Where Ambition Meets Authenticity
Therapy for High-Achieving Adults Navigating Burnout, Anxiety, and the Courage to Grow
Evidence-based treatment for burnout, high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism, and life transitions in Denver and via secure telehealth.
If you’re an ambitious high-achiever searching for a burnout therapist in Denver, you may be feeling emotionally exhausted, detached, irritable, or like you’re running on empty even when you slow down. Burnout is more than stress, it’s a pattern of chronic overload that impacts your nervous system, motivation, and sense of effectiveness. You may be ready for something to change... and you're in the right place.
Dr. Jennifer Olson-Madden
If you’re outwardly capable but inwardly exhausted, therapy can help. As a licensed psychologist based in Denver, Colorado, I specialize in helping high-achieving adults recover from burnout, chronic stress, perfectionism, and anxiety using evidence-based approaches including ACT, CBT, and mindfulness-informed therapy. Sessions are available in Denver and via secure telehealth across Colorado.
I help busy professionals navigate burnout and build lives aligned with their values - backed by 20+ years of clinical experience using ACT, CBT, and mindfulness-informed therapy.
Therapy that moves you from survival mode to
values-driven clarity
Burnout and anxiety aren’t character flaws, they’re often signals that your nervous system has been carrying too much for too long.
You might be here because:
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You feel emotionally depleted and irritable, even after rest
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Your mind won’t “turn off” (overthinking, dread, worst-case scenarios)
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You’re high-functioning, but it’s taking a toll - on sleep, mood, relationships, health
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You’re in a transition (career, parenting, relationship, identity) and feel ungrounded
In therapy, we’ll slow the cycle of overwhelm, build emotional regulation skills, and create practical, values-aligned steps you can actually sustain.
How I Help With Burnout, Anxiety, and Perfectionism
Burnout often develops when ambition, responsibility, and chronic stress outpace recovery. In therapy, we work to:
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Shift perfectionistic and over-responsibility patterns
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Reduce emotional exhaustion and overwhelm
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Strengthen sustainable boundaries
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Clarify values and align action with what truly matters
Denver-based therapy
My practice is based in Denver, CO. I offer online therapy across Colorado, and I also serve many clients in PSYPACT participating states when appropriate for telehealth.
If you’ve been searching for any of the following, you’re in the right place:
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Burnout therapist in Denver
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Anxiety therapy in Denver, CO
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ACT psychologist Denver / CBT psychologist Denver
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Online therapy in Colorado
My approach: ACT, CBT, mindfulness, and
nervous-system-informed care
I use evidence-based therapy approaches that help you change your relationship with thoughts and emotions, so you’re not constantly fighting your mind or pushing through at the cost of your health.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT helps you step out of avoidance and back into a life guided by what matters. We clarify your values, practice “unhooking” from harsh thoughts, and build committed actions that restore meaning and energy.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT helps you recognize patterns that keep anxiety and burnout going - like catastrophizing, perfectionism, over-responsibility, and self-criticism - and replace them with more effective, flexible strategies.
Mindfulness + Regulation Skills
Mindfulness isn’t about being “zen.” It’s about learning to notice what’s happening in your body and mind with more steadiness, so you can respond instead of react, and recover more fully from stress.
Areas I Specialize In
You may feel exhausted, emotionally numb, cynical, or unable to rest—even when you stop working. Therapy helps interrupt the burnout cycle, rebuild recovery, and restore a sense of effectiveness and self-trust.
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Anxiety, overthinking, and high-functioning stress
Anxiety can look like racing thoughts, constant mental scanning, physical tension, sleep disruption, and feeling “behind” no matter what you do. We’ll work on both skills and the deeper patterns that keep anxiety looping - especially for high-achievers.
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Perfectionism & performance pressure
When your standards are relentless, burnout becomes more likely. We’ll practice healthier ambition: clear priorities, flexible thinking, values-based “good enough,” and boundaries that protect your energy.
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Life transitions & identity shifts
Transitions -career changes, parenting seasons, relationship changes like marriage or divorce, loss, relocation, redefining purpose - can destabilize your sense of self. Therapy can help you reorient, reconnect to your values, and build a grounded next step.
If past experiences continue to shape your sense of safety, trust, or self-worth, we’ll approach healing gently and skillfully, prioritizing regulation, pacing, and restoring agency.
What therapy with me is like
You can expect a therapy space that is collaborative, grounded, and practical. We’ll identify what’s keeping you stuck, build tools you can use in real life, and create a clear plan for change - without losing compassion for the parts of you that have been trying to cope.
In sessions, we often focus on:
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Reducing overwhelm and improving stress recovery
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Building emotional regulation and nervous-system safety
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Shifting unhelpful thought patterns (CBT)
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Increasing psychological flexibility (ACT)
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Strengthening boundaries, identity, and values-based choices
Common Questions
What is high-functioning anxiety?
High-functioning anxiety describes anxiety that is often hidden behind competence, productivity, and reliability. You may appear calm and successful while privately experiencing persistent worry, overthinking, muscle tension, sleep disruption, or fear of falling behind. It is not a formal diagnosis, but it can describe a meaningful pattern that deserves support.
How do I know whether I am burned out or just stressed?
Stress is often connected to a specific demand and may ease when the demand passes or you have time to recover. Burnout is more persistent and commonly includes emotional exhaustion, detachment or cynicism, reduced effectiveness, and the sense that ordinary rest is no longer restoring you. Anxiety, depression, medical conditions, and burnout can overlap, so an individualized assessment can help clarify what is happening.
Can therapy help me change perfectionism without losing my ambition?
Yes. Perfectionism therapy is not about lowering every standard or becoming less motivated. It helps you distinguish healthy, values-driven striving from fear-driven pressure, rigid rules, and performance-based self-worth. The goal is to preserve what matters about your ambition while reducing overwork, avoidance, self-criticism, and burnout.
What types of clients do you work with?
I work primarily with adults, including professionals, leaders, caregivers, undergraduate and graduate students, and other high-achieving people who appear capable externally but feel anxious, depleted, stuck, or disconnected internally. Common concerns include burnout, perfectionism, high-functioning anxiety, trauma, relationship stress, and major life or identity transitions.
Do you offer online therapy throughout Colorado and PSYPACT states?
Yes. I provide secure telepsychology to adults located in Colorado and, when authorized and clinically appropriate, in participating PSYPACT jurisdictions. Eligibility depends on where you are physically located at the time of each session, and PSYPACT participation can change, so location is confirmed before treatment begins.
How do I begin therapy?
The first step is a free 15-minute consultation. We will briefly discuss what is bringing you to therapy, what you are looking for, and whether my approach and services appear to be a good fit. If we decide to proceed, I will provide secure intake forms and schedule an initial assessment session.
Contact Dr. Olson-Madden
2000 S. Colorado Blvd
Denver, CO 80222
720-5883823
