When a successful person walks into a therapist’s office it can often be a daunting experience. Many people have the misconception that therapy is only for times of distress or devastating crisis. This is proved untrue by the number of successful individuals that seek therapy to support them in their daily lives.
Anyone can use therapy to support them in this way. A skilled therapist can offer talk therapy to all people who seek to improve their outlook and coping strategies. To understand this better we look at five most common reasons successful people seek therapy.
Imposter syndrome is not a classifiable diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual V-TR. However, it is a commonly observed state of being noted in successful people. This state of being often leaves a person feeling like a fraud and unworthy of their success.
These feelings are expressed in self doubt and anxiety. This constant self doubt leads to increased stress levels, lower self worth, and feeling guilty about achievements. These feelings are often misplaced as to achieve the success the person has and continues to work extremely hard.
Treating imposter syndrome with therapy will teach healthy ways to view oneself and the work that we do.
With any high level management positions, wildly successful individuals, or high achievers, the stress of the job can become overwhelming. Job stress has the tendency to seep into other aspects of our lives and affects our physical health, can cause marital problems, and limit the opportunity for genuine friendships.
This stress cannot always be taken away, however, professional help can offer you healthy ways to increase your self worth and persevere longer. You will feel that with some reframing of thoughts and stress management techniques, you can begin to live a holistic life and not solely focus on the stress of success.
It can get lonely at the top. People may be intimidated by you or see you as a business connection and not an opportunity for a genuine friendship. This can leave a successful person feeling ostracized and unapproachable. This can damage self esteem and leave you feeling like your only worth is linked to your achievements.
When this occurs it is quite likely that a feeling of self doubt and imposter syndrome may appear. We need a social support network to help in managing stress, sharing the highs and lows of success and giving us more than work to occupy our minds and time. This can increase our own confidence.
Sometimes natural go getters hold some ingrained core beliefs that drive them towards the pursuit of success. These core beliefs may have a negative impact on the general mental wellbeing of an individual.
Successful therapy brings these core beliefs to the surface to be explored and understood. It may be that a motivator to succeed is to prove their parents wrong, or strive to be different from their family, they may wish to pay their parents back for their sacrifices.
Understanding these core beliefs can help shift the direct link many successful people have between their worth and their success. This shift helps to alleviate stress and imposter syndrome. These shifts may take a few sessions to be fully realized and processed.
What happens when everything you have worked for, everything you have based yourself on falls away? This fear is acutely felt by high-achieving individuals. The success they have achieved is so closely related to their identity and worth that if it is lost or fails it is seen as a direct comment on them as individuals.
This fear can become a driving force in a successful person’s life, and this could lead to overworking, burnout, and further unrealistic expectations. These things impact personal relationships, health, social interactions and eventually, may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Being able to go to therapy and explore ways to balance and view this fear in a realistic manner can help successful people keep their work and personal lives working together and in sync. Where each part receives the same amount of attention and effort. This practice leads to a happier person, with less fear.
Going to therapy does not always mean that there is something wrong or you are not coping with life. Therapy can be used as a supportive practice to ensure that you are managing to keep up with the demands of your life and achieve all that you wish. Many successful people make therapy a regular addition to their schedule to ensure that they are supported in their high achievements. If you feel that this might benefit you as well, reach out to One Life Counselling and Coaching to book your first session.
