Stress Therapy and Counselling in London

Stress is not a single condition but a label applied to a range of experiences in which the demands placed on a person exceed, or feel as though they exceed, the resources available to meet them. The experience is both physiological — the activation of the stress response, with its attendant symptoms of raised heart rate, muscle tension, disrupted sleep, and cognitive narrowing — and psychological: the particular quality of being overwhelmed, of things feeling unmanageable, of the horizon compressing to the immediate.

Therapy for stress is not primarily about managing the symptoms, though symptom management has its place. It is about understanding the relationship between the person and the demands they are carrying — what they have taken on and why, what they find themselves unable to refuse, what the stress is doing psychologically in addition to its obvious costs, and what would genuinely need to change for the situation to become sustainable.

Stress in professional and executive contexts

The practice works extensively with executives, leaders, and professionals whose stress has reached or is approaching clinical levels. This population presents with a particular version of the challenge: the demands are often real and legitimately high, the person’s identity is often substantially invested in their professional performance, and the prospect of reducing output or acknowledging limitation carries a specific psychological charge. Executive coaching alongside therapy can be particularly effective in this context — addressing both the psychological dimension and the practical professional questions simultaneously.

When stress becomes burnout

Sustained high stress that does not resolve tends eventually toward burnout — a clinical state of exhaustion, detachment, and collapsed efficacy from which recovery requires more than a holiday. The practice offers specific work with burnout as part of the executive coaching and therapy offering. See the stress at work page for more detail.