Therapy for Entrepreneurs & Business Owners in Marietta, GA
— AKA: Running The Business
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Bryan sees clients in Marietta, GA and virtually across Georgia. No paperwork. No commitment required. Just a conversation with a therapist who has sat in the same chair.
What Is Therapy for Entrepreneurs?
Therapy for entrepreneurs is specialized counseling for business owners, founders, and executives managing the psychological weight of leadership imposter syndrome, decision fatigue, entrepreneur burnout, and the fear of public failure. At Talk Forward Counseling in Marietta, GA, Bryan Stephens, LPC, MBA provides this work in person and virtually across Georgia. Research by Dr. Michael Freeman at UC Berkeley found that 72% of entrepreneurs experience mental health concerns. In Bryan’s 30+ years of behavioral health practice, that number has never been disproven by a single founder who walked through his door.
72% of entrepreneurs experience mental health concerns.
— Dr. Michael Freeman, UC Berkeley
It is lonely at the top. Running your own business or being part of the leadership of one is challenging in ways that are difficult for others to understand.
Showing weakness feels unsafe. There is always something you can or should be doing. The lives of others are directly affected by your decisions. Getting things wrong has repercussions that ripple out in ways no one can predict.
I spent over two decades in executive leadership including 2.5 years as the CEO of a public behavioral health agency with 450 employees and a $27 million annual budget, answering to a board every quarter.
I know what it feels like when every decision has someone else’s livelihood attached to it.
A Therapist Who Has Sat in Your Chair
Bryan Stephens, LPC, MBA is a Licensed Professional Counselor licensed in Georgia since 2000, a National Certified Counselor, a Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor, and the Past President of the Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia (2021–2024). He holds an Executive MBA from Kennesaw State University and brings 30+ years in behavioral health. He has led. He has faced a board telling him the organization was going in a different direction. He has rebuilt and discovered that none of the catastrophe he feared actually came. Now he helps you do the same.
“I have been a CEO who had to answer to a board. And now I am running my own business as a therapist. I understand your world because I have lived in it.”
— Bryan Stephens, LPC, MBA
30+ years in behavioral health. Former CEO. Now in private practice in Marietta, GA.
What if I don’t belong here?
Imposter syndrome for entrepreneurs is the persistent, private fear that your success is unearned and that one visible mistake will expose the truth. It does not go away when the business grows. For most high-achieving founders and executives, it intensifies with success. The greater the stakes, the louder the voice that says you do not belong here.
If that voice is familiar, you are not alone and this is exactly what we work on
We have all heard the term “imposter syndrome.” For those of us who have high achievement, the fear of not deserving our accomplishments is common and may be our biggest fear.
You have built a business, or you have risen through the ranks into leadership. The prize you sought for years is now yours. Then your doubts say, “Did I earn this?” Everyone else is on top of their game while you are not that sure of what you are doing.
You fear they are better at this than you are. One slip and they will find out the truth that you just don’t belong here. Then everything you have worked for will be over forever distrusted, disgraced, and disowned. The feeling of being that imposter is a specter haunting you.
What if I get it wrong?
One of the hardest things human beings do in life is make decisions and that is your primary task. Making important decisions is what it means to own your own business or run one for someone else. Your job is to choose, and those choices will create the future — not just for you, but for everyone involved.
It is a daunting responsibility. No one else is accountable, and you are expected to get things right. The risk of getting it wrong is why you are awake at three in the morning.
This is especially pernicious because it paralyzes you. Taking no action at all can seem safer than taking the wrong path.
From Bryan’s Practice:
Decision paralysis, the inability to act because every option feels catastrophically risky is one of the most common presenting issues I see in entrepreneurs. It is rarely about the decision itself. It is almost always about an underlying belief that a wrong choice proves something damning about who you are. Once we identify that belief, the paralysis typically begins to lift more quickly than clients expect.
What Happens If I Fail?
Failure comes with disaster. If you fail, you will not only lose a job, company, and money. You will lose your status in your community. Your failure will be seen by your colleagues, your friends, and your family.
The humiliation of losing your business will show everyone how much of a failure you are. You fear you will be dishonored and destroyed. Your dreams will be dead.
