Inside High Performance Coaching and Psychotherapy

Taking Control of the Narrative:

High-Performance Coaching for Professionals

A Long Form Interview with Dr. John Tepe

Many high-achieving professionals come to me at a point where something no longer feels right. They’ve worked hard, built impressive careers, and are seen as capable by those around them — yet they feel stuck, stretched thin, or unsure where to turn next.

My work is about helping people take control of their narrative and transform how they think, lead, and live. Drawing on neuroscience, hypnotherapy, depth psychology, and stress inoculation training, I support clients to achieve high performance without burning out or losing touch with who they truly are.

This long-form interview offers a deeper look at how I work with clients, what high-performance mindset coaching really involves, and the kinds of transformation that are possible when we stop running on autopilot and start leading from within.

What inspired you to specialise in integrative psychotherapy for high performers?

Throughout my career, from academia to coaching and therapy, I’ve seen how often high achievers silently struggle beneath the surface of outward success. People who appear confident and capable can feel trapped by burnout, overthinking, or the relentless pressure to meet others’ expectations. When someone devotes themselves to a long-term goal, whether writing a journal article or thesis, teaching students over a demanding school year, or meeting corporate targets while keeping managers and team members happy, it’s easy to lose sight of why they started in the first place. The task can become both the means and the end, and meaning is sought in achievement rather than in one’s internal beliefs, values, or deeper drivers.

What inspired me to specialise in integrative psychotherapy was the need to offer something deeper than generic coaching or symptom-focused therapy. I wanted to create a space where high achievers and professionals could not only achieve external success, but also tame their minds — to observe, understand, and consciously guide their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. When we learn to tame the mind, we gain the clarity and agency needed to take control of our narrative. These are two sides of the same coin — one reflects the internal work of mastery, the other the external expression of that mastery in how we lead, decide, and live. This process is at the heart of what I do with clients, and it’s reciprocal: as I help clients on this path, I continue the work of taming my own mind and shaping my own narrative.

For me, integrative psychotherapy is about helping people choose the best methods for them and their unique situations, so they can achieve highly in a way that serves both their organisation and their true self. It allows me to draw from the best of neuroscience, depth psychology, hypnotherapy, and behavioural science to support meaningful, lasting transformation.

How does your neuroscience-based coaching help ambitious professionals break cycles of burnout and overthinking?

At the heart of my work is helping clients tame their minds and become masters of their mental habits. I support clients to observe, understand, and consciously guide their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours so they can perform at their highest levels happily and sustainably. Neuroscience shows us that patterns like burnout, overthinking, or people-pleasing are not signs of personal weakness. They reflect how neural networks in the brain have been shaped over time by experience, habit, and often unconscious drivers that once served a purpose, but no longer do. The discomfort clients feel arises from the clash between these old habits and their current needs.

We repeatedly respond to stress, pressure, or uncertainty in the same fundamental ways as our ancestors did millions of years ago. Biologically, our brains have the same core structures and programming: we are designed to scan for fear, assess our environment for threat, and avoid danger. Avoiding harm and staying safe are fundamental brain functions. Because of this, it’s easy for behaviours like striving for approval, taking on others’ responsibilities, or doubting our worth to become habitual. They provide a short-term sense of safety, and our brains reinforce these behaviours because they align so closely with default neural pathways. The good news is that these pathways are not fixed. Neuroplasticity is bidirectional: the brain strengthens the connections we use most, and prunes those we no longer need. My role is to help clients identify and let go of short-term ‘safety’ habits that no longer serve them, and to strengthen new habits that support their long-term goals, wellbeing, and sense of agency.

My approach draws on this science to help clients identify the patterns shaping their neural networks, interrupt unhelpful loops, and install new ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Whether we use cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy, stress inoculation training, or habit loop mapping, the goal is the same: to help clients tame their mind’s reactivity and take control of their narrative by shifting from automatic responses to conscious, empowered choices.

You mention tools like cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy and stress inoculation training. How do these techniques help clients achieve lasting change?

Both cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy (CBH) and stress inoculation training (SIT) help clients do the deep work of taming their minds, and in doing so, take control of their narrative. These approaches work at the level where lasting change happens: not just shifting surface thoughts, but reshaping the neural networks that drive habits, emotional reactions, and patterns of behaviour.

Cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy combines the structured, evidence-based techniques of cognitive behavioural therapy with the focused, absorbing states of hypnosis. In these states, clients are able to engage more fully with the work of identifying unhelpful beliefs, challenging them, and rehearsing more adaptive ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. Hypnosis doesn’t override free will; it creates the mental focus and openness that allow new connections to form, supporting neuroplastic change.

Stress inoculation training helps clients develop the skills needed to maintain a sense of spacious inner calm and apply that calm when managing intense demands and complex interpersonal situations. Drawing on principles of gradual exposure, cognitive rehearsal, assertiveness, and skills-building, SIT systematically trains clients to respond with confidence and clarity in high-stakes interactions. Clients learn to monitor their minds for early signs of stress and anxiety, and to convert these signals into catalysts for empowered action. They cultivate habits of intentional self-talk, thought management, targeted muscle relaxation, and assertive behaviour. This strengthens neural pathways associated with calm, clarity, and effective action. Instead of scanning and ‘reading’ a situation for threats and danger, clients begin to appraise their environment for potential success. Stress inoculation doesn’t eliminate stress; it reframes stress-as-danger into stress-as-opportunity.

My practice is about teaching and applying clinical methods as practical tools that help clients master their mental habits at the source. Rather than offering temporary relief or surface-level change, these methods equip clients to consciously reshape the patterns that guide their daily lives. The ultimate aim, as always, is to help clients tame reactivity, strengthen agency, and create a narrative that reflects their authentic values and goals.

What makes your coaching and therapy different from other high-performance coaching or traditional therapy?

What makes my practice distinctive is how it combines scientific precision with genuine human connection. I integrate rigorous, evidence-based methods with a deep commitment to compassion, congruence, and the principles of the skilled helper approach. My clients experience a process that not only applies the latest neuroscience and behavioural science but also honours their individuality and creates a space for authentic reflection and growth. I do not follow a fixed model or generic programme. Instead, I draw from integrative psychotherapy, blending cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy, stress inoculation training, NLP, depth psychology, and neuroplasticity-informed techniques to design a process tailored to each client’s unique goals, mindset patterns, and lived realities.

Where high-performance coaching often focuses on external outcomes like targets and visible success, I help clients align those outcomes with their inner values, authentic identity, and personal sense of purpose. Where traditional therapy can sometimes focus heavily on analysis without always providing practical tools for action, my work balances deep reflection with science-based techniques that clients can apply immediately and continue building on for life.

The heart of my practice is helping clients tame their minds at the source of unhelpful patterns by reshaping the neural networks that drive thought, emotion, and behaviour. This is about more than symptom management or surface-level strategies. It is about equipping clients with clarity, resilience, and the agency to take control of their narrative in a way that supports sustained high performance, personal alignment, and lasting wellbeing. The relationship we build is as important as the methods we use, ensuring clients feel understood, respected, and empowered as they shape their path forward.

What kind of transformation can a client expect when working with you?

Clients who seek me out generally want transformation at both a professional and personal level. Some know exactly what they want to change and have a clear vision of their end goal. Others come with more of a feeling, a discomfort, or a sense that something must shift, even if they cannot yet name it. Both are most welcome in my practice. Everyone wants to become a better professional whose work is seen and whose role is valued within their organisation. Many are looking for meaningful advancement in their careers, alongside greater confidence, clarity, and alignment with their true purpose: with what they really want. Just as importantly, they want to heal and strengthen their relationship with themselves. From this stronger foundation, they can repair and enhance relationships with colleagues, partners, parents, children, and friends, and make the most of relationships that are already positive. The transformation is both inward and outward. Clients gain the clarity, resilience, and agency to take control of their narrative and lead themselves and their lives with authenticity, strength, and integrity.

A key part of this transformation is the relationship clients build with themselves. The work invites clients to pause and reflect on where they are now, where they have been, and where they want to be. As they develop deeper self-awareness, self-compassion, and empathy, clients learn to understand and honour their experiences and to frame those experiences in a way that supports the future they want to create. This reflective process helps them improve the quality of their connections with others, whether at work or in their personal lives. It is often transformative not only for clients who come to me with relational concerns, but also for those who initially focus on work-related goals. Strengthening the internal foundation leads to far-reaching changes in how clients engage with the world around them.

