When you’re always giving—to your job, your family, or the people around you—it’s easy to lose sight of your own needs. Over time, that self-sacrifice can lead to emotional burnout, especially for highly sensitive people (HSPs) who process the world more intensely.
At my practice, I work with adults who feel depleted, overwhelmed, or emotionally raw. If you find yourself snapping at loved ones, withdrawing from social situations, or feeling like everything is just “too much,” you’re not alone—and you’re not broken.
Emotional burnout isn’t just being tired—it’s a deep sense of emotional exhaustion that builds over time. It’s common among people who consistently put others first, take on too much responsibility, or struggle to ask for help.
Signs of Emotional Burnout:
- Irritability or emotional reactivity to small stressors
- Feeling numb, detached, or unmotivated
- Difficulty concentrating or sleeping
- A sense of hopelessness or overwhelm
- Avoiding even simple social or relational interactions
- Increased use of coping behaviors (food, alcohol, screen time)
Burnout is particularly common among high-achieving, high-functioning individuals who tend to say “yes” to everything and everyone. Over time, their capacity to cope diminishes—even though on the outside, they still appear to have it all together.
Highly Sensitive People (HSPs) process stimuli more deeply and intensely. This means you may feel emotions more strongly, be more attuned to others’ needs, and require more recovery time after stressful experiences.
Traits of HSPs can include:
- Heightened sensitivity to noise, light, or crowds
- Emotional reactivity and deep empathy
- Becoming overstimulated in busy environments
- Strong inner world and introspection
- Deep concern for others, often at the expense of your own needs
High sensitivity isn’t a flaw—it’s a natural trait that requires care, boundaries, and recovery time. Without those, especially when paired with people-pleasing or over-responsibility, emotional burnout can set in fast.
Many clients I work with describe feeling like they “just can’t handle anything anymore.” They might once have thrived under pressure or in service to others—but now, they feel exhausted, irritable, or emotionally numb. This often signals that the sensitive nervous system has been under strain for too long.
You may relate if:
- Work you once loved now feels exhausting
- You’re withdrawing from relationships that used to bring joy
- You’re crying more, arguing more, or feeling emotionally raw
- You feel invisible, unappreciated, or emotionally overwhelmed
Sometimes, people mistake this experience for depression. While the symptoms can overlap, burnout is often rooted in external overload—not internal hopelessness. And the path forward is different.
Healing begins with permission—to rest, to reassess, and to return to yourself.
In therapy, we’ll create a safe space to:
- Understand what led to your burnout or overwhelm
- Explore the pressures and internalized beliefs that keep you overfunctioning
- Learn emotional regulation and boundary-setting skills
- Develop self-compassion and reframe your expectations
- Reconnect with your body and nervous system through mindfulness or somatic tools
- Redefine your worth beyond productivity or caretaking
We may also explore how traits of high sensitivity or past trauma influence your current patterns. My approach integrates DBT, Mindful Self-Compassion, and trauma-informed care tailored to your nervous system and emotional capacity.
- Understand what led to burnout and overfunctioning
- Explore the beliefs and pressures that keep you in “go” mode
- Set boundaries without guilt or shame
- Reconnect with your body through mindfulness and somatic tools
- Build emotional regulation and self-compassion
- Redefine your worth beyond doing or giving
You don’t need to prove your worth by giving until you break down. You don’t need to be everything to everyone. And you’re not weak for feeling overwhelmed.
You are allowed to rest. You are allowed to need. You are allowed to take up space.
Therapy offers a place to reconnect with yourself—not by pushing harder, but by listening more deeply.
📞 Call me: (516) 415-2071
🖥️ Book Online: Free 20-minute Consultation
📩 Email me: tilly.counseling@protonmail.com
for your free consultation.