IFS + Brainspotting Therapy Intensives for Medical Professionals
You've spent your career caring for others. Now it's your turn.
For doctors, surgeons, emergency physicians and healthcare leaders ready to do the deep work — online worldwide, or in-person retreat in Southeast Asia.
You chose medicine because you wanted to help people. What nobody prepared you for was the cost.
The training was brutal: years of sleep deprivation, high-stakes decisions, and a culture that rewarded stoicism and punished vulnerability. You learned early to compartmentalise, to push through, to be the one who holds it together when everything is falling apart.
And you've done that, brilliantly, for years.
But something has shifted. The resilience that got you here is wearing thin. You're carrying more than you can process: the cases that didn't go the way you hoped, the system failures, the patients you couldn't save, the cumulative weight of bearing witness to suffering, day after day, year after year.
Maybe you're burned out. Maybe you're struggling with anxiety, hypervigilance, or a growing sense of numbness. Maybe you know, somewhere deep down, that what you're experiencing isn't just tiredness. It's trauma.
And the hardest part? You're the one people come to for help. Asking for it yourself feels almost impossible.
A one-hour session and then straight back on call isn't going to cut it. It's time to make yourself available to you.
Burnout in medicine is not a personal failing
Let’s be clear: physician burnout is a systemic wound, not a weakness. Understanding that intellectually doesn’t make it hurt less.
Medicine trains you to fix problems. To push through. To be the capable one.
Coaching and training can help with leadership and performance. But they cannot touch the cumulative trauma of medical training, the moral injury of a broken system, or the nervous system that has been on high alert for years.
That requires something different. Something that works at the level of the body and the brain, not just the mind.
That's what I offer.
You may be experIencing:
Emotional exhaustion and a creeping detachment from patients you used to love caring for
Compassion fatigue that bleeds into your personal life
Dread before shifts, difficulty switching off, or a numbness that worries you
A fractured sense of identity. Who are you when you’re not Doctor?
Intrusive memories of difficult cases, unexpected losses, or traumatic clinical events
Moral injury: the pain of being asked to act against your values, or watching a system fail your patients
Physical depletion that sleep doesn’t fix
You don’t need a holiday. You need deep, targeted healing and you need it to work.
Why the intensive format works especially well for doctors
Weekly therapy is hard to sustain when you’re working unpredictable hours, managing on-call rotas, or carrying the kind of mental load that medicine demands. The idea of a 50-minute appointment every Tuesday, indefinitely, can feel like one more thing on an impossible list.
An intensive is different. You block out a focused period of time, typically two to six days, and we do deep, concentrated work together. No weekly commitment. No drip-feed. Just a dedicated container where you are the patient, the healing is the priority, and everything else waits.
Doctors are trained to optimise. Intensive retreats are, neurologically, the most efficient healing format available. When your brain and body are freed from survival mode, from the pager, the rota, the responsibility, healing moves at an extraordinary pace. And it sticks.
In a condensed, immersive environment, we’re not just talking about change. We’re rewiring it into your system in real time.
The trauma nobody talks about in medicine
Medicine has a culture problem. Vulnerability is still too often seen as weakness. Asking for help can feel career-threatening.
And the sheer volume of difficult experiences, from the intensity of training through to the relentlessness of clinical practice, means that many doctors are carrying unprocessed trauma they have never had the space to address.
Emergency physicians carry this particularly acutely. The cumulative trauma of high-acuity work, critical decisions under pressure, and repeated exposure to death and suffering creates a particular kind of burden that standard wellbeing resources rarely touch.
This is not weakness. This is what happens when a system extracts everything from the people inside it and gives very little back.
How we work:
Using IFS and Brainspotting in combination, we work at the level of both the parts of you that have been protecting you, the ones that learned to push through, shut down, and keep going, and the body-held trauma that talking alone cannot reach.
Brainspotting is particularly powerful for the kind of trauma that medical professionals carry: cumulative, often non-verbal, held in the nervous system. It allows your system to process and release what it has been holding, often quickly and at a depth that surprises people. It was developed by Dr David Grand and has a strong and growing evidence base for complex and developmental trauma.
IFS helps us understand the inner architecture that developed in response to medical culture and training: the perfectionist part, the part that can’t rest, the part that is terrified of making a mistake. We meet these parts with curiosity rather than trying to override them, and help them unburden what they’ve been carrying.
Together, in an intensive format, the results can be profound.
