Common Questions About Therapy for Burnout & Executive Functioning

A warm sunlit interior space, representing the welcoming and supportive environment at Viridian Counseling in Meriden, CT

Things people wonder before they reach out.

You don't need to have the right words or a clear diagnosis before you contact me. But if you're doing research first, this is for you.

About Sydney & Viridian Counseling

I work with adults, couples, and families who are navigating burnout, executive functioning challenges, identity questions, and generational patterns. Most of my clients are high-functioning people who look capable from the outside and are quietly exhausted on the inside. Many are neurodivergent, first-generation, or both. I work with people across a range of ages, backgrounds, and life circumstances, and I bring the same directness and flexibility to each of them.
I don't come to this work from the outside. My family includes people who are neurodivergent, and I give these strategies to people I love in real time. I also attend therapy myself every week, because I believe the only way to show up fully for my clients is to do my own work. That combination of lived proximity and clinical training tends to show up quickly in session. Clients often say they didn't expect to feel understood so fast.
My style is direct, warm, and practical. I'm not going to hand you a binder of techniques and send you home to implement them alone. We build things together, at your pace, around how your brain actually works.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC) based in Meriden, CT. I hold a Master of Science in Counseling and draw on cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and strengths-based frameworks in my work. I adapt these to fit the person in front of me rather than applying them by formula.
My office is located at 1 Prestige Drive, Suite 203F, Meriden, CT 06450. I see clients in person and prefer in-person sessions when possible. I serve New Haven County and Hartford County in person, and I offer telehealth sessions for clients anywhere in Connecticut. I am currently licensed in Connecticut only.

Getting started & the consultation

A free consultation is a 15-minute phone or video call where we talk about what you're navigating and you can ask me any questions you have. I'll share a little about how I work, and we'll both get a sense of whether this feels like the right fit. There's no obligation to move forward and no pressure in the conversation. It's just a starting point.
No. You do not need a formal diagnosis to begin. Many of the people I work with have never been diagnosed with anything and are simply recognizing patterns in their lives that are no longer working. What matters is whether the way you're currently functioning is sustainable, not whether it has a clinical label attached to it. We start with where you are, not what you've been told you are.
My style is direct, warm, and practical. I'm not going to hand you a binder of techniques and send you home to implement them alone. We build things together, at your pace, around how your brain actually works.
The best way to find out is through the consultation. That said, a few things that tend to make this a good fit: you want a therapist who is direct and practical, not just reflective; you're looking for someone who understands neurodivergence from the inside, not just as a clinical category; you want to build something in sessions, not just process feelings. If that sounds like what you need, there's a good chance we'll work well together.
Yes. I offer telehealth sessions for clients anywhere in Connecticut through the TherapyNotes secure telehealth portal, or Doxy.me as a backup. Sessions work the same way as in-person: same length, same structure, same approach. The main requirement is that you have a private space, a reliable internet connection, and a device with a camera. Telehealth clients are expected to follow the same procedures outlined in the Consent for Telehealth Agreement provided at intake.
Most clients start with weekly sessions. As the work progresses and you build more internal resources, we may shift to biweekly depending on your goals and where you are clinically. The frequency is something we decide together based on what you need, not a one-size-fits-all schedule.

Cost, insurance, & payment

Viridian Counseling is a cash pay practice and does not bill insurance directly. This is a deliberate choice. It allows me to work with you without a diagnosis driving the plan, without session limits set by a third party, and without your treatment being shaped by what insurance will reimburse rather than what you actually need. Superbills are available upon request for potential out-of-network reimbursement through your insurer.
Individual therapy: $170 for 60 minutes, $150 for 45 minutes, $145 for 30 minutes.
Couples and family therapy: $170 for 60 minutes.
Initial diagnostic evaluation: $200 for 60 minutes.
Payment is due at the time of each session. I accept credit card, debit card, HSA/FSA card, check, and cash. Receipts are provided for all cash and check payments.
My style is direct, warm, and practical. I'm not going to hand you a binder of techniques and send you home to implement them alone. We build things together, at your pace, around how your brain actually works.
Yes, on a limited basis. I hold a small number of sliding scale spots for clients experiencing financial strain, determined on a case-by-case basis. Rates range from $100 to $170 depending on need. If cost is a barrier, please mention it when you reach out. We can have an honest conversation about what is possible without any pressure.
Appointments must be cancelled at least 24 hours in advance to avoid a late cancellation fee of $100. You can reschedule within the same calendar week as your original appointment to avoid this fee. No-shows are also subject to the $100 fee and are documented in clinical records. If you have more than three late cancellations or no-shows within a 90-day period, we will have a conversation about your attendance and clinical fit.
A superbill is an itemized receipt that includes the diagnostic and procedure codes insurers need to process out-of-network claims. You pay for your session upfront and then submit the superbill to your insurance company for potential partial reimbursement. Whether and how much you are reimbursed depends on your specific plan's out-of-network benefits. I recommend calling your insurer before starting therapy to ask about your out-of-network mental health coverage.