Clients often report that they reconnect with their purpose, build resilience they can trust, and achieve high performance in ways that no longer come at the cost of their wellbeing or relationships. The transformation combines internal mastery with practical tools. Clients leave not only with new skills and strategies, but with a renewed sense of confidence in themselves and a clearer, kinder relationship with their own mind. The process is grounded in science, practical skill-building, and a relationship founded on compassion, trust, and genuine partnership.

Could you share a client success story that illustrates the kind of breakthroughs you help people achieve?

Rather than focus on a single client, I want to highlight some of the most powerful transformations I have seen across my practice. My clients come from many walks of professional life, often at points where they feel stuck, overwhelmed, or misaligned with their true direction. Their usual strategies for succeeding no longer work, and many feel on the edge of being overlooked or dropped in their careers. Some arrive determined to advance their careers and take on new leadership roles. Others seek relief from burnout, people-pleasing, or chronic self-doubt. Some feel hopeless, as if everything they want is out of reach and nothing in their immediate world feels meaningful. And many discover, through the work, that what they truly need is to heal their relationship with themselves so they can connect more authentically with the people who matter most.

I have worked with clients who, after months of feeling paralysed by redundancy and grief, rebuilt their confidence by confronting anxiety head-on through journalling and reflective writing. This process brought them face to face with the pain of failed personal and professional relationships. By addressing and clearing the weight of the past, they were able to secure new roles, give genuine personal meaning to a new six-figure salary, and find purpose beyond hedonism or surface-level gratification.

I have supported clients grappling with the tension of seeking professional success abroad while feeling torn by family responsibilities at home. For one client, it felt like an impossible black-and-white choice: either they pursued their happiness, or they preserved their family’s comfort. Together, we worked on shifting that perspective and developing new ways of communicating needs while balancing personal fulfilment and responsibility.

I have worked with clients who came seeking strategies to manage the stress of leading others while feeling responsible for everyone’s problems. The pressure of absorbing complaints and worries while marginalising their own responsibilities fed a powerful inner critic. Together, we mapped out their unwanted behaviours and the core pain driving them, identified specific moments for communicating needs and setting boundaries, and cultivated supportive self-talk.

Not every client feels comfortable expressing and releasing emotions, especially those who have learned that stress or anger are unacceptable. This can leave someone feeling detached from their body, as if it holds emotions they fear or mistrust. In these cases, we work gently to cultivate mental spaciousness: the sense that consciousness can hold all sensations and feelings steadily and without reactivity. From there, clients learn to relax the mind, and in time, connect with the body in a way that feels safe and supportive.

What all these stories have in common is that they reflect deep, identity-level change. Clients learn to tame their minds at the source of unhelpful patterns and take control of their narrative. They leave with practical skills, renewed confidence, and a way of thinking, feeling, and leading that is authentic, resilient, and sustainable in every area of life.

Not every person who reaches out to me is ready to begin the work immediately. And that is entirely welcome. I want to help anyone who is willing to take a first step in considering their well-being. I have spoken with a dentist who knew change was needed to deepen the relationship with the person they felt was the love of their life and felt confused about how to hold space without problem solving. I have had thoughtful conversations with individuals who initially sought help for a loved one but came to recognise their own need for support. I have engaged with potential clients facing significant challenges, such as addiction, who were curious about methods like hypnotherapy but unsure if they could engage actively enough in the work for it to be meaningful for them.

What all these individuals share is courage: the willingness to reach out, to ask questions, to consider change. Often, hesitation is part of the process. It is half the battle simply to pause, reflect, and explore what might be possible. My role is not to apply pressure, but to provide a safe, supportive space where people can explore their readiness, consider their next steps, and feel confident that, when they are ready, the work will be here for them. Everything is workable. Even when it feels easier to carry on as normal, change begins the moment we start to reflect and ask what we truly want.

If someone feels stuck or burned out but doesn’t know where to begin, what’s the first step you recommend?

