Therapy for Software, ai, and ml engineers

If you are a software engineer, you are at the epicenter of rapid change. As AI takes over more of the hands-on coding, software engineers are left feeling empty and missing the intellectual challenge and fun of writing code. Some are frustrated by slop and generational differences in the field. Others welcome this change excitedly. Many feel both a longing for what used to be while riding the wave of an energizing shift. 

Questions about AI are only one part of the picture. Many software, ML, and AI engineers come to therapy with pressures and patterns unique to the engineering that go beyond the AI shift.

There is a strong duality to the way many engineers think. Qualities that make great engineers have a sneaky way of showing up outside of work. The drive to optimize, intellectualize, and give careful attention to detail can affect relationships, decision-making, self-care, and negatively impact mental health.

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Compulsive Optimizing
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Over-Intellectualizing
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Conflicting Personal and Workplace Values/Morals

Anxiety, Depression, Dissatisfaction, Burnout

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Recruiting and Interviewing Stress
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“I believe this is the most extraordinary moment in human history. We’re standing at the edge of the Singularity. AI will reshape everything.”

— Yuchen Jin

4. Anxiety, Depression, Burnout

The need to keep up, stay sharp, and out-perform can lead to anxiety, depression, and burnout. I collaborate with clients to build effective self-care plans, target stress reduction, improve relationships, and enhance quality of life.

5. Recruiting and Interviewing Stress

Recruiting and interviewing can feel like a full-time job altogether. I help clients address performance anxiety, imposter syndrome, and self-limiting beliefs. Together we navigate the ever-changing industry where some engineers are fighting to stay relevant.

1. Compulsive Optimization

Optimization is central to software engineering. To quote Donald Knuth, "If you optimize everything, you will always be unhappy." Disorder happens when the need to optimize interferes with life and makes it hard to stay present, driving anxiety and stress beyond healthy norms. I work with clients to disrupt compulsive optimization and stay in the present moment.

2. Over-Intellectualizing

We all know this one. Intellectualizing disguises itself as strong self-awareness or a strong understanding what’s going on with you and why. While this self-awareness is valuable, it distracts from actually feeling what is happening. I teach clients strategies to  move from thinking about feelings, to actually feeling their feelings.

3. Conflicting Personal and Workplace Values

The work of software, ML, and AI engineers has a massive reach. For some, the profundity of this reach can feel be conflicting with personal values, leading to anxiety, guilt, or shame. I help clients challenge black-and-white thinking and identify, understand, and align with their personal values.