The Unhappy Professional
A Robinhood Therapy Brand
Performing, controlling, achieving, and compartmentalizing are survival skills that made you who you are today.
You learned them because you had to. They helped you gain independence, degrees, accolades, predictability, financial stability, and safety. Those are real wins.
But survival skills have costs when they require you to keep old pain out of reach. And eventually, the past catches up.
This is the paradox. Sometimes these same skills that made you successful require parts of you to stay invisible, minimize yourself, appease others, and put your needs last.
If you find yourself on either side of an affair, dealing with depression or anxiety, relying on vices, or simply finding it harder to keep wearing the mask that always protected you, it usually means something old is getting activated and your system is running out of ways to contain it.
Underneath whatever brought you here are patterns that show up in predictable moments: criticism, pressure, uncertainty, and intimacy.
When those moments hit, you tend to protect yourself in a familiar way. Some people move toward. They try harder, talk more, fix, please, pursue, or panic. Some people move away. They go quiet, numb out, detach, distract, or disappear. Others move against. They get angry, controlling, critical, or combative. Sometimes the same person cycles through all three.
And for many high-functioning people, the pattern includes coping behaviors that keep things contained: drinking, porn, spending, food, work, or staying perpetually busy. Different expressions, same purpose. Protection.
The Unhappy Professional is a therapy practice built for people who owe their success to their ability to compartmentalize.
Compartmentalizing works...until it doesn't.
You already know how to succeed. Now you need to learn how to heal.
Reach out to Our Therapists today for a free consultation.
Therapy Designed For You
What Happens in a Therapy Session
Sessions are 55 minutes. We meet weekly for the first month, after that some people choose biweekly.
You come in with whatever's on your mind. The fight with your partner. The decision you can't make. The thing that happened at work. Sometimes nothings on your mind, but the body is speaking through panic, insomnia, anxiety, numbness, or depression. Sometimes you come in not knowing what you want to talk about. That's fine too.
Your therapist is listening for what's underneath. Not just the content of what happened, but the patterns: why that situation got under your skin, what old beliefs it activated, how your body responded before your mind caught up.
Sometimes a session is mostly talking. Sometimes we slow down and stay with a feeling you'd normally push past. Sometimes we use EMDR to process a memory that's still running the show. It depends on what you need that day and where we are in the work.
The Methods
EMDR
EMDR helps reprocess memories that still carry emotional charge. That argument with your father twenty years ago, the shame from a failure you can't shake, the moment you learned you weren't safe. These memories get stuck in the nervous system and keep influencing your reactions long after the event is over. EMDR helps your brain file them properly so they stop hijacking the present.
Psychodynamic Therapy
This is the work of understanding why you do what you do. Not just your behaviors, but the beliefs underneath them. The ones you absorbed before you could question them. Why you need to be the competent one. Why you can't ask for help. Why intimacy feels dangerous. These beliefs are running in the background, shaping your choices. Psychodynamic work brings them into view so you can actually examine them.
Parts Work
You're not one unified self. There's a part of you that drives hard and a part that's exhausted. A part that wants connection and a part that pulls away. A part that's still angry about something that happened decades ago. These parts developed for good reasons, but they're often in conflict with each other. Parts work helps them communicate instead of fighting for control.
“Zack was a patient and caring guide through a difficult time.
He provided a therapeutic relationship that offered a balance of support and challenge, helping me build a stronger foundation from which to live my life.
Through EMDR I was also able to travel to the root of many beliefs that were stifling my growth — making core changes to how I see myself and my world — opening up more love in all directions.
I’m grateful.”
-AB
What Clients Say
Most people start to notice something shifting in the first couple months. They're less reactive. They're catching patterns they used to miss. They're not performing as hard.
That doesn't mean the work is done. The patterns you're dealing with took years to form. Real change takes time. Most of our clients work with us for one to two years. Some stay shorter and some longer.
How Long It Takes
Frequently Asked Questions
What if I’m not used to talking about feelings—will this be uncomfortable?
It could be, especially at first. For many high-functioning professionals, emotions have been something to manage or move past, not explore. You may have never had the space—or the safety—to really slow down and examine what you’re feeling. Therapy offers that space. It doesn’t force anything. We go at a pace your system can handle. We’ll explore what’s underneath the surface in a way that feels respectful and manageable. The discomfort doesn’t mean something’s wrong. Often, it means you’re finally being honest.
I’m good at performing—how do I know therapy won’t just become another performance?
Many successful clients are expert performers—they’ve had to be. And yes, some therapists won’t catch that. Some might even reinforce it by staying surface-level or not challenging the persona. A good therapist, though, knows how to recognize performance as a protective part of you. We don’t pathologize it—we appreciate it. Performance is often a survival strategy. We give it room. But we also get curious: what’s underneath it? Using approaches like parts work, we help that performing part connect with other parts of you that may be quieter, but just as important.
What if I start crying and can’t stop?