How therapy works

Sessions are collaborative, not scripted. We typically start by checking in on what has come up since we last met, then move into whatever is most alive for you that day. Sometimes that means working through something concrete, a stuck pattern, a system that isn't functioning, a conversation you need to have. Sometimes it means slowing down and looking at what is underneath the surface issue. My job is to follow your lead while also noticing things you might not be able to see on your own yet.
That depends on what you're working on and what change looks like for you. Some clients come for a focused period of 12 to 20 sessions and reach their goals. Others work with me longer because they're addressing patterns that have been present for decades and want more sustained support. I don't push clients to stay longer than they need to, and I don't rush people toward a finish line when there's still meaningful work to do. We assess as we go.
My training draws on cognitive-behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and strengths-based counseling. In practice, I don't apply these by formula. I use them as frameworks that I adapt to the person in front of me, your brain, your history, your goals, and the life you are actually living, not an idealized version of it. Clinical jargon does not serve my clients. Plain language and practical tools do.
One of the clearest signs I see is when clients start recalling things we have talked about between sessions and applying them on their own. When they come back and say "I remembered what you said" or "I caught myself doing that pattern and did something different." That internal advocate, the one who knows you're allowed to have limits and make choices that fit you, is what we're building. When that voice gets louder, that's the work taking hold.
Yes, with the standard legal and ethical exceptions. What you share in sessions is confidential. I am required by law to break confidentiality if there is a risk of imminent harm to you or someone else, if I receive a court order, or if a minor is at risk of abuse or neglect. These exceptions are covered in your informed consent documents at intake. If you have questions about confidentiality, please ask. I would rather you understand it clearly than wonder about it.

Executive functioning & ADHD

Executive functioning is the set of mental skills that help you plan, start, sustain, and complete tasks. It's how your brain manages time, prioritizes, regulates emotions, and shifts between demands. When these skills are working well, daily life feels manageable. When they're not, even simple things can feel impossibly heavy, not because you're incapable, but because the initiation system isn't firing the way it needs to.
No. Executive functioning challenges show up in people with ADHD, anxiety, depression, trauma histories, burnout, and people who don't carry any of those diagnoses. If the way you're currently functioning isn't sustainable, that's enough to start. You don't need a label to recognize a pattern worth changing.
Task paralysis is the experience of being unable to start a task despite having the intention, capacity, and often the urgency to do so. It is not the same as procrastination. Procrastination is typically about avoiding something that feels unpleasant. Task paralysis can happen with tasks you genuinely want to do and care deeply about. The freeze often comes not from not wanting to, but from an initiation system that isn't firing. I wrote a full post about this if you want to go deeper.
Yes, and not just by giving you a new productivity system. Effective therapy for executive functioning works at the level of the pattern underneath the paralysis. Understanding what is driving the freeze, what emotional and neurological factors are at play, and building tools that fit your specific brain rather than a generic template. Many clients describe it as the first time a strategy actually stuck, because it was built around how they actually work, not how they wish they worked.
For most of the clients I work with, burnout doesn't arrive as a dramatic breakdown. It arrives quietly. As irritability that wasn't there before. As the inability to care about things you used to care about. As exhaustion that sleep doesn't fix. As showing up to your life and feeling completely absent from it. High-functioning burnout is particularly hard to catch because the outer performance stays intact long after the inner resources are gone.

Identity, boundaries, and generational patterns

Identity work addresses the gap between who you actually are and who you have been performing in order to belong, keep the peace, or meet other people's expectations. It looks at inherited roles, cultural pressure, family patterns, and the beliefs about yourself that formed before you had the language to question them. It is not about walking away from where you came from. It is about examining what was handed to you and deciding what actually belongs to you.
Yes, though it takes longer than most people expect and the relationship will change, which is not the same as being damaged. Many of my clients find that the relationships they have after setting limits are more honest and in some cases closer than the ones they had before. The relationship that existed before was often built on one person carrying more in silence. That is not closeness. The friction of change is real and worth sitting with.
Yes. A significant part of my work is with clients navigating the tension between cultural values and individual needs, particularly in Latinx and other collectivist family systems. I work to honor your cultural background rather than applying a generic framework to a specific experience. That means learning about your family system, your history, and your values before offering any direction. The goal is never to abandon where you come from. It is to figure out how to carry it in a way that doesn't cost you yourself.
Generational patterns are ways of relating, coping, and organizing family life that get passed down across generations, often without anyone choosing them consciously. Patterns like overgiving, emotional suppression, caretaking at the expense of self, or the belief that asking for help is weakness. They can be changed. Not quickly, and not without friction, but yes. The person who decides to do things differently in their family is doing some of the most meaningful and difficult work there is.

Couples & family therapy

Most couples I work with are dealing with some combination of role imbalance, unspoken expectations, and communication that keeps breaking down under pressure. One partner is often carrying more than feels fair, and neither person fully understands why the same argument keeps happening in different forms. Neurodivergence is frequently part of the picture, even when it hasn't been named. Two brains that process differently don't automatically know how to coordinate, and that structural friction can look like a relationship problem when it's actually a systems problem.
Both partners need to be willing to show up and engage honestly. They don't need to feel equally enthusiastic about starting, and they don't need to agree on what the problem is. But if one person is attending only to satisfy the other with no genuine intention to participate, couples therapy is unlikely to help. The consultation is a good place to talk through any hesitation either of you has before committing to sessions.
No. Both of you come into the room with histories, needs, nervous systems, and blind spots. Both of you matter equally in this space. I will be direct with both of you when something needs to be named, and I won't soften things to the point where nothing actually changes. But I am not there to validate one partner at the expense of the other. I am there to help you both see your dynamic clearly and make decisions from that clarity, together.
Yes. The presenting issues look different in families versus couples but the thread is usually the same: everyone wants to be heard, understood, and able to show up in their relationships without feeling like they are failing every role simultaneously. In family work we focus on communication, expectations, and creating shared responsibility that doesn't rely on one person holding everything together. Advocacy is always the overlap.
No. Couples therapy is not appropriate where active abuse is present. It is not a substitute for individual safety planning, and it should not be used as a tool by one partner to manage or control the other. If you are in an unsafe situation, please reach out to the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788. If you are unsure whether your situation fits for couples work, contact me directly and we can talk through it honestly.

Still have a question?

The consultation is free and there's no pressure to commit. Reach out and we'll figure out the rest together.

Start the Conversation