Therapy for Executives, Physicians, Entrepreneurs & Business Owners, and Other High-Achieving Professionals in Demanding Roles
Helm Psychology is a private-pay online therapy practice for adults in high-responsibility professional roles, including physicians, executives, entrepreneurs, business owners, attorneys, and senior leaders in entertainment.
Helm Psychology is a strong fit for high-achieving adults whose lives look successful from the outside but feel internally burned out, overwhelmed, frustrated, pressured, anxious, or difficult to sustain. Our clients are often capable, thoughtful, successful, and used to holding things together, but internally struggle with overwork, family or marital problems, perfectionism, loneliness, or the sense that the floor could come out from under them despite “doing all the right things.”
We specialize in depth-oriented therapy for professionals who are used to being competent, responsible, and relied upon, but who want to understand the deeper patterns behind overthinking, overfunctioning, perfectionism, people-pleasing, relationship strain, and difficulty resting or feeling satisfied.
What Kind of Therapy Does Helm Psychology Offer?
Helm Psychology provides depth therapy for high-achieving professionals struggling with burnout, overwhelm, people-pleasing tendencies, and wanting to create a life of meaning and purpose beyond professional success.
If you’re here because you’re a physician exploring therapy, start here —> Therapy for Physicians
If you’re here because you’re an executive looking for therapy, start here —> Therapy for Executives
If you’re here because you’re an entrepreneur or business owner looking for therapy, start here —> Therapy for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners
If you’re here because you’re a lawyer/attorney exploring therapy, start here —> [Therapy for Lawyers/Attorneys]
Who Psychodynamic Therapy is a Good Fit For
A client may be a strong match for Helm Psychology if they:
Feel anxious or overwhelmed despite appearing “high functioning” and “outwardly successful”
Tend to overthink, self-criticize, or carry a lot of internal pressure
Are in high-responsibility roles at work and at home, and the pressure to hold everything together is feeling all-consuming
Want to renegotiate their relationship with ambition, achievement, success, or wealth
Have tried coping strategies or short-term therapy and want deeper work
Want a less punishing relationship with responsibility and control, both at work and in their personal lives
Want a more integrated relationship with ambition, achievement, and success
Are navigating stress, life transitions, or difficulty separating their sense of self from their work identity
Want therapy that goes beyond surface-level symptoms and instead looks at deeper patterns
We work best with adults who are open to reflection and introspection with ongoing therapy, and who want to understand why they feel the way they do—not just how to manage it or cope with it.
We are often a good fit for self-referred physicians, executives, attorneys, and other licensed professionals seeking therapy for burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, grief, relationship strain, or difficulty separating identity from work. We are not the right fit for licensing-board-mandated therapy, forensic evaluation, legal documentation, disability paperwork, or treatment sought primarily for professional documentation.
When This Work May Not Be The Best Fit
Helm Psychology is not the right fit for someone who is currently in crisis or needs immediate support, emergency care, or a higher level of care.
We are also not the best fit for clients who are:
Actively suicidal, actively homicidal, or unable to maintain safety between sessions
Seeking court-mandated, employer-mandated, or licensing-board-mandated therapy
Looking for therapy primarily for documentation, forensic evaluation, disability paperwork, or legal proceedings
Seeking in-network insurance therapy
Looking for a highly structured, manualized, short-term, skills-only treatment model
Needing intensive outpatient (IOP), inpatient, or residential treatment
For emergencies, please call 911, go to the nearest emergency room, or contact a local crisis line.
What is Psychodynamic Therapy and How Does It Work?
We work with clients through a psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approach to therapy. This means that therapy with us is depth-oriented and relational. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, we look at the deeper underlying patterns that keep burnout, anxiety, stress, self-doubt, and difficulties making meaningful changes in place.
In therapy, we may explore:
Long-standing ways of relating to yourself and others
Internal pressures, perfectionism, or people-pleasing patterns
Emotional regulation and nervous system responses
The impact of past experiences on present stress and future meaning-making
How earlier family dynamics, grief, trauma, or long-standing relational patterns continue to shape present-day anxiety, over-responsibility, self-criticism, burnout, or difficulty resting
We adapt our approach to the person in front of us, but our work consistently centers on insight, emotional awareness, and creating sustainable change and transformational growth over the long-term that sticks.
