Sam Rustum, LCPC · Therapy in Chicago
Successful on the Outside.
Struggling on the Inside.
Therapy for high-achieving professionals navigating perfectionism, anxiety, and burnout.
You can be the person everyone relies on and still feel overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure how much longer you can keep going this way.
Start with a free consultationPrivate-pay therapy: $300 per 60-minute session.
Free 15-minute consultation.
When keeping up takes everything
There is more to your experience than how well you are doing.
Perhaps you finish a demanding week and spend the weekend recovering from it. You replay a meeting long after everyone else has moved on. An ordinary request feels hard to refuse, even when your calendar is already full.
You may care deeply about your work and still wish it took up less of your mind. You may also be wondering what happened to the relationships, interests, or sense of ease that used to matter to you.
In therapy, we can look closely at what is happening and what you need. That might mean understanding a familiar pattern, making a difficult decision, or practicing a response that gives you more room to choose.
A place to begin
What brings you here?
You do not need to know which label fits. These pages describe different starting points, and there is often overlap between them.
Anxiety and overthinking
Your mind keeps preparing, checking, or reviewing. We can explore what the worry is asking you to protect and practice responding to uncertainty with more choice.
Explore anxiety therapyRead about overthinking
Perfectionism and self-pressure
A good result may bring only brief relief before the standard moves again. We can examine the fear of mistakes, the need for approval, and the cost of being hard on yourself.
Explore perfectionism therapyWork with your inner critic
Burnout and career stress
Work may follow you home through exhaustion, irritability, or a sense that you can never catch up. We can consider the demands you face, the limits you need, and the choices ahead.
Explore burnout therapyRead about career stress
See all treatment areas, including relationships, grief, confidence, and life transitions.
Who I work with
You are more than the role you carry.
I work with adults navigating demanding responsibilities and personal change. You may be used to solving problems, caring for others, or staying composed under pressure. Therapy offers time to pay attention to your own experience.
Your work can help explain the context. It does not tell me everything about you. We can talk about your relationships, identity, family, and the parts of life that receive less attention when responsibility takes over.
- Men
- Fathers
- Lawyers
- Doctors
- Tech professionals
- Entrepreneurs
- Leaders and executives
- First responders
- Creative professionals
- Young adults
Meet Sam
Thoughtful exploration. Practical steps.
I am Sam Rustum, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in Chicago. I offer individual therapy that makes room for understanding yourself and trying something different in everyday life.
I am trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS). We may explore the part of you that pushes to achieve, the part that worries about letting someone down, and the part that wants a break. We can get curious about those responses and what they are trying to protect.
Our work may also draw on CBT, ACT, and psychodynamic therapy. We will choose a starting point together. You can tell me when something feels useful, when it misses the mark, and when we need to change direction.
- Internal Family Systems
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Acceptance and commitment therapy
- Psychodynamic therapy
What working together can look like
Start with something that happened this week.
You do not have to summarize your entire life before we can begin. A recent conversation, decision, or difficult evening can give us a useful place to start.
Understand the pattern
We can slow down a situation and look at what you thought, felt, and did. I will want to understand both the immediate pressure and the expectations that made it feel so important.
Choose a manageable step
That may mean asking a direct question, setting one limit, or allowing a task to be finished. We can also make space for feelings that you have been trying to work around.
Notice what changes
We will return to your goals and your experience of the work. A difficult week gives us information about what needs attention; it does not mean you have failed at therapy.
If your primary focus is a leadership goal, you can also read about executive coaching and ask how that service differs from therapy.
Before you begin
Questions you may be carrying.
Can therapy help if I am still functioning well?
You do not have to wait until you cannot keep up. We can talk about the effort it takes to appear fine, how pressure affects your relationships and rest, and what you want to be different.
Will working on perfectionism make me lose my ambition?
Your goals matter. We can explore which standards support them and which create unnecessary strain. The work can include caring about what you do while allowing yourself limits, recovery, and ordinary mistakes.
What if I have never been to therapy?
You do not need to prepare a perfect explanation. We can begin with what prompted you to reach out, what has been difficult, and what you hope could change. You can ask questions about the process as we go.
Is your practice only for men?
Men’s experiences are a focus of this site, but you do not need to identify as a man to contact me. We can discuss your goals and whether my approach fits what you need.
What happens in the consultation?
The free 15-minute consultation is a chance to briefly discuss what you want help with, ask about my approach, and talk about availability and next steps. It is not a full therapy session.
What does a session cost?
My private-pay fee is $300 for a 60-minute session. Visit the Fees & FAQs page for payment information. We can discuss questions before scheduling.
Do I have to know what I am feeling?
No. We can start with concrete situations, thoughts, physical sensations, or reactions. Finding words for your experience can be part of the work.
A place to begin
Let’s make room for what you need.
A free 15-minute consultation gives us a chance to talk about what is difficult, answer your questions, and consider whether working together fits what you need.