I felt this keenly in my role as a CEO. I knew not, feared, knew that if I failed, this would happen to me.
Spoiler Alert: When the Board wanted to go in a different direction, none of that happened to me.
I am afraid of looking foolish
Feeling foolish is a big fear for many of us. In a world where criticism is swift and very public thanks to the internet, the higher your profile the greater the risk.
Your reputation is vital for success. It is so easy to misspeak so easy to make any small error that makes you look stupid. You want to impress your peers, the public, and your employees. Appearing foolish undermines years of goodwill in moments.
You can agonize over ways to avoid it. It is easy to rage at subordinates who make you look dumb. Fear of looking foolish has driven many leaders into even worse situations just to avoid that appearance.
I do not have enough time!
You made a commitment to spend more time with your spouse and your family. Weekly date night is a distant memory. The day starts early and you are back at work after dinner. Your business depends on you, and there is always something else that needs your attention.
There is a flood of information for you to wade through at times it is more like swimming, because it is a flood ten feet deep.
Getting exercise is something that happens when you “have the time to get around to it.” Of course, you never have the time.
When was the last time you were intimate?
From Bryan’s Practice:
The entrepreneurs I work with almost universally describe time as their scarcest resource and yet the first thing we typically discover together is that the real issue is not time. It is permission: the internal belief that rest, relationships, and personal care require the business to be “done” first. The business is never done. The permission has to come first.
I am afraid of looking foolish
Feeling foolish is a big fear for many of us. In a world where criticism is swift and very public thanks to the internet, the higher your profile the greater the risk.
Your reputation is vital for success. It is so easy to misspeak so easy to make any small error that makes you look stupid. You want to impress your peers, the public, and your employees. Appearing foolish undermines years of goodwill in moments.
You can agonize over ways to avoid it. It is easy to rage at subordinates who make you look dumb. Fear of looking foolish has driven many leaders into even worse situations just to avoid that appearance.
People are depending on me
The greatest stressor of owning your own business is the weight of leadership. There are others relying on your decisions not just for direction, but for their livelihoods. The very lives of others are directly affected by the choices that you make.
The worst thing I ever do is let someone go because of money. An employee who has done everything asked but still loses the job rips at my heart. Running a business means you will change the lives of people, and sometimes it is not going to be for the better. That cannot be helped.
Being in charge means the outcome of that change rests on your shoulders. You feel guilty for the employees you had to let go knowing they have their own lives, their own hopes and dreams, which you just disrupted.
Even your demeanor and mood are critical. Come into the office downcast in the morning, and the effects will ripple out before everyone is finished with their coffee. You feel the pressure to be positive and maintain morale, even if your own is sliding.
How do we fix this?
Therapy for entrepreneurs at Talk Forward Counseling addresses the root drivers of burnout, not just the surface symptoms. Using cognitive behavioral therapy and interpersonal approaches, Bryan Stephens works with business owners and executives to reduce decision fatigue, rebuild a sustainable sense of self, and develop self-care that integrates with, not competes with the demands of running a business. The work is personal because Bryan runs his own practice, manages his own time pressures, and has navigated the exact weight of leadership that brings most of his clients through the door.
The fears we have as business owners, executives, and leaders are driven by our sense of safety, sense of competence, and sense of security. These are shaped by our past — the complex web of our childhoods and adult lives. These same drivers can stop us from taking care of ourselves as we place the needs of our business ahead of everything.
Together, we will explore your individual past and how you became who you are. You have built coping skills to give you a sense of power, a sense of place, and a sense of value. I will help you understand how these skills have worked for you in the past to get you to today. Your sense of anxiety and fear are driven by needs for mastery and acceptance.
We will work on new skills and strategies to manage your stressors day to day. You will learn to own your time, instead of your business owning it. We will work on scheduling and a practice of prioritization that ensures you are filling your tank.
You may tilt your time towards work while still doing the things you need to support yourself. I understand how vital this is because it is a path I walk personally every day in private practice.
Confronting the things that make us angry is difficult. You have used anger to feel powerful. Working together, we will explore your sense of power and powerlessness.
You will not have to do this alone. I will be with you to keep you safe. As your therapist, I am there as a guide, not part of your family, not a friend, someone who stands outside your day-to-day life.