That’s something a lot of people worry about. But the goal of therapy isn’t to break you open—it’s to help you build capacity. If it feels like you’re holding something big, we don’t force it. We create a structure where you can open things in small, tolerable doses. Over time, it gets easier to feel what’s there without getting overwhelmed. It’s not like floodgates being blown open—it’s more like gradually letting in the light through adjustable blinds.
I just feel numb—is that something therapy can help with?
Yes. And more importantly, we understand why you might be numb. Numbness is protective. It’s the body’s way of saying, “Let’s not feel that right now.” For many clients, that numbness kept them functioning when things were hard. Therapy doesn’t try to tear that down. We respect it. We work with it. One metaphor I use is that numbness can be like having a full SWAT team guarding the front door of your house. That might have been necessary once. But maybe now, you just need a neighborhood patrol car down the street. Same purpose—less intensity. As safety builds, numbness often softens on its own.
How fast does therapy work?
You’ll likely feel something shift within the first 6–8 weeks if we’re meeting weekly. Not because everything’s fixed—but because your system starts to trust that change is possible. You might notice something small, like reacting with more calm in a situation that would’ve triggered you. That’s often the first clue therapy is working. From there, it deepens. Some people stay for six months. Some stay for two years. The goal is real integration—not quick fixes.
What if I don’t know what’s wrong—I just know something’s off?
That’s more common than you think. Some people come in with clear memories. Others just have body sensations, irritability, or an overall sense of distance or discomfort. You don’t need to know what’s wrong to start. Curiosity plus a desire to grow is enough. We talk, we listen, and over time, patterns emerge—beliefs formed in childhood, protective strategies that used to work but don’t anymore. All of that comes up in the room naturally. You don’t have to bring clarity—you just have to bring yourself.
Will I have to relive painful memories?
Not in the way you may fear. Some people worry that therapy means revisiting every painful moment and feeling it all over again. But healing doesn’t require re-traumatization. The role of the therapist is to build a relationship with your system—your thoughts, your body, your memories, and your emotions—so you’re not alone in it. We use tools like EMDR and parts work to process memories in a way that’s contained and digestible. Your system will open up what it’s ready for, when it’s ready. We don’t pry things open. We follow what your body and psyche are already trying to heal. And that’s what makes this work powerful without being destabilizing.
Can I get something out of therapy even if I’m not totally sure I want to be here?
If you're on this page, something in you is probably curious—but curiosity alone isn’t enough. In my experience, the clients who benefit most have hit a point where they’re tired of their own patterns. They’re not just curious—they’re committed. You don’t need to be 100% sure, but you do need a part of you that’s ready to show up weekly and explore what’s going on. If that’s too much right now, it’s okay. But this work is for people who are ready to do it—not just talk about doing it.
What if I’m afraid this is going to change who I am?
Let’s talk to that fear. Most people have multiple parts of themselves that helped them survive—successful parts, cautious parts, people-pleasing parts, skeptical parts. Therapy doesn’t erase those parts—it helps them evolve. We make room for the fears that say, “If I change, will I still be sharp? Will I still be strong? Will I still be me?” And then we explore. Most people don’t lose themselves in therapy. They reconnect with themselves. They shift from being run by protective patterns to living from a more centered place. And they don’t regret it.
How do I know this isn’t going to be a waste of time?
That’s a reasonable fear. And to be honest, there are therapists out there who don’t listen well, or who make the work about themselves, or who just aren’t trained for deeper processing. That’s real. What you’re looking for is a therapist who sees you clearly, respects your intelligence, and can go beneath the surface without making you feel unsafe or exposed. If this page resonates with you, that’s a sign something here might be a fit. You won’t know for sure until you try—but therapy, like anything meaningful, requires an opening. You don’t need certainty. You just need a reason to walk through the door.
I’m scared I’ll fail at this too. Is that normal?
Very. Especially for people who have internalized the idea that their value comes from achievement. If you grew up believing your worth depended on being impressive, successful, or composed, then it makes sense that therapy might feel like a test. But it’s not. Therapy invites a different paradigm—where expressing what you feel is enough. Not performing. Not fixing. Just being honest. That shift can be uncomfortable at first. But it’s also freeing. Suddenly, things like creativity, connection, or even stillness start to feel fulfilling—because you’re not doing them to earn worth. You’re doing them because you’re human.
Why weekly therapy? Can’t I just come in when I feel like it?
Weekly therapy builds momentum. When we meet consistently, we’re able to track not just what’s happening in your life, but also the deeper patterns driving your experience. We’re not just talking about what happened—we’re exploring why it happened, and what beliefs or past experiences might be underneath. When sessions are spread too far apart, we often have to spend most of our time catching up. Weekly therapy lets us go deeper and stay connected. It also helps me stay attuned to your process—remembering the nuances, the relationships, and the tools that are working for you. Biweekly can work for some, but anything more spread out makes it harder to get traction.