You can expect:
Intensive, attuned and unhurried sessions tailored to the way a medically-trained, analytical mind processes experience
Deep pre-work completed around your schedule before we meet, so we hit the ground running
A confidential, zero-judgment space. No colleagues, no professional persona required
Integration time woven throughout, so the shifts you make are lasting and anchored in your system
Online or in-person retreat in Southeast Asia
online
Available to medical professionals anywhere in the world. Many clients are surprised by how deeply effective online intensive work can be. The immersive, focused nature of the format translates remarkably well to a virtual setting, and I work with high-achieving professionals across the UK, US, Australia, Europe, and Asia.
in-person
For doctors who want to combine deep therapeutic work with the restorative environment of this region. Bangkok offers seamless international connections and world-class private facilities. Phuket and Bali offer ocean, space, and the kind of sensory reset a depleted nervous system craves. Other locations also available by arrangement.
Optional holistic add-ons, including massage, spa, and nature, can be woven in to support nervous system regulation at a somatic level. Together, we'll choose the setting that's right for you.
In-person retreats require a minimum of three months advance planning and are available to a very limited number of clients each year. The investment reflects the bespoke nature of the experience, the immersive setting, and the depth of work that in-person contact makes possible. Investment starts at £6,500 GBP, which includes the therapeutic work and a calm, comfortable space to work together. Flights, accommodation, food, and personal spending are not included.
…So let’s get to work.
After your intensive, you're likely to experience
Genuine emotional release from years of accumulated clinical stress
A calmer, steadier nervous system that can finally regulate
Freedom from guilt, shame, and the crushing weight of perfectionism
Restored compassion, for your patients and for yourself
Reconnection with the person and the doctor you actually want to be
Deep and lasting healing that weekly therapy rarely reaches
This isn't about fixing you. You were never broken. It's about giving a brilliant, exhausted mind and body the depth of support it has long deserved.
your therapist
I'm Lucy Orton, a British, Australian-registered (ACA) counsellor, IFS Level 2 therapist, Certified Sex Therapist and Phase 5 Brainspotting Therapist. I work exclusively in an intensive format with high-achievers, founders, and professionals, including a growing number of doctors and medical professionals.
I understand the culture you've been trained in. I understand what it costs to be the one doing this work, the one who holds it together, the one who never asks for help. And I know how to create a space where that can finally change.
My intensive clients are people who are used to being competent and in control, and who find that the effects of trauma and burnout sit frustratingly at odds with the life they have built. They come to intensives because they want to move fast, go deep, and not waste time.
I bring warmth, precision, and genuine commitment to every intensive. I will not rush you, and I will not water things down. You will be held with care and challenged with compassion in equal measure.
I’d love to support you. Use the buttons below to learn more about me and get in touch for a free, confidential consultation.
To apply
You have given so much.
now let someone take good care of you.
Due to the bespoke nature of these retreats, spaces are limited and require a minimum of three months advance planning for in-person work. Online intensives have more flexibility.
To apply, get in touch below and mention 'doctor retreat' or 'medical professional' in your message. We'll begin with a free, no-pressure 20-minute consultation where we'll discuss:
Your burnout history, goals, and available timeline
Whether online or in-person retreat suits you best
How this intensive can serve your return to medicine, or your transition beyond it
Please note: these intensives are designed for medical professionals ready to do meaningful deep work in a fully supported setting. They are not suitable for acute crisis care.
Lucy Orton IFS Therapist | Brainspotting Therapist | Intensive Specialist
frequently asked questions
Is this confidential? Completely. Everything discussed in our sessions is held in strict confidence and adheres to the ethical standards of both the Australian Counselling Association and International Coaching Federation. I also work independently, outside any hospital or healthcare system, and have no connection to your employer, your professional registration/licence, or any professional body.
I'm worried about what seeking therapy means for my career. Is this safe? Working with a private therapist outside the NHS or any other public or institutional setting carries no professional risk. I am not connected to any regulatory or employment body. Many of my medical clients have the same concern, and finding a completely independent space is often part of why they choose an intensive format.
Can I do this online without anyone knowing? Yes. Online intensives are completely private. You work from wherever you feel safe and comfortable, with no waiting rooms and no paper trail connected to your workplace.
I'm not sure I have time. How does the scheduling work? We work around your schedule. You block out the intensive days in advance, and everything else, such as the pre-work, the pre-session, the follow-up, is arranged around your availability. Many clients find this easier than committing to weekly appointments.
Is this suitable for acute mental health crisis? These intensives are designed for high-functioning professionals experiencing burnout, trauma, and compassion fatigue. They are not suitable for acute psychiatric crisis or active suicidal ideation. If you are in crisis, please contact your GP or a crisis service.
Do you have experience working with doctors specifically? Yes. I work with a growing number of medical professionals and emergency physicians, and I understand the specific culture, pressures, and presentation that comes with a career in medicine.