5 Challenges High-Achieving Women Encounter
Success and Hard Work has Given You a lot of Perks and Also Some Challenges Too
Growing up you probably weren’t called a “high achiever” but you may have taken great pride and put extra touches on school projects, spent extra time practicing your sport so you be the one to score the goal on game day, or had a wild imagination that led to be more creative.
Whatever your thing was you do know you were built for something and wanted something more. You are probably not one to just “settle” and be okay. These are awesome qualities and they make you who you are. These qualities have given you a lot success. Sometimes that success can give you challenges too. Many days you feel like you have it altogether and other days not so much.
I’m a therapist in Wilmington, NC. I provide counseling for women living in North Carolina and Maryland. I specialize in anxiety treatment due to perfectionism, imposter syndrome, and burnout. My therapy practice focuses on online therapy for anxious high achievers.
Keep reading to find out about the 5 challenges high achieving women face often.
Click the button below to schedule your free consultation with me
5 Challenges High Achieving Women Encounter
You may experience some of these things daily, once a week, monthly, or rarely ever. However, I am willing to bet that at some point in your life there has been a thought or a feeling on this list that has shown up.
#1 High achiever imposter syndrome
Imposter syndrome can have a tight grip at times. It causes a lot of self-doubt and has you questioning if you really know what you are doing. It’s the voice in your head that tells you “you’re not good enough,” “you’re a fraud,” or “you’re a phony.” Imposter syndrome may also cause you to spend a lot of time and energy on work. Leaving other areas of your life suffering.
It becomes difficult to recognize and believe in your achievements and that it’s not just “luck” that got you to this place in your life. Imposter syndrome has the ability to cause problems at work and in your relationships. Often when my client’s come into therapy it is for things such as anxiety and worries about not being good enough.
To learn more about imposter syndrome check out this helpful blog post - Imposter Syndrome: When You Feel Like a Fraud
#2 High achievers and perfectionism
Perfectionism can cause you to go into overdrive about every small thing or hit the breaks and keep you paralyzed from moving forward - this is called analysis paralysis. High achievers are highly susceptible to dealing with the challenges of perfectionism.
The element of control is great with perfectionism and it is closely linked with imposter syndrome too. In therapy, perfectionism is addressed by working with the thought process learning how to be more flexible when these thoughts present.
Check out this blog post for more information on perfectionism and how therapy is helpful to treat perfectionism - What is Perfectionism and How to Treat Perfectionism?
#3 Fear and anxiety impacting high achievers
Fear and anxiety can show up in many different ways. You might experience worries related to the job, your relationships, or your family. You may fear losing these things or if they could be taken away from you. Sometimes the worry of no longer knowing if the life you have created is the life that you want any longer.
Often times high achievers have more pressure and responsibilities. This can have a big impact on the fear and anxiety.
For more information on anxiety, check out these helpful blog posts:
Understanding Your Anxiety and How to Treat it
What to Expect When You Start Therapy for Anxiety
5 Tips for Choosing the Best Anxiety Therapist in Wilmington, NC
#4 Guilt
Sometimes with success, feelings of guilt will show up. Guilt can cause you to question if you are deserving of such things - the job, the house, the car. Guilt can also show up for high achieving women when it comes to their families. Often, clients will tell me about “mom guilt” they have because they can’t be at all the school events, left their child to return to work, etc.
A lot of this is very normal and sometimes clients can easily get stuck in those guilty feelings and it leaves them unkind messages playing on a loop in their mind. Guilt is a normal emotion to experience and in therapy we explore what this feeling might be trying to communicate to us.
#5 Loneliness
High achieving women work so hard to get where they are in life and sometimes all that hard work has resulted in spending less time developing and maintaining connections with others. Loneliness can be so hard and heavy. As humans, we naturally want to connect with others in a meaningful way.
It is easy to get isolated from friends and family. Partnerships and marriages can easily get pushed to the back burner. The time and energy isn’t there to establish new friendships and often high achieving women are in positions where it isn’t appropriate to have friendships with their employees.
Get Support Today and Get started in therapy for high achievers
Therapy for high-achievers is important and so is having support. I understand the challenge that can come with high achievers seeking help and support. It is also important to understand many of the challenges that I addressed above can also lead to burnout as well if you don’t take care of yourself. It is possible to be a high achiever, be successful, and have healthy boundaries. To get started in therapy at Calm Waters Counseling follow the steps below.
Get started in therapy by following these steps:
Schedule your free 15 minute consultation by clicking the button below
Complete the brief questionnaire sent to your email
Meet with your anxiety therapist
Start living the life you want for yourself
Other Services Offered at Calm Waters Counseling
Learn more about me and my online Wilmington, NC counseling practice.
I provide online therapy appointments to anyone located in North Carolina and Maryland. I provide therapy for women. I specialize in providing anxiety treatment, therapy for imposter syndrome, treatment for perfectionism, and burnout counseling.
Online Anxiety Therapy
I am a licensed clinical social worker in two states - North Carolina and Maryland. I am able to practice therapy in both of these states. I offer online anxiety therapy in North Carolina and online anxiety therapy in Maryland.
To learn more about online therapy in North Carolina and Maryland click the links below.
Online Therapy in Maryland
Online Therapy in North Carolina
If you’ve been interested in trying online therapy or learning more about online therapy, check out the helpful blog posts - Is Online Therapy Right for Me? & Benefits of Using Online Therapy for Anxiety Relief
For more information about getting started in therapy and frequently asked questions, click the buttons below.
Written by: Laura Rippeon, LCSW, LCSW-C
Updated 3/12/23