Success is something we define for ourselves. What feels like success depends on what you believe brings meaning and purpose to your life. The same is true of mastery and high performance. These are not about meeting someone else’s standard or chasing external benchmarks. They are about mastering your own process for bringing out the best in yourself and helping others do the same. True success comes from aligning what you achieve with who you are, what you value, and how you want to contribute.

Defining success for ourselves is not something we can always do overnight. It is an ongoing process that takes reflection and, often, a willingness to step back from the ideas and influences that have shaped our views of success so far. The work is not about rejecting our past, but about choosing consciously how we want to move forward. In my experience, clients find that this reflection gives them the clarity and confidence they need to define success in a way that is both authentic and sustainable.

Where people often struggle is when this alignment is lost. The danger arises when success is defined purely by external rewards: titles, salary, status, or by what others expect of us. When we focus only on those markers, it becomes easy to fall into cycles of people-pleasing, workaholism, burnout, or even addiction. I have written about this in my work on burnout in the workplace, both in my articles for Brainz Magazine and here on my website. These patterns take hold when people feel they must trade their physical or mental health for achievement, or when high performance becomes confused with mindless obedience to external demands.

My key advice is to start by looking inward. Lasting, meaningful success begins with taming the mind. When we cultivate self-awareness and self-compassion, we gain clarity about what success truly means for us. From this place, we can set boundaries, communicate our needs, and make choices that align with our authentic goals. Success then becomes not a destination or a prize, but a practice. It is built on resilience, self-leadership, and compassion for ourselves and for those we work with and care about.

Everything is workable. Even when we feel caught up in external pressures or unhealthy patterns, change begins with a single step: pausing to reflect and asking what we truly want. From there, success becomes about consistent, intentional action that supports both personal fulfilment and positive impact.

Who is your ideal client, and what qualities help them succeed in this kind of work?

My ideal client is a hard-working, intelligent professional who has achieved personally and professionally through determination and effort. Yet they find themselves facing a kind of glass ceiling, an invisible barrier they cannot break through no matter how capable or committed they are. They have come far using their skills, strengths, and ways of working, but those approaches no longer seem to be enough to get them to where they want to go. This leads them to ask difficult questions and sense, often for the first time, that something deeper is blocking their progress.

They might work in what they personally experience as a high-pressure or high-responsibility environment, where the stakes feel high and the expectations unrelenting. This could be in fields such as finance, law, medicine, technology, senior leadership, or any setting where they feel that constant demand to perform at their best. On paper, they are successful. But behind that success, they often feel as though their current way of operating is limiting rather than serving them.

Many find themselves repressing frustration or anger with colleagues, unable to draw clear boundaries between their responsibilities and what others should manage. They take on roles or tasks that meet other people’s needs while pushing aside their own. Speaking up for themselves can feel risky because they fear being ignored, punished, or laughed at. Saying no feels unsafe because of real or perceived repercussions. They may stay in jobs, relationships, or situations that are no longer right for them because, as difficult as things are, staying feels safer than stepping into the unknown.

What unites my ideal clients is that they are ready to stop trying to push through the glass ceiling in the same way and begin exploring what is really holding them back. They want compassionate, practical support that helps them understand themselves more deeply, tame their minds, and build the resilience, clarity, and self-leadership to take control of their narrative. They want high performance that aligns with their wellbeing and values rather than performance that comes at their expense.

How do you support clients to sustain change long after therapy or coaching ends?

A core part of my work is helping clients build resilience that lasts well beyond our sessions. This is grounded in the clinical goal of relapse prevention. I don’t just help clients focus on what is happening now. I support them in preparing for the future by guiding them to plan for situations that might be much more upsetting, unsettling, or challenging than what they are currently facing. Clients are encouraged to explore different variants of difficult situations so they can imagine and plan for the range of challenges they might encounter. This helps them build cognitive, emotional, and behavioural flexibility. I want everyone I work with to be cultivating the mental space that allows them to see their thoughts, feelings, and emotions unfold so they can act intentionally. I want this sort of mindfulness to be my client’s superpower: the power to adapt to a variety of circumstances without losing their sense of clarity, strength, or purpose.

