Burnout & chronic stress
Sunday-night dread, exhaustion that sleep does not touch, irritability at home, and work that has quietly taken over everything.
Counseling for Professionals · Prairieville & Baton Rouge
Discreet counseling for people who are holding it together for everyone else.
You handle other people's problems all day. You're the one who copes. And somewhere in the last year the pressure stopped switching off. I'm Melissa Shaw, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 24 years of experience, and I work with professionals who want a private place to put all of that down.
- Discreet, private pay
- No insurance record
- Accepting new clients
What professionals bring in
Common reasons professionals call
Anxiety & performance pressure
Racing thoughts, insomnia, imposter feelings, and the fear of being found out despite a long record of doing the job well.
Leadership & hard decisions
Carrying staff problems, layoffs, conflict and a business you cannot stop thinking about at 3am.
Life outside work
A marriage running on fumes, missing your kids’ childhood, caregiving for aging parents, grief you never took time for.
How this works
Private, efficient, and actually useful
Privacy is the first thing most professionals ask about. This is a private-pay practice: no insurance claim, no diagnosis on a claims record, and no employer involvement. Sessions are in person at a small office in Prairieville, not a busy clinic.
The work is efficient by design. I favor brief, solution-focused counseling with clear goals, because people with demanding jobs won't keep coming to something open-ended. Expect practical tools for stress, sleep, boundaries and decision-making.
We also look at the things underneath the stress, since burnout is often the surface of something older: perfectionism, the habit of being the dependable one, or a loss you worked straight through.
Christian counseling is available for professionals who want their faith part of the work, and I treat every client with dignity, compassion and professional respect, even if my personal beliefs are not identical to yours.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
- Family Systems
- Strength-Based
- Christian Counseling (on request)
Practical details
Sessions, fees and location
$160Individual session
$280Couples session
15 minComplimentary consultation
I don't bill insurance, and I accept cash or check. Private pay keeps your care entirely between us: no claim, no diagnosis on file with an insurer, no utilization review.
Office hours
- Monday
- 8:00 am – 7:00 pm
- Tuesday
- 1:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Thursday
- 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
- Friday
- 9:00 am – 1:00 pm (alternating weeks)
Early-morning and evening times work best around a full work schedule.
Location
15655 Airline Hwy
Prairieville, LA 70769
Serving Prairieville, Gonzales, St. Amant and Baton Rouge, including the Highland Road area. All sessions are held in person, a short drive down Airline Highway.
Questions
Professionals usually ask
How private is this really?
Sessions are confidential, with the legal exceptions explained at the start. Because I do not bill insurance, there is no claim, no diagnosis on an insurer record and no third party reviewing your care.
Will my employer or my EAP know?
No. You are coming privately, not through an employer program, so nothing is reported back to a workplace.
I don’t have time for weekly therapy.
Then we will not do open-ended weekly therapy. Many professionals work in a focused stretch of sessions with clear goals, then check in less often.
Is this only for burnout?
No. Professionals come in for anxiety, grief, marriage strain, parenting, caregiving for aging parents, and life transitions of every kind.
Do you take insurance?
No. I'm private pay and accept cash or check. Sessions are $160. A small number of reduced-fee time slots may be available with documentation of income. They are limited and may have a waiting list.
Contact
Let's talk
Reach out to request a complimentary 15-minute consultation. I'll get back to you as soon as I can, usually within one business day.
To protect your privacy, please don't include detailed health information in this form. We can talk about that on the phone.