FEME Lunch & Learn: Burnout - An Existential Crisis

Hosted by Dr. Rebecca Lesser Allen
Friday, March 28th at 12:30pm
Chief Clubhouse, Los Angeles

This talk is targeted towards high-performing women who are grappling with burnout. Beyond just a result of long hours and high demands, burnout is often rooted in deeper psychological patterns—perfectionism, overachievement addiction, and people-pleasing. In this session, we’ll explore the underlying causes of burnout and how to recognize its deeper impact. More than just discussing the importance of setting boundaries or exercising more (i.e., adding more things to get perfectionistic and over-achieving about), we’ll discuss the psychological roots of burnout, sustainable strategies for redefining success, managing inner expectations, cultivating self-compassion, and developing a healthier relationship with ambition. Attendees will leave with a greater understanding of how to navigate transitions with resilience, find more patience with themselves, and hopefully begin to understand how to reclaim a sense of purpose without sacrificing well-being.

About Dr. Allen:
Dr. Rebecca Lesser Allen is a licensed clinical psychologist in Los Angeles, specializing in women’s mental health, career stress, identity shifts, and relationships. She provides psychotherapy for adolescents and adults, as well as parenting coaching and consultation.

She takes a trauma-informed, relational approach to psychotherapy, integrating psychodynamic theory, DBT, attachment research, and interpersonal neurobiology to help clients build resilience, self-compassion, and meaningful connections.

Dr. Lesser Allen also leads self-exploration workshops for mothers and speaks on topics such as perinatal mental health, burnout, parenting, and personal growth. Her work has been featured in APA Monitor and Slate.

A graduate of Barnard College, she earned her doctorate from William James College, completed her internship in neuropsychology at Yale School of Medicine, and did her postdoctoral fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She lives in Los Feliz with her husband and two children.