The goal is not to give clients rigid solutions for specific scenarios, but to support them in becoming experts in themselves. I help them strengthen their ability to recognise their patterns, apply the tools we have developed together, and continue learning and adjusting as they move forward. Setbacks and challenges are inevitable, but with the right mindset and skills, clients can meet those moments with confidence and self-leadership. My aim is to provide them with practical strategies, emotional strength, and self-knowledge so they can take control of their narrative, whatever comes their way.

What’s the most common misconception about high-performance mindset work, and how do you address it?

One of the most common misconceptions about high-performance mindset work is that it is only for elite athletes, Olympians, CEOs, or executives. These stereotypes create the impression that high performance belongs to a small, privileged group of people with extraordinary titles or status. In reality, high performers are not defined by job title or label. They are people who are willing to work with dedication, reflection, and care to cultivate and hone their skills. High performance is about consistent effort, the ability to adapt, and a genuine commitment to growth — not a title or a role.

Another misconception is that high-performance mindset work is simply about positive thinking, grit, or willpower. Many people believe that if they just dig in, work harder, or force themselves to stay positive, they will succeed. But neuroscience and psychology show us that this approach often backfires. Willpower is a limited resource. Belief and motivation can increase our stamina and willpower, but not forever. When we rely on willpower alone, without addressing the underlying patterns that shape our thoughts and behaviours, we risk exhausting our mental and physical reserves. Trying to grit it out through increasingly difficult situations without deeper work can lead to burnout, chronic stress, or serious health consequences.

True high-performance mindset work is not about pushing harder at all costs. It is about cultivating the capacity to meet increasingly challenging situations with clarity, resilience, and flexibility. It means drawing upon a wide variety of internal and external resources to nurture oneself mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In this sense, high performance is about living out one’s personal philosophy — or what some might call one’s personal legend. Growth mindset, as research shows, is not about pretending challenges are easy or forcing ourselves through adversity. It is about staying curious, learning from setbacks, and applying strategies that help us grow and adapt in sustainable ways. My approach is integrative and holistic. I draw on evidence-based methods from neuroscience, cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy, and stress inoculation training, alongside practical, experience-based tools that help clients build the resilience and self-leadership needed for lasting change. The goal is growth that aligns achievement with health, meaning, and integrity.

What do you believe is the single most important factor in rewiring mindset for success?

The single most important factor in examining the mind, taming unhelpful habits, and cultivating certainty in oneself and one’s vision is self-leadership. True transformation begins when a person takes full ownership of their thoughts, emotions, and behaviours. This often arises in moments of real difficulty or trial, when circumstances, people, or personal relationships no longer offer the support or security they once did. It is in these moments, when external structures seem to fail us, that we are called to act, take responsibility for ourselves, and leave behind what has failed us.

When clients embrace self-leadership, everything else begins to align. They gain clarity about what truly matters to them. They build resilience because they are no longer at the mercy of external pressures or old patterns that no longer serve them. They begin to create the life, career, and relationships that reflect their values and goals, rather than reacting to what happens around them.

This is at the heart of my philosophy. Examining the mind, taming unhelpful habits, and cultivating self-trust and clarity of vision are not about applying surface-level techniques or forcing change through willpower. They are about helping clients develop the awareness, emotional strength, and practical tools they need to lead themselves with authenticity, purpose, and integrity, whatever challenges they face.

High-performance mindset work is not about chasing external markers of success or forcing ourselves to push harder at any cost. It is about leading ourselves with clarity, resilience, and authenticity. It means developing the capacity to understand our minds, let go of unhelpful habits, and cultivate a way of being that aligns achievement with health, purpose, and integrity. This work asks us to turn inward, take ownership of our narrative, and build the skills and self-trust needed to navigate life’s challenges and opportunities with confidence. That, for me, is what genuine transformation looks like.

If this speaks to something you’ve been feeling, even if you’re not quite sure what needs to change yet, you’re not alone.

The work I do with clients starts wherever you are, with curiosity, compassion, and clarity. Whether you’re navigating a major decision or quietly questioning your next step, there is space for you here.

You can learn more about my approach here , explore my toolkit for actionable strategies, and book a private strategy call if you’re ready to take control of your narrative.