You thought this would feel like relief.
Instead, it feels like grief.
Even if you’re the one choosing to step away—especially if you’re choosing to step away—it can feel like you’re betraying something sacred. Like you’re abandoning a version of yourself that’s been in charge for a long time.
You keep second-guessing your decision, replaying conversations in your head.
You feel guilt—about your team, your clients, your customers, your legacy.
You bounce between calm detachment and unexpected waves of sadness or panic.
You say “I’m fine,” but you’re not sleeping. You’re distracted. You’re restless in your own skin.
You might not even realize that your identity is tangled up in your business—until you start to let it go.
What do you do when the thing that defined you is no longer yours?
This isn’t just a transaction. It’s a transition. A major one.
For many founders, the business has been the anchor point for everything else in their lives:
🔹It structured your time.
🔹It shaped your relationships.
🔹It gave you purpose, challenge, and validation.
Letting go of that—even when you know it’s the right call—can feel like standing in freefall.
You may not yet be able to name the fear underneath it, but it shows up in how you act:
🔹You keep rewriting the terms of the sale.
🔹You stall conversations with potential buyers.
🔹You sabotage timelines, subtly or overtly.
🔹You obsess over details that never used to matter.
🔹You feel irritable, numb, or strangely detached.
It’s not about the spreadsheets. It’s not about the systems.
It’s about the part of you that doesn’t know who you are without this business.
Closing a business can be just as complex.
This work has been your life. You gave it your all. And now, you're choosing to be done—not because you failed, but because you don’t want to do it anymore.
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.
You may find yourself trying to justify the decision over and over to yourself—or to others who don’t get it.
You may feel relief one moment and deep sadness the next.
You may suddenly feel like a fraud, or like you’re quitting before you "should."
And maybe, beneath all that, there’s a quiet question you haven’t voiced yet:
If I’m not this business anymore… then who am I?
This is where the deeper work begins.
I help business owners navigate the emotional terrain of exiting or closing what they built.
In our work together, we’ll explore:
🔹The beliefs and fears driving your doubts and second-guessing
🔹What’s surfacing as you untangle your identity from your business
🔹What you’re holding onto out of habit, fear, or loyalty
🔹What freedom and fulfillment look like now—on your own terms
This isn’t mindset coaching or performance optimization.
It’s not about pushing through.
It’s about making space to feel what’s real, and to move forward with clarity, peace, and grounded self-trust.
Therapy for exiting founders & owners in transition
You’ve made hard decisions before. You’ve taken risks. You’ve built something from scratch.
But this is different. This is personal.
That’s why I bring a blend of 20 years of clinical expertise and lived entrepreneurial experience to our sessions.
I’m a therapist who’s also built and exited multiple businesses myself.
I know what it’s like to wrestle with control, uncertainty, grief, and identity when a chapter this big is closing.
I use modalities like Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and EMDR to help you:
🔹Stay present with discomfort without being overtaken by it
🔹Identify underlying reasons it’s hard to let go
🔹Process emotional residue from the build and the exit
🔹Reconnect with your values beyond productivity and output
🔹Find peace with your decisions—even the messy ones
You don’t have to do this alone.
Whether you’re months from closing the doors or in the final stages of a sale, you deserve a space that’s just for you—where you don’t have to perform, explain, or justify.
You’ve carried this business a long way.
Now it’s time to carry yourself forward.
Ready for support?
Therapy Intensives are the perfect fit for most exiting business owners. You travel to Asheville, NC where we do deep, intensive work over 3 days. In that time, we’re often able to do work that might normally take 6 months to a year, a powerful proposition for business owners who value efficiency. Not everyone qualifies for Therapy Intensives as they’re, well… intense. Please complete this application to start the conversation.
Therapy for Business Owners Closing or Exiting Their Business
Because walking away doesn’t mean you stop caring.
You poured your time, your money, your creativity, and your soul into it. For years, maybe decades, it’s been the center of your world. And now… you're thinking about walking away.
Maybe you’re closing the doors. Maybe you’re preparing to sell.
Either way, this next step is harder than you expected.