Executive Counseling

Counseling Executives and Organizations

Stress is a natural reaction by the body that happens when a part of the brain perceives a threat. The challenge is that this survival mechanism is a primitive response in a modern world and we all need to learn how to thrive under typical pressures while avoiding negative stress, while using positive stress to grow and develop as leaders and managers. Life for executives can be particularly stressful because of the intense pressures that they feel to make the business succeed; their accountability to shareholders, boards of directors, and employees; and the potentially profound consequences of the decisions they make. We work with successful executives to resolve the underlying issues  of their particular form of executive stress, by first identifying underlying root causes, and then by counseling executives on new ways to manage at work and at home, to increase their effectiveness,s and help them to achieve greater happiness and satisfaction.

Bruce A. Kehr, M.D., has served as Founder and President of Potomac Psychiatry since 1981. He also has served on the Board of Directors of public and privately held companies, and founded a medical technology company, whose patented technology he invented. Washingtonian Magazine named Dr. Kehr as one of “Washington’s Top Doctors” from 2012 through 2019, after polling 7000 randomly selected physicians in the DC area, and asking them where they would send their family members for treatment.

Through his collective expertise and experience in business and psychiatry, he specializes in and has a passion for helping top business executives and professionals lead more balanced, symptom-free lives.

Dr. Kehr is engaged in his own executive growth and development through Vistage International, where he receives training and coaching along with a group of fellow CEOs, and on an individual basis, all facilitated by an Executive Coach. Dr. Kehr’s treatment philosophy in working with Senior Executives is captured by a famous quote from Goethe entitled,

I am the decisive element
“I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make a life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture, or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a person humanized or dehumanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”

Our executive stress management program is tailored to the specific personal requirements of the executive. Call us at 301.327.1835 to discuss your needs or to schedule an appointment. At Potomac Psychiatry Dr. Bruce Kehr specializes in evaluating and treating stress management issues for executives and professionals