You will have the opportunity to be open, vulnerable, and scared with me in a place with no moral condemnation, no castigation of weakness, and no judgment.
What Does Life Look Like After Therapy for Entrepreneurs?
- Knowing which tasks are yours and which to let go
- Fitting self-care into your life instead of waiting for permission
- Treating failure as data, not a verdict on who you are
- Silencing the imposter voice faster than before
- Showing up for your people and yourself with more left in the tank
You will be able to more clearly identify tasks that are yours to own and what can be given to others or even ignored. You will be better able to prioritize your time including attending to the things that fill up your mental and emotional reservoirs.
We will focus on ways that work for your personal self-care and integrate them into your daily routine including taking the time you need for your most important relationships. This is work I also know personally through counseling for life transitions and the demands of running a private practice.
You will be able to accept that failure is a vital part of growth. This will reduce the fear of failure from a catastrophic level to part of doing business.
You will be better able to follow the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, who is credited with saying: “He who laughs at himself never runs out of things to laugh at.” The power of a leader who can engage in authentic self-deprecation is one who is respected not laughed at.
You will be more confident in yourself where you are. This sense of being an imposter will come less often and will be easier to manage. By confronting your feelings of not being “good enough,” you will be able to answer them fully.
You will have a fuller understanding that everyone struggles with these issues and the people you use for comparison are not as put together as they appear.
I hope you will allow me to come on this journey with you to find a place where your work is integrated into your life in a way that brings you more peace. That is the work we do together at Talk Forward Counseling. Whether you are in Marietta, GA or anywhere across Georgia, that conversation can start with a single call and I offer a free 15-minute consultation specifically so you can decide if working together makes sense before committing to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions About Therapy for Entrepreneurs
See also: Frequently asked questions about therapy at Talk Forward Counseling
How is therapy for entrepreneurs different from regular therapy?
Therapy for entrepreneurs focuses specifically on the psychological pressures of leadership imposter syndrome, decision fatigue, entrepreneur burnout, and the isolation of being in charge. At Talk Forward Counseling, sessions are also shaped by Bryan Stephens’ firsthand experience as a CEO. That means the work begins from a place of genuine understanding, not assumption.
Do you offer virtual therapy sessions for entrepreneurs in Georgia?
Yes. Bryan Stephens provides virtual therapy to entrepreneurs and business owners throughout Georgia via secure telehealth. In-person sessions are available at Talk Forward Counseling, 850 Kennesaw Ave, Suite 4, Marietta, GA 30060. A free 15-minute consultation is available before your first session to confirm fit.
What does entrepreneurial burnout actually feel like?
Research by Dr. Michael Freeman at UC Berkeley found that 72% of entrepreneurs experience mental health concerns. Entrepreneurial burnout is not simply exhaustion. It is the combination of decision fatigue, the emotional weight of carrying others’ livelihoods, the loss of personal identity outside the business, and an inability to rest even when time allows. Burnout is where it often starts. Learn more about stress management counseling at Talk Forward Counseling.
A Note on Burnout vs. Stress:
In my clinical experience, burnout and stress are not the same thing — and treating them as the same is why most self-help approaches fail entrepreneurs. Stress is a response to too much. Burnout is the collapse of the system doing the responding. If you have pushed through stress for long enough that nothing feels rewarding anymore, not even the wins that is the signal burnout has arrived. The World Health Organization now classifies burnout as an occupational phenomenon in ICD-11 distinct from stress and requiring targeted clinical intervention.
How do I know if therapy is the right fit for me as a business owner?
If you are waking at 3 a.m. over decisions, feeling isolated in your leadership role, or struggling to be present outside work, therapy is worth exploring. A free 15-minute strategy call with Bryan Stephens will help you determine whether working together makes sense, no paperwork, no commitment, and no pressure.
Ready to Work With a Therapist Who Gets It?
You do not have to keep navigating this alone. Bryan Stephens, LPC, MBA works with entrepreneurs, executives, and business owners in Marietta, GA and virtually across Georgia.
Talk Forward Counseling
850 Kennesaw Ave, Suite 4 | Marietta, GA 30060 | 404-969-5247