Wealth Therapy and Burnout

There’s a bit of a myth about wealth and money. We think that wealth brings freedom from fear, certainty about your identity, clarity in relationships, and a consistent hum of contentment in the background. And for some, it does. However, the pursuit of wealth (often really seeking security) can be a big factor in burnout. After all, security is a basic need and we can’t just ignore that.

A pushing for wealth that comes from desperation introduces an entirely different set of challenges: subtle, unspoken, and often deeply disorienting.

As a therapist and business psychologist, I work with individuals and business owners who have “made it”and yet find themselves wrestling with an internal unease that their external success doesn’t seem to resolve. The difficut thing about feeling like this is that many others don’t understand, or think that you should just shut up. After all, what have you got to worry about, you’ve got money right? Now should be a time to rest and enjoy it, not continue on the road to burnout.

Wealth therapy isn’t about making more money

It’s about making sense of what you already have. For business owners especially, wealth can become a mask you wear—one that says I’m fine, I’ve got this, or I’m the one everyone else can lean on. But being the person everyone turns to can be a lonely place. It also means that you’re the easy person to blame when things go wrong. That’s a lot of responsibility.

Wealth therapy invites you to take off the mask, privately and without performance. It’s a space to examine your success. To look at the systems you’ve built and whether they are supprting you. Wealth can help us to meet many of our needs, but there may be others you are neglecting.  Additionally, we can really learn to feel in our bones that it’s not just money that can bring us that sense of security.

We could explore:

Guilt —when you have more than those you love and so keep working – burnout!

Workaholism – when you can’t stop, even though you have enough  – burnout!

Unspoken grief—for the time, energy, or relationships lost on the way up, so you distract yourself by relentless working – burnout!

Discomfort with receiving—even when you’ve earned it ten times over, so you weork harder to prove yourself worth it – burnout!

Fear of losing it all—or worse, of not knowing who you’d be without it  – so you keep working – burnout!

Isolation and trust – how can you connect with people who truly value you.

Taking Action

This isn’t just naval gazing. We experiment with actions that help you feel better as quickly as possible.

Many clients have outgrown the version of themselves who chased the metrics, met the goals, and built the impressive life. They want to explore not just what’s next, but who’s next? What version of themselves could they be?

A Different Kind of Wealth

Wealth should feel safe, satisfying, and aligned. Not like a fortress you have to defend or a performance you must maintain.

You’ve done the work to build your success. Now, this is the work that lets you inhabit it.

If you sense that your wealth has brought freedom but not peace, or visibility but not intimacy, you are not alone.  You may simply be ready for a different kind of wealth.