Online Therapy for High Achievers in California
Online therapy for high achievers across California. In-person sessions in West Los Angeles, Century City, El Segundo, and the South Bay.
Most of the professionals I work with are already good at figuring things out. If the problem were easy, they would have solved it. Sometimes what's needed is a thinking partner for a difficult decision or transition. Other times there is more going on: stuck in the same frustrating loop, relationships under strain, or feeling like you’re on a runaway train toward a future you didn't choose.
I work with professionals throughout California online, with in-person sessions in West Los Angeles (Century City) and El Segundo.
Therapist for High Achievers in West Los Angeles (Century City) and El Segundo
Hi, I'm Tom Andre, a licensed marriage and family therapist with 11 years of experience working with professionals across California. Before becoming a therapist I produced a music festival in Rio de Janeiro, then spent years in corporate media at Sony, Paramount, and Turner Broadcasting. Working at a big company wasn't a great fit for what I wanted in life, but it was hard to see that because of the sense of security, how it looked on my resume, and what I had internalized about what I should be doing with my career.
Most of the people I work with are used to being capable and competent. The feeling that you can and should handle everything yourself can make it harder to recognize and address stress, burnout, anxiety, and perfectionism.
I work collaboratively with my clients. I don't pretend to have all the answers or to know what's right for you. What I do is press kindly but firmly on the stories we all tell ourselves, and help you figure out whether they are working for you.
My Approach to Therapy for High Achievers
My job is to help you figure out who you want to be and what it will take to get there. I ask questions that invite reflection about what has shaped you, what has mattered to you, and where you find yourself right now. We will laugh. We will tell stories. And in the course of our conversations, a road map will begin to appear. You're driving the car and I'm in the passenger seat, helping you navigate toward the version of yourself you want to become.
Who I Work With
Executives and Senior Leaders
Where do you go for help when you're the one everybody else goes to? How do you manage the voices of self-doubt in high-stakes situations? How do you perform confidence in the face of massive uncertainty? And what about switching off the performance when you leave work? Is that even possible?
Physicians and Healthcare Professionals
It's not disordered or irrational to seek help when a broken system is imposing ever greater burdens on you. Patients are more stressed than ever by costs and insurance restrictions, and that stress lands on you. Outside of work you have families, relationships, ordinary problems like everyone else. But the culture you work in doesn't leave much room for that person to exist.
Entrepreneurs and Founders
The long hours and the egos in the room are part of it. Building something can feel world-changing one day and pointless the next. And underneath all of it is a question that doesn't go away: is this actually worth it?
Attorneys and Legal Professionals
The legal profession rewards precise, adversarial thinking that seeks weakness in an argument. That skillset is valuable in court but does not always go over well in relationships. Add to that the financial pressures of billable hours and the difficulty of leaving work at work, and it can feel like there is no way out, no way to stop, no time to take a breath.
Tech Professionals
Something has shifted. The ethical questions are harder to ignore, and the job market looks much tougher than it did a few years ago. It is a strange thing to be very good at something and not be sure how you feel about where it is all heading.
Online Therapy for High Achievers Across California
Online therapy works particularly well for busy professionals because it removes the logistics entirely. No commute, no parking, no fitting it around a calendar that is already overbooked.
I am licensed in California and offer online therapy for high achievers throughout the state including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento, Orange County, San Jose, Oakland, Irvine, Pasadena, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, Fresno, and everywhere in between.
Sessions can be scheduled around your workday and joined from wherever you are, whether that’s home or the office. I keep early morning availability starting at 5am for clients who prefer to meet before the workday starts, before the rest of the house is awake, or before the mental load of the day sets in. For many high achievers, that flexibility makes it easier to stay consistent and actually do the work.
What We Work On
Perfectionism
I don't approach perfectionism as something that can or should be "cured" or "treated." Why on earth would you want to change something that helped get you where you are.
Therapy for perfectionism isn't about lowering your standards or finding a way to "accept" that you're human and make mistakes.
It's about defining your relationship with this part of you that is both a gift and a curse, and helping you decide when to lean in and how to navigate the uncomfortable times when leaning in isn't worth it, based on your own values and what matters to you most.
Burnout
Burnout therapy for high achievers is not about exhaustion or figuring out how to cope with more of the same. It's about exploring what matters to you now versus what mattered to you when you started out. People change and perspectives change and therefore of course priorities change, too.
Addressing burnout is about being intentional about the path you want in life. Sometimes we don't have the luxury of stepping out of the fast lane, but even then it is helpful to know exactly why you're still there, and what makes it worth it.
Imposter Syndrome
Should I really be the one in this position? Aren't there other people who are smarter, more experienced, more competent than me? What have I done to deserve this? Asking these questions does not mean you might be an impostor. It means you're a critical thinker who applies that same scrutiny to yourself.
Confidence doesn't materialize from within. It comes from the relationships and support structures around us. In therapy for imposter syndrome, we turn that critical eye toward the external pressures and expectations that are working against you, name them for what they are, and figure out together how to navigate them.
High-Functioning Anxiety
High-functioning anxiety tends to go unrecognized for a long time because it looks like productivity from the outside. You are doing everything right, showing up, delivering, holding it together. But internally you're rehearsing worst-case scenarios and doubting that things are actually okay.
And maybe it's your job to be the one who worries, because the stakes are actually high, and that's "why you get paid the big bucks," as they say. It's not helpful to tell you not to worry if worry is what the situation calls for. Instead, therapy for high-functioning anxiety helps you build scaffolds and support that help distribute the weight of the worry so that it moves from crushing to appropriately manageable.
Work-Life Balance and Relationships
A lot of high achievers come to therapy not because work is going badly but because everything else is. Relationships feel strained, time with family is limited, and somewhere along the way the balance tipped.
Therapy helps you get explicit about why you're working the way you are, whether it's actually serving you, and what it's costing you in the areas of your life that matter most. If it's worth it, we figure out why. If it isn't, we figure out what needs to change.
In-person Therapy for High Achievers in West Los Angeles (Century City) and El Segundo
If you prefer to meet in person, I have offices in West Los Angeles and El Segundo.
10 Minutes from:
Manhattan Beach, Playa del Rey, Westchester, Hawthorne, UCLA, Santa Monica, Westwood, Brentwood, Rancho Park, Beverly Hills
15 Minutes from:
Marina del Rey, Playa Vista, Venice, Hermosa Beach, Inglewood, Gardena, Culver City, Pico-Robertson, Sherman Oaks, Bel Air
Common Questions About Therapy for High Achievers
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The question isn't whether you need therapy. It's whether therapy will make your life better. If you've read this far, you probably already suspect it might. At its best, therapy helps you feel better now and gives you a clearer sense of where you want your life to go.
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Yes. Burnout and perfectionism are two of the most common reasons high achievers seek therapy. Burnout goes deeper than being tired and perfectionism goes deeper than having high standards. Therapy helps you understand what is actually driving both and what needs to change.
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Imposter syndrome is not a sign that you don't belong. It's often a sign that you think carefully and hold yourself to a high standard. Therapy helps you turn that critical eye outward, toward the external pressures working against you, rather than inward against yourself.
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Yes. A lot of people come in without being able to pinpoint exactly what is going on. Something feels off, the pressure has been building, or things that used to feel manageable no longer do. You do not need to have it figured out before reaching out.
Let's Have a Chat
Reaching out is the hardest part. Call or text me at (310) 776-5299 or fill out the contact form below.