What High-Achievers Need To Know About Therapy ‒ (And Why They Shouldn't Avoid It)
- Sep 7, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: May 28, 2025
Written by: Rozanna Wyatt, Senior Level Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
When you’re a high-achiever and leader, so many people look up to you. After all, most of your life, you’ve been chasing and accomplishing goals that have left some wondering how you manage to do it all! Is there a secret to all that motivation? Here’s what I’ve discovered.
For some high-achievers, the drive to be and do more is driven by a desire to have a better life than what you experienced growing up. The drive might even be a way to stay laser-focused so you can avoid dealing with the internal pain from your younger years that’s tucked deep inside. For others, the jet-fueled spirit to go after what you want is hardwired into you because you fundamentally believe there’s more potential inside of you and others. And then, for some, your motivation for excellence comes from a deep desire to be liked or to fill a void of emptiness because, underneath the busyness and achievements, the truth is, you never feel good enough. Or your motivation might be a combination of these things or something else.
Part of you might be thinking, “Why does it matter what motivates me as a high-achiever?”
Prioritizing and achieving goals isn’t a bad thing. However, it does matter when it comes at the cost of your well-being because you’ve kept pushing through challenges, stress, and burnout or avoided experiencing your emotions in the pursuit of productivity, perfection, and achievement. Eventually, you hit a tipping point and become paralyzed in your ability to move forward. And this doesn’t feel good for anyone!
Here’s what this fellow high-achiever and therapist wants you to know.
Despite being a high-achiever and leader, you’re human! That means you get stuck sometimes too. No one can feel and perform at their best if they’re not taking care of their whole selves. This means engaging in therapy and psychological services to have it all ‒ inner peace, happiness, and genuine satisfaction with what you’re achieving.
You can be functioning at a high level while simultaneously feeling stuck.
I understand that you might be quietly hurting on the inside underneath that achievement and polished exterior. It’s a secret that swirls rapidly inside you with threads of shame as you long for more joy and fulfillment, but shutter to imagine what others would think if they knew how you really felt on the inside. You might worry that everything will start to unravel if you go to therapy. You rationalize that you have x, y, and z, in your life, so things can't be that bad. Your positive mindset kicks in, and you tell yourself you’ll feel better if you just do a, b, c. People think you’re on fire with your newfound motivation, but you still feel stuck, emotionally drained, and burnt out. I see you because I’ve been where you’re at. I understand the courage it takes to extend your hand and say, “I’m stuck, and I can’t do this by myself anymore.” I want you to know you don’t have to do it alone! I also want you to know the skills, strength, and resilience you’ve used to pursue your goals will be there to empower you as you do the most important work of your life.
Therapy is about growth and enhancing your well-being.
When you're used to excelling and figuring things out on your own, it might be hard to believe that you could benefit from therapy. However, therapy is about growth (and isn’t this what high-achievers love!). Many high-achievers go to therapy to maintain a clear mind and be at the top of their game. Many of my clients often say, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” because of the impact on their overall sense of self, emotional well-being, and performance. When it comes to something new, like therapy, you still might be wondering exactly how it can help you. Here are five life-changing ways therapy enables you to feel and perform at your best.
1. Shrink the fulfillment gap.
First, therapy can help you clarify your values which assist you in setting personal and professional goals that are meaningful to you and not based on what others want you to do. By defining your values, you can also reframe what success means, so you don’t continue setting arbitrary benchmarks.
2. Retrain your brain and build mental and emotional strength.
Do negative thoughts and ruminations ever kick into overdrive and try to hijack your mind and productivity? Therapy can help you master your thinking, so your thoughts don’t derail your focus or keep you lying awake at night. In addition, therapy can identify and resolve the root of your self-doubt, fear of failure, perfectionism, and imposter syndrome, so you feel good about yourself and have greater calm confidence.
3. Resolve inner pain to thrive from the inside out.
Does the weight of a past trauma feel like it’s weighing you down even though you’ve managed to stay laser-focused on creating a better life? Therapy can help you heal and resolve past and recent traumas, so you’re no longer carrying around emotional pain that distracts you from enjoying life and being connected in your relationships.
4. Build habits to optimize your well-being and performance.
High achievers are often under tremendous stress from internal and external pressures placed on them. Therapy can give you strategies to cope more effectively with anxiety-provoking situations, pressure, and stress, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. Therapy can help you develop healthy coping skills, so emotional eating, indulging in too many alcoholic beverages, or excessively shopping is no longer your go-to methods when life becomes too much. In addition, therapy can assist you in refining self-care strategies that are realistic for you so you can perform at your optimal level and not burn out.
5. Lead yourself with calm, confidence, and purpose.
Being a high-achiever and leader can be isolating, and not everyone understands your drive and what makes you “tick.” Therapy gives you an outlet and a safe place to show up as your authentic self, free of judgment, so you can address the things that keep you stuck and create a customized road map to get you to where you want to be ‒ happy, confident, and fulfilled.
The reason for going to therapy and engaging in inner work will be different for all of us, but the desire for growth, change, and well-being threads among all of us. So if you’ve been stuck or unhappy with where you’re at in life, or want to enhance your ability to be at the top of your game, consider adding therapy to your self-improvement routine, just like you would a mentor or coach. If you’re ready to take action and want to work with a therapist specializing in therapy for high-achievers, reach out and say hello and book a complimentary consultation at www.rozannawyatt.com. * Rozanna Wyatt runs a boutique private therapy practice in Calgary, Alberta, and offers virtual services throughout Alberta and Ontario.
Rozanna Wyatt, Senior Level Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Rozanna Wyatt is a Licensed Therapist and highly sought Global Coach who specializes in helping ambitious, high-achieving women confidently go after what they want in business and life. Drawing from her sixteen years of experience working those who have done the unimaginable (we're talking murder), entrepreneurs, athletes, professionals and corporate leaders, she enables her clients to experience mindset breakthroughs that allow them to turn their lives around, resolve years of emotional pain, be happy, 10x their business, win national awards, and more. Rozanna has a master’s degree in social work, as well as specialized training in leadership and high performance.
Rozanna’s expertise has been featured in the media in Forbes, Addicted2Succcess, Thrive Global, and Authority Magazine. When she’s not keeping up on the latest research around positive psychology and human behavior, you can find her playing with her furbaby or sipping vanilla lattes in her favorite coffee shops in Canada.
