You're killing it. You're also kind of dying inside.
Let's talk about that.
Burnout therapy for high-performing women who are done pretending they’re fine
EMDR online in California and Utah | In-person in Palm Desert
You Know Better. You’re Still Burned Out Anyway.
You've read the books. Done the journaling. Downloaded the meditation app you opened twice. You've reflected, optimized, and white-knuckled your way through more hard seasons than you can count. You're self-aware as hell.
And you're still running on empty.
Here's the thing nobody tells high-achievers:
Burnout isn't a knowledge problem. You already know you're burned out. Knowing hasn't fixed it. That's because it's not living in the part of your brain that responds to insight, logic, or a really good podcast episode about nervous system regulation.
It's deeper than that. And that's actually good news — because it means there's a way out that doesn't involve trying harder.
What Burnout Actually Looks Like When You’re Good at Hiding it
Burnout in high-performing women doesn't look like falling apart. It looks like competence with a side of dead inside. You're still showing up. Still producing. Still the person everyone counts on — while also snapping at people you love, lying awake running tomorrow's mental to-do list, and quietly wondering when the last time was that you actually felt like yourself.
Not the dramatic version. The version you're living.
Exhausted in a way sleep stopped fixing months ago. Foggy in ways you're successfully hiding from everyone around you. Going through the motions at work and hoping nobody notices. Something feels deeply off — even though your life, on paper, looks completely fine.
And underneath all of it is the identity piece. Somewhere along the way — probably long before adulthood — being the capable one, the reliable one, the person who doesn't cause problems became how you understood your own worth. The helper. The one who holds it together. The old soul who was never really allowed to just be a mess. That pattern didn't disappear when you grew up. It got a salary and a lot more responsibility.
Clinically, burnout is three things: emotional exhaustion, detachment from work you used to care about, and a tanked sense of your own effectiveness — even when every metric says you're still performing. It is not a character flaw. It is a physiological response to prolonged stress without adequate recovery. Your nervous system has been running in fight-or-flight so long it recalibrated that as normal. Rest stopped feeling restorative. Good things started feeling flat.
Spoiler: things don't slow down. They just get heavier. And when vacations don't restore you, when insight doesn't shift it, when every productivity strategy just makes you more efficient at overextending yourself — that's your body telling you the problem lives somewhere your conscious mind can't reach alone.
That's exactly where we work.
EMDR Online for Burnout Recovery— and What Actually Changes
EMDR — Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — is an evidence-based therapy that works directly with your nervous system instead of routing everything through conversation. It was originally developed for trauma, and burnout in high-achieving women almost always has a trauma component — not necessarily the dramatic kind, but the kind where your nervous system learned early that performing meant safety and never got the update that it doesn't have to anymore.
Using bilateral stimulation, EMDR helps your brain reprocess the experiences and beliefs that locked you into this pattern. The beliefs driving your burnout — I have to earn my worth, asking for help means I'm failing, if I slow down everything falls apart — don't just get understood. They get updated at the source.
Sessions are structured and goal-oriented. We build stability first, then process. You won't leave feeling destabilized or raw. What you will notice, over time, is that the patterns that used to run you start losing their grip.
What clients actually report
Resting without guilt for the first time in years
Feeling genuinely connected to the people they love — not just present in the room
Less mental noise and anxiety that used to be constant background static
Spending time on things they actually enjoy without it feeling like a productivity strategy
Engaging in life instead of just managing it
Feeling more like themselves — not a more optimized version, just themselves
A sense of alignment between who they are and how they're actually living
You don't lose your drive. You just stop running it on fear. Learn more about how EMDR works for burnout →
Tyler specializes in working with women experiencing burnout, chronic stress, anxiety, and effects from traumatic experiences
Who You’re Working With
I'm Tyler Dawneé Young, LCSW — a therapist in Palm Desert, CA specializing in burnout, chronic stress, anxiety, and trauma in high-performing women. I offer EMDR online throughout California and Utah and in-person in Palm Desert.
I'm direct, a little irreverent, and genuinely invested in you actually getting better — not just getting through sessions. If you want someone to nod at you for fifty minutes, I'm not your person. If you want to change the pattern, I am.
Learn more about me and how I work →
If this page felt uncomfortably accurate — that's your sign.
Most of the women I work with waited months before reaching out. If you're burned out, a little dead inside, and done pretending you're fine — a 15-minute call costs you nothing except the excuse you've been using to put this off.
No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation. And if I'm not the right person, I'll tell you that too.
Call or text (760) 209-6511. EMDR online for California and Utah. In-person in Palm Desert.
Questions You’re Probably Talking Yourself Out of Asking
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Stress is situational — it eases when the situation does. Burnout doesn't. If you're exhausted in a way sleep doesn't fix, foggy in ways you can't explain, detached from work you used to care about, and quietly calculating how long you can keep this pace — that's burnout.
Not sure? Take the quick burnout assessment and get a clearer picture in under two minutes.
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Because a lot of therapy for high-achievers is expensive venting with a professional nodder. If you left with more insight and zero actual change — that's a modality problem, not a you problem. EMDR works below the level of conversation. That's the difference.
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I offer 50-minute and 85-minute sessions, both online — no commute, no waiting room, no lost hour of your day. Most clients prefer the 85-minute format because it means fewer appointments and more actual progress per session. Everything is structured and intentional. This isn't open-ended therapy that runs indefinitely — we work toward specific goals and you'll know we're making progress.
During our consult and intake, we will work together to determine what could be best for you.
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Sessions are private pay. A 50-minute session is $185 and an 85-minute session is $300. I provide a superbill after each session that you can submit to your insurance for potential out-of-network reimbursement. Many of my clients recover a significant portion of the cost this way — it's worth checking your benefits before assuming it's fully out of pocket. For questions about insurance options, reach out directly.
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Fit matters.
If you are looking for therapy that is honest, structured, and focused on real change, we will work well together. If you prefer a very passive or purely supportive approach without challenge, I may not be the best match.
A consultation call allows us to determine whether this feels aligned before you commit.
In-person in Palm Desert. Online throughout California and Utah
I offer easily accessible virtual therapy in California and Utah for women experiencing burnout, anxiety, chronic stress, and effects from traumatic experiences.