Burnout and Anxiety in Working Women: How EMDR Therapy Makes a Difference

By Djuan Short, LCSW | EMDR Certified Therapist | Philadelphia, PA + NJ

If you feel exhausted no matter how much you rest, you are not alone. For many women, anxiety is not just a feeling—it’s the body’s way of sounding an alarm.

She sat across from me on our first session, fully composed, articulate, and utterly exhausted. She described her week: back-to-back meetings, a flawless performance review, and a family situation managed on her lunch break. On Sunday night, she could not sleep, her mind running through everything she might have missed. She has done everything right, but still does not feel right.

Does this sound like you? If so, you are not falling apart.

You are falling behind on managing something that was never supposed to be managed alone.

If you have been treating your exhaustion like a scheduling problem, an attitude problem, or a need-a-vacation problem, the data says otherwise. And so does your body.

Workplace anxiety in women is not a trend.

Workplace anxiety in women is not a trend. For many women across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, it is the loudest signal their system has sent in years. EMDR Therapy for Anxiety helps by targeting the root cause of stored stress and trauma, providing relief that addresses this signal at its source. EMDR Therapy for Anxiety uses guided eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation to help the brain process and release difficult memories and emotions.

You can also read more about how EMDR actually works and whether it is safe in two posts already on the blog: How EMDR actually works and Is EMDR safe?

EMDR Therapy for Anxiety: Addressing the Hidden Burden Women Carry at Work

Here is what the research tells us.

In 2023, 69% of all mental health-related leaves of absence were taken by women — a 300% increase from 2017 (ComPsych, 2023). Of those, Millennial women accounted for 33% and Gen X women for 30%.

That is not a coincidence. That is a pattern.

Taking leave for emotional or mental health reasons does not mean women are less capable. They occur because women have long absorbed what the workplace was never built to address: the invisible weight of always appearing competent and in control, while silently carrying the emotional burden of adapting to, navigating, and managing the dynamics and expectations of every environment they enter—often without acknowledgment or support.

Employees are now 51% more likely to feel depressed at work than they were pre-pandemic, and burnout has risen 17% in the same period (MetLife, 2024).

For Black women and other women of color in leadership, research shows they face a compounded burden: not only the demands of their role, but also the invisible tax of being expected to represent and prove the potential of their entire group (Harvard Business Review, 2017).

A 2023 McKinsey Women in the Workplace report found that Black women remain significantly underrepresented at every step of the corporate ladder while being overrepresented in the emotional labor required to navigate those spaces. The body keeps track of it all.

Workplace anxiety in women is not a mindset or perception problem. It is a physiological response to a real and chronic load. EMDR Therapy for Anxiety addresses these deeper patterns by helping the body process and release what rest and other strategies cannot. Unlike other approaches, EMDR Therapy for Anxiety directly targets the physiological patterns that keep women stuck in cycles of stress.

Why Workplace Anxiety in Women Is Unprocessed Trauma, Not a Performance Issue

The anxiety you carry into the workplace is not evidence that you are not built for this.

It is evidence that your body is still protecting you from something it has not yet had the chance to process.

Your body prioritizes survival over logic. That is not a flaw. That is biology. But when survival responses stay activated long after the original threat has passed, they no longer protect you—they start to interfere with your daily life and wellbeing.

For example, you snap at a colleague and feel immediate shame. You freeze when challenged in a meeting, then overwork for three days to compensate. You cannot turn off at 9pm. You wake at 3am with your chest already tight, calculating what you may have missed.

That is not a character flaw. That is a body stuck in a loop; it was never given permission to exit.

In our work, the most consistent pattern we see is anxiety as the presenting symptom, but the root is unprocessed accumulation—not one dramatic event, but years of being overlooked, over-expected, underestimated, or asked to carry (emotionally/mentally) more than was yours to carry.

For example, one client described always feeling on edge at work, never realizing her body was still responding to years of unprocessed trauma that showed itself in her sense of safety in her workplace identity.

EMDR Therapy for Anxiety works by targeting the buildup of unprocessed stress and emotions stored in your body—not just in your thoughts, but in the physical patterns and automatic responses developed over time.

​We teach every client this: you are not stuck because you do not understand. You are stuck because your system is still organized around protection.

Burnout and Anxiety in Women: Rest Restores and EMDR Creates Resolution

Burnout is not just about workload—it is the result of unprocessed emotional labor.

Rest restores, but EMDR heals at a deeper level. Both are important: rest is necessary for day-to-day functioning, while EMDR is needed to break the persistent cycles of burnout and anxiety that rest alone cannot resolve.

Most women we see are not burnt out from too many tasks, but from carrying unspoken stress, emotional burdens, and unresolved feelings that others in the room avoid.

It is the emotional labor of noticing tension no one else will name, managing not only your reactions but the discomfort of those around you. It is code-switching, softening, translating, and still being told you are too much or not enough. It is being the family ATM and emotional anchor—at work, at home, everywhere.

That burden settles into your body, showing up as tight shoulders, a clenched jaw, and the familiar headache behind your eyes every Sunday night.

Burnout at this level does not respond to Paid Time Off (PTO). PTO pauses the draining, but does not empty the tank. You return rested, the cycle resumes, and you end up where you started—because the underlying pattern remains unaddressed.

EMDR is recognized by the EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) as an evidence-based treatment for both acute trauma and chronic stress—the kind that leads to burnout, a slow erosion rather than a single crisis.

Survival mode does not ask what you want; it asks what is necessary. If you have been in survival mode for years—at work, at home, in your own body—you may not even know what you want anymore.

