It's time to take care of you.
Reclaim your vitality, bit by bit.
It's time to take care of you.
Reclaim your vitality, bit by bit.
Therapy for Health and Social Impact Professionals
Burnout isn't inevitable or a permanent state.
I’m a therapist. I specialize in helping fellow health and social impact professionals reclaim their well-being.
As of 2019, burnout has been reclassified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a condition where various aspects of how we are required to work or how the work environment itself adversely affect our wellbeing. The risk of burnout is off the charts for many but especially for those whose vocation and ethos call them to serve tirelessly (educators, nurses, physicians, leaders, social workers, psychologists). I see this as a great travesty—those who devote their lives to helping others often find their own health compromised. What a cruel irony.
Burnout is a thief of many things: your zest, your why, and any semblance of peace. In many cases it also affects our physical health, our ability to enjoy anything at all. This is because the systems we’re trying to function within are often dysfunctional. They can become incubators of burnout and indisposition.
To survive, and thrive it requires strategic action—and lots of creative work-arounds.
My life’s work has been devoted to addressing burnout for those working within health and human services and educational settings. This work is never a one size fits all approach. I want to help you take the best discoveries of behavioral science and use them effectively according to your own needs and variables to nurture and sustain your well-being.
I also want to help you reactivate joy, creativity, and fun in your life. I take humor seriously—and am not one of those therapists to give you a proverbial head nod and never crack a smile. Not all issues need tissues.
Momentum can be found. You don’t have to marinate in constant anxiety, sacrifice your own well-being, live in a space of jadedness and cynicism, or stew in guilt that you’re not enough or doing enough. In my writing, I call this Underperformance Dysmorphic Disorder (UDD) and am all in for helping you find a more humane mirror. And practical strategies on how to self-advocate, set boundaries, make changes, and sustain yourself through the complexity of health and human systems of today.
I see clients in person in Providence, Rhode Island. Yes-that’s right—face to face—it’s still a thing. Disclaimer: my office is located above a cafe where the smell of chocolate hazelnut croissants and salted caramel lattes waft through the walls. Plan accordingly. (And by the way, if you're not into coffee and croissants, there's also an amazing cheese shop and yoga studio within stone's throw of my office--three cheers for Wayland square, PVD!) If you need a hybrid option, we can discuss--but in general I recommend coming in person.
The office itself is a tiny space where you can learn to take tiny steps to reclaim your well-being. I love art—so while my space won't trend on Pinterest, I’ve put some thought into making it a place where you can at least have fifty minutes of serenity in your day.
Because your time is precious, I am all about maximizing your investment in therapy. As I get to know you, I'll curate some resources and activities to help you take the kinds of actions that add momentum and meaning to your life.
I also provide on-site and virtual training for institutions and organizations seeking to create healthy mental health cultures and revitalize their people. You can find that information here.
Please note that because of my full-time commitment to my work at a University, I maintain only a small number of clients and refer out for anyone experiencing a severe, destabilizing crisis for comprehensive mental health services where emergencies can be properly tended to.
My fees align with my credentials; I don’t directly bill Insurance companies. As such, I am an out of network provider for various PPO/POS insurance plans. I will gladly provide you with an invoice or a superbill to submit for partial reimbursement (general coverage is around 70% once deductible met). Every plan is different, so please check with your insurance provider to determine your out-of-network arrangement.
If this sounds like a fit for you, please send an email to set up a brief phone call to see whether collaborating together makes sense.
In solidarity,
Kristen Lee, EdD, LICSW