Therapy for High Performers in Victoria, BC
For founders, executives, physicians, and other people whose outer life has outrun their inner one. In person in Victoria, online across most of Canada.
A large part of my practice is people who are exceptional at their work and privately at war with themselves. Founders who can raise a round but can't stop the 3am audit of everything they said that day. Physicians who hold other people's worst moments with total steadiness and have no idea what they themselves feel. Executives whose calendars are optimized to the minute partly so there's never an unstructured hour to notice what's underneath.
High performance and inner turmoil aren't opposites. In my office they're usually the same engine, viewed from different sides: the drive that built your life often runs on the exact insecurity that's now costing you.
Why your usual tools haven't worked
You've already tried applying competence to this. Analysis, systems, discipline, maybe a stack of books and a previous therapist. You've gone deep and haven't reached resolution — and the reason isn't effort. Analysis travels through thought, and the pattern isn't stored in thought. It's stored in emotional memory and the nervous system, which don't respond to strategy. Different system, different rules.
There's a second obstacle, and I name it because you'll recognize it: people like you are extremely good at turning therapy itself into a performance. Insightful in session, articulate about the pattern, unchanged outside the room. I watch for it. When I see it, I'll say so — and that moment is usually where the real work starts.
What we work on
The presenting problems are familiar: imposter syndrome that survives every success; anxiety running under a composed exterior; a marriage or relationship going quietly distant while the career compounds; irritability and control at home that you don't like in yourself; achievement that keeps arriving without whatever was supposed to arrive with it.
Underneath, the same short list as everyone else — insecurity, old attachment learning, shame-based beliefs about worth. Success doesn't exempt anyone from these. It mostly funds better hiding places.
How it works
Experiential methods — AEDP, Coherence Therapy, IFS, somatic work — grounded in memory reconsolidation: updating the learnings driving the pattern rather than managing its output. Sessions are direct and active; I'll challenge you, because you'd be bored otherwise, and because comfort was never what you were missing. For those who want it, I integrate a coaching dimension — depth work plus forward momentum on what you're actually building. Therapy + Coaching →
Complete confidentiality, the same as all my clinical work. Online across most of Canada.
This may not be right if:
- You want performance optimization without looking underneath it (a coach is cheaper).
- You want tools and hacks.
- You're looking for someone impressed by the résumé.
FAQ
How is this different from executive coaching?
Coaching optimizes behaviour. This work resolves the patterns underneath it, so the optimization stops being load-bearing.
Is it confidential?
Fully — this is therapy, under RCC ethics and confidentiality. Receipts read as counselling and are covered by most extended health plans.
Do you understand the demands of this kind of life?
Enough of my practice is founders, physicians, lawyers, and executives that the terrain is familiar. The 80-hour week isn't the problem I'll be curious about. What it's protecting you from is.
Ready to start?
If you recognized yourself here and want to work at this level, get in touch — a few lines about what's going on is plenty.
Prefer email? andras@andraslenartpsychotherapy.com
Fees & Coverage
Individual: $175/session · Couples: $190 (50 min) or $265 (80 min) · $5 off with e-transfer.
As an RCC and CCC, my services are covered by most extended health plans in Canada; I provide receipts for reimbursement. A limited number of sliding-scale spots are available.