That is not a personal failure. It is what happens when your body stays stuck in stress mode for too long.

How EMDR Therapy Uniquely Addresses Anxiety and Burnout

We recognize that these tools are valuable and often form part of a comprehensive approach to healing. However, what they may not address is the deeper, stored patterns that contribute to ongoing burnout and anxiety.

Mindfulness creates awareness of the present moment. But if the present moment keeps triggering a past wound, awareness alone keeps you circling. Medication can reduce symptom intensity. But the underlying pattern that keeps generating those symptoms is still running. PTO removes the trigger temporarily. But you take yourself on vacation.

EMDR Therapy for Anxiety works differently. It addresses the way your body physically stores and organizes past stress—working directly with deeply embedded responses that other therapies may overlook. This allows EMDR to shift patterns that have accumulated over years, rather than just managing surface symptoms.

We use the lid-off, witness, lid-back-on framework. "Lid off" means gently opening a memory or feeling; "witness" is observing and processing it together; "lid back on" is closing that process and returning to the present. We move at a pace that feels safe for you, always guided by your comfort and readiness.

EMDR's unique benefit is creating lasting change—not just teaching coping strategies, but helping your body actually reset its stress response. After EMDR, clients often find that their system no longer reacts the same way to past triggers because the stored alarm is directly addressed rather than just managed.

Many clients notice that after EMDR, the meetings that used to trigger hypervigilance lose their charge; the Sunday scaries no longer have the same intensity, and the loop quiets. The job has not changed, but their response to it has.

Here is what an EMDR session actually looks like: We start by helping you identify a memory, situation, or feeling that has been causing distress. Using guided eye movements or other forms of bilateral stimulation, we guide you in processing that memory in small, manageable pieces. You remain in control at every stage, and the process is gentle and structured. Many clients are surprised by how supported and safe they feel, and by the fact that you do not have to relive anything in detail for it to work. The goal is not to erase memories, but to help your mind and body finally let go of the anxiety attached to them, so that you can respond differently in your present life.

To learn more about how EMDR can help you or to take the next step, click the link to schedule a consultation.

High-Functioning Anxiety in Women: When Everything Looks Fine but Feels Unsafe

You already know who we are talking about: the woman who leads at work and at home, always reliable, always driven.

She runs the team. She runs the home. She is the first one called and the last one to ask for anything. She does not look anxious. She looks driven.

Inside, she is exhausted in a way she cannot explain without sounding ungrateful. She has tried breathing. She has read the books. She has canceled plans to rest. She is still waking at 3am. Still overriding herself. Still performing strength she does not have.

High-functioning anxiety in women is one of the most underidentified patterns in high-achieving professionals. It often appears to be a competence rather than a disorder. Signs include relentless preparation, difficulty delegating, restlessness accompanied by guilt, and a persistent sense that something is about to go wrong, even in the face of success. Self-help strategies rarely touch it, because this kind of anxiety is not just in the mind—it is stored in the body.

That is why the EMDRIA identifies anxiety disorders and stress responses as core treatment targets for EMDR therapy— precisely because anxiety at this level is rarely just cognitive. It is physiological. It lives in the body.

If you see yourself here, know this: functioning is not the same as wellness, and adaptation is not healing. You are not too capable or too “together” for therapy—this work is for you. And you deserve to feel more than just fine.

EMDR Therapy for Anxiety in Pennsylvania and South Jersey

Here is something we say in session when a client asks why they keep ending up in the same place, no matter how hard they try.

The pattern does not change until the feeling underneath it changes. Not the thought. The feeling. And the feeling lives in the body, not in the to-do list.

If you are reading this in Philadelphia, the Main Line, Bala Cynwyd, Harrisburg, or Pittsburgh, or across South Jersey in Cherry Hill, Marlton, or Haddonfield, anxiety and trauma therapy is available to you via telehealth in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

We offer a 30-minute consultation session. You bring your questions. You get a feel for how we work. Afterward, you will have a clear sense of whether this is the right fit for you and what your next steps could be.

You do not have to be in crisis. You do not have to have hit a wall. You just have to be tired enough of adapting to finally ask what healing would actually feel like.

◆ FAQ SECTION

Q: I function well at work. Do I really have anxiety and trauma?

Functioning is not the same as wellness. Many high-performing, high-functioning women are also exhausted in a way they cannot name. High-functioning anxiety rarely looks like panic; instead, it appears as relentless preparation, difficulty delegating, and a quiet dread that never fully leaves. EMDR therapy for anxiety is not about failure—it is about the cost of maintaining your current level of success.

Q: Does EMDR work for anxiety — especially if I have not experienced a single dramatic trauma?

Yes. This is one of the most important things to understand about EMDR for anxiety. It does not require a single dramatic event. EMDRIA recognizes that EMDR effectively treats anxiety that builds from accumulated stress, chronic pressure, and repeated experiences of being overlooked, over-expected, or unsupported. Years of carrying what others would not feel qualified to carry. Your body has been counting.

Q: How is EMDR different from therapy I have tried before?

If you already understand what happened, but you are still stuck in the same patterns — in your reactions, your choices, your body — that is the clearest sign that insight alone has reached its limit. EMDR works at the level of how your body has stored and organized what happened to you, not just the story you tell about it. Many clients notice that it reaches what talking alone could not.

Q: What does the consultation actually include?

Thirty minutes of real clinical conversation. You bring your questions, your broad-strokes history, and any concerns you have about starting this work. We bring our full attention and an honest assessment of whether EMDR is the right fit for what you are carrying. You leave with information and a clear sense of next steps. That is the point.