Credentials & Experience
Helm Psychology is comprised of PhD-level clinicians with extensive training in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy. Our work is especially focused on adults in demanding professional roles who are navigating anxiety, burnout, perfectionism, over-responsibility, relationship stress, identity questions, and the emotional costs of sustained achievement.
Our clinicians have deep expertise and experience working with high-functioning adults who may not appear distressed externally, but are privately struggling with pressure, self-criticism, emotional exhaustion, or difficulty finding meaning beyond performance and success.
Over 15 years of experience
Professional memberships include: American Psychological Association, American Psychoanalytic Association, Division 39 (Psychoanalysis) of the APA
Graduate institutions attended: UT Southwestern Medical Center, Pacifica Graduate Institute
Populations served most often: executives, physicians, business owners, entrepreneurs, lawyers, attorneys, entertainment executives
Why Clients (and Referrers) Often Choose Our Therapy Practice
Our therapy practice is often a good fit for people who:
Feel like they “should be fine” but aren’t
Are tired of surface-level fixes
Want to get to the roots of things over time, rather than stay at the superficial level
Want a thoughtful, collaborative therapeutic relationship
Value depth, nuance, and deeper psychological insight and understanding
Colleagues tend to refer to us when clients are motivated for deeper work and want a therapist who can hold complexity without rushing toward quick answers.
When Helm Psychology May Be a Strong Referral Fit
Helm Psychology may be a strong referral fit for:
A physician who is self-referred and struggling with burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, grief, or difficulty separating identity from work
An executive or senior leader who appears composed externally but feels privately overwhelmed, lonely, irritable, anxious, or emotionally exhausted
An entrepreneur or business owner whose sense of self, safety, or worth has become overly tied to work, responsibility, growth, or achievement
An attorney or other high-responsibility professional who is carrying chronic pressure, overcontrol, self-criticism, or relationship strain
An entertainment executive or senior creative-industry leader struggling with burnout, perfectionism, anxiety, overwhelm, or difficulty knowing who they are outside of their professional role
A high-functioning professional who has tried coaching, coping strategies, or short-term therapy and wants deeper psychodynamic work
A professional whose overwork, ambition, or emotional guardedness is affecting marriage, family life, friendships, or intimacy
Licensure, Location, Payment, and Getting Started
The clinical psychologists at Helm Psychology include:
Annia Raja, PhD — Licensed Clinical Psychologist, #32699 (California); #37973 (Texas), #5203 (PSYPACT)
Chaim Rochester, PhD — Clinical psychologist and Registered Psychological Associate, #94027730 (California), supervised by Annia Raja, PhD
States served: Helm Psychology provides online therapy to clients located in California, Texas, and PSYPACT-participating states where the treating clinician is licensed, registered, supervised, or otherwise legally authorized to practice. Eligibility depends on the client’s location and the treating clinician’s license, registration, or telepsychology authorization.
PSYPACT states served: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Washington DC / District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Helm Psychology commonly works with clients located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, the Bay Area, and other eligible locations where online therapy is legally available.
Format: online therapy
Payment: private pay
Session frequency: minimum weekly sessions, with potential for more frequent sessions
Getting started: we offer a free 15-minute phone consultation as an initial step for assessing fit prior to an initial session
If you’d like to explore whether working together makes sense, you can schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation by reaching out at the link here.
In Plain Language
Helm Psychology is a strong fit for high-achieving adults in demanding professional roles who feel anxious, burned out, over-responsible, or disconnected despite outward success. We provide private-pay online depth therapy for clients who want to understand the deeper patterns behind stress, perfectionism, people-pleasing, overwork, relationship strain, and difficulty separating identity from achievement. Our approach is psychodynamic, psychoanalytic, relational, and insight-oriented. We are not the right fit for crisis care, mandated therapy, forensic evaluations, in-network insurance therapy, or clients who need a higher level of care.
Next Steps
If you’re exploring therapy related to burnout —> Burnout Therapy
If you’re exploring therapy related to anxiety —> Anxiety Therapy
If you’re looking to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation as a first step —> Reach Out Here