instead, it helps your brain and body process difficult experiences so they no longer have the same hold on you.
This therapeutic process can help you:
Identify what is and is not okay for you in a work environment.
Build a renewed sense of confidence and safety within yourself.
Reprocess negative beliefs that have taken root, like "I am not good enough" or "I am worthless," and replace them with empowering truths like "I am worthy" and "I can trust myself."
EMDR vs. Traditional Talk Therapy
While traditional talk therapy can be incredibly helpful, it primarily engages the logical part of your brain. You can talk through your experiences and gain insight, but sometimes you may still feel stuck. This is because trauma isn't just stored in your thoughts; it's stored in your body and your nervous system. EMDR therapy addresses both the brain and the body. By using tapping, it helps your nervous system process and release the trapped traumatic energy. This holistic approach can often lead to breakthroughs that talk therapy alone might not reach as quickly. If you’ve felt like you’re just going in circles with your healing, EMDR can offer a way forward, helping you finally feel unstuck and regain a sense of control.
How EMDR Helps High-Achieving Women Thrive
For high-achieving women, work trauma is often intertwined with identities built around perfectionism and people-pleasing. EMDR therapy in Columbus, Ohio can help you untangle these deep-seated patterns. It allows you to reprocess the experiences that led to beliefs like "I must be perfect" or "My value comes from my achievements." Through this process, you can cultivate a stronger sense of self-trust and inner confidence that isn’t dependent on external validation. You can learn to set healthy boundaries, honor your own needs, and find a sustainable balance between your career and your personal life.
Imagine a future where you feel empowered, at peace, and able to find joy both in your work and in your time away from it. Healing from the emotional toll of a high-stress career is a journey, and it’s one you can navigate with support. It is possible to reclaim your sense of self and build a life that feels both successful and fulfilling. If you are ready to take the first step, we invite you to reach out today to learn more about starting your journey toward recovery and balance.
Finding Relief from the Emotional Toll of Your Career with EMDR Therapy in Columbus, Ohio?
Have you found yourself longing for a way to quiet the constant pressure from your career and finally feel at ease? It’s okay if you’ve carried the weight of your professional demands for so long that it feels like a part of you. You are worthy of care that understands your story, the stress you’re navigating, and your desire for balance. At Merrianna Holdeman Counseling, my work providing EMDR therapy in Columbus, Ohio, is grounded in a compassionate understanding of your unique journey.
Whether you’re navigating the pressures of being a high-achieving woman, an overwhelmed mom, or both, you don’t have to figure it all out on your own. Together, we can create a safe space for you to process the emotional toll of your career. Here, you can find genuine relief from the anxiety, burnout, and trauma it has caused. If you’re ready to explore the next step:
Schedule your complimentary 15-minute consultation today.
Learn more about my approach as a therapist as a therapist and discover how EMDR therapy can help you release the burden of work stress, find balance, and feel confident again.
Discover how in-person EMDR therapy can help you release the burden of work stress, find balance, and feel confident again.
Your healing matters, and your story deserves to be honored.
Other Therapy Services at Merrianna Holdeman Counseling
As you navigate the healing process from work-related stress, you may begin to see how deeply interconnected your career challenges are with other parts of your life—how burnout, high-pressure environments, and the weight of expectations can ripple outward. Because of this, I offer a range of therapy services to meet you where you are: ADHD Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Anxiety Therapy, and Trauma Therapy. Each service is designed with your unique needs in mind, offering a holistic approach to your well-being.
You might find that the constant hum of anxiety makes it hard to disconnect from work, even when you're at home. Focus can feel impossible when your mind is cluttered with tomorrow's to-do list or replays of today's meetings. The demands of motherhood, career pressures, and past experiences can all combine, leaving you feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. It can even make you feel disconnected from those you love and from your own sense of self. At Merrianna Holdeman Counseling, you’re supported as you work toward a sense of wholeness and clarity through personalized therapy—all delivered in-person for women who are ready to find true healing and renewed balance in every area of life.
About the Author
Merrianna Holdeman, LPCC, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor in Ohio dedicated to helping high-achieving women and overwhelmed moms navigate the complexities of work-related stress and trauma. She specializes in using EMDR therapy to guide clients toward healing, helping them release the heavy burden of burnout and perfectionism. Merrianna is committed to creating a safe, non-judgmental space where women can rebuild their confidence and find a sustainable balance between their careers and personal lives. She gently guides her clients from feeling stuck and exhausted to feeling empowered and renewed.
