Therapy for Stress Leave: Support When You Can’t Push Through Anymore
You didn’t plan to hit a wall. But here you are, off work, exhausted, overwhelmed, and unsure how to recover. Whether your stress leave was triggered by burnout, anxiety, trauma, or long-term over-functioning, therapy gives you the space to rest, reflect, and reorient. This is a chance to heal, and redefine what thriving looks like for you.
What Is Stress Leave Therapy?
Stress leave therapy is short- or medium-term support focused on emotional recovery during a period away from work. It helps you:
– Understand what led to the crash
– Process what your body, mind, or spirit have been holding
– Recover from burnout, anxiety, moral injury, or identity loss
– Make decisions about returning, pivoting, or resetting
– Rebuild your sense of self, not just your job function
It’s not about “fixing you to get back to work faster.” It’s about helping you recover fully and wisely so you can re-discover your values and the essential changes you need to make to live the life you want.
Common Reasons People Take Stress Leave
People come to therapy on stress leave for many reasons:
– Burnout from caregiving, healthcare, leadership, or service roles
– Overwhelm and chronic anxiety
– Grief or trauma that made work impossible to continue
– Moral injury or values conflict in the workplace
– Identity loss or existential collapse tied to work
This might feel like: your body shuts down, your mind freezes, or your spirit feels broken. It’s time to get help.
Healing and re-discovery during therapy for stress leave
What Happens in Therapy While You’re Off Work?
Every session is tailored to where you are and offers gentle guidance to help you explore your story, strategies for healing and recovery as well as considering your goals for the future. That might include:
- Expressing what broke down and how you got where you are
- Grieving what work has cost you
- Making space for anger, fear, or shame
- Exploring what “recovery” means when you can’t go back to how things were
- Slowly rebuilding a future that’s more aligned and less punishing
You may also spend time identifying internalized beliefs about work, worth, and success. There are often inherited, reinforced, or unexamined parts of your life that you may be repeating unconsciously. Therapy can help you release the pressure to “go back stronger” and instead rebuild a way of living that honours your nervous system, values, and capacity.
Book A Free Consult
Do I Need a Diagnosis? Can I Still Come to Therapy?
You don’t need a formal diagnosis to benefit. Some clients are navigating short-term sick leave. Others are applying for long-term disability or considering a career shift. If you’re asking “Is this enough to get support?”, the answer is yes.
Support for Helping Professionals on Leave
If you’re a therapist, nurse, pastor, educator, or first responder, you may be carrying both personal pain and vocational guilt. I specialize in working with those whose calling has become a wound. Therapy offers space to unpack the cost of care and recover your own humanity.
Online Therapy Across Ontario
I offer secure, compassionate online therapy for stress leave across Ontario, including:
Toronto, Kitchener-Waterloo, Ottawa, London, Hamilton, the GTA, and beyond.
Appointments are available during various hours to align with your rest and healing rhythm.
More Questions About Therapy for Stress Leave?
Email Erika to start the conversation about burnout recovery and how therapy can help.
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Learn More About Therapy for Stress Leave
Professionals on stress leave have unique needs and will thrive with the right support. Subscribe for my newsletter to get insight and consolidated research every month.
