Evidence from the Off-Switch Method: outcomes and how they were recorded
Being able to drive beyond a five-mile limit. Finishing a shorter working day with the same output and some room to recover. Dealing with a difficult event without the old collapse response. These are changes recorded in the individual cases below.
The records also show what the work involved. Some clients kept symptom trackers; two cases use ratings estimated afterwards by the practitioner. They are not interchangeable kinds of evidence.
Separately, the Ukraine 2022 field programme documents delivery at scale, measured changes among completing participants and clinicians who went on to join the delivery team. Participant accounts are included in their own words.
This is field evidence and anonymised practitioner case evidence, not a peer-reviewed clinical trial. Each record explains what was measured and what it cannot establish about another person’s outcome.
Evidence at a glance
Field application — Ukraine 2022
7,000+
participants enrolled
6
cohort groups
42–60%
PTSD symptom reduction
20
clinicians trained
The reductions concern completing participants in the three publicly shown measured cohorts, not all enrolments. They held at one-month follow-up where measured. Field data — no control group.
Reported changes in symptoms and everyday life
Four individual cases and one field programme. Each link opens the full account, including how the change was recorded and its limitations.
Ukraine field application
PTSD symptom scores fell among completing participants in the three publicly shown measured cohorts. Reductions held at one-month follow-up where measured.
Before
PTSD scores pre-program
After
42–60% reduction
Field data from self-selected completers; no control group
Ukraine Project →Senior organizational leader under multiple crises
A shorter working day with the same net output. Sleep restored, work capacity returned and the divorce situation accepted, while external pressures continued.
Before
~60/100 distress
After
~10/100
Estimated afterwards by the practitioner; no formal tracker
Full case →Catastrophic anxiety after stroke
After the engagement, a layoff and heart surgery did not bring back the earlier collapse response. New work was found. The work addressed anxiety, not the medical conditions.
Before
~70/100 threat activation
After
~10–15/100
Practitioner-estimated rating + one self-rated recovery marker; no formal tracker
Full case →Driving panic and public pressure overload
Driving expanded from roughly five miles beyond the city edge to completed journeys of 15, 100 and 200 miles. Panic stopped; broader public-pressure overload reduced in the first month.
Before
Tracker score 79/125
After
4/125 at 90 days
25-item client-maintained, self-reported tracker; individual case
Full case →Complex PTSD and burnout
Work boundaries were established, previously avoided financial matters addressed and close relationships reopened. Improvement continued after the meetings ended.
Before
Tracker score 72/105
After
7/105 at six-week follow-up
21-item client-maintained, self-reported tracker; individual case
Full case →How the evidence was collected
A symptom tracker, a practitioner’s estimate and a participant’s account tell us different things. Here is how to distinguish them.
Field application data
Structured pre/post measurement across multiple cohorts in real-world conditions. The Ukraine 2022 program is the primary example.
Client-maintained tracker cases
Two clients recorded their own symptoms during the work. Each case includes the scores and how they were collected.
Retrospective practitioner estimates
Two cases had no formal tracker. Their ratings were estimated afterwards by the practitioner; they are not validated measurements.
Participant reports
First-person accounts from people who completed the work. Supporting evidence — not the primary proof.
Practitioner uptake
Twenty Ukrainian clinicians experienced the method during active hostilities, then trained and joined the delivery team. This records a professional decision, not a symptom score.
Field Application: Ukraine 2022
A free online programme during active war, with symptom measurement among participants who completed it.
In March 2022, two weeks after Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine, a free online program was launched for Ukrainians experiencing war trauma. It ran for six months across six cohort groups — entirely online, in Russian, at no cost. Total enrollment: approximately 7,000 participants. Around 80% were inside Ukraine during active hostilities. Around 20% were refugees abroad.
PTSD symptoms were measured using a structured 21-item scale (maximum score 105) before, at the end of, and four weeks after the program. The measured population was participants who completed all six sessions — approximately 30% of each cohort’s enrollment, representing roughly 300–500 individuals across the measured groups.
Cohort
Group 3
Reduction
60%
Pre-course 53.1 → End 21.5
Follow-up: —
Cohort
Group 4
Reduction
42%
Pre-course 62.7 → End 36.4
Follow-up: 34.9 (44%)
Cohort
Group 5
Reduction
43%
Pre-course 69.2 → End 39.6
Follow-up: 37.2 (46.2%)
This is field data, not a controlled trial. There was no control group. The study population was self-selected completers. The method did not treat the war, bombardment, displacement, or external events. It worked on the trauma and stress activation produced by those events. External conditions remained what they were.
As the program progressed, twenty Ukrainian therapists, psychologists, and medical doctors who were participating in the sessions requested training in the Off-Switch Method and joined the delivery team.
What the work involved in each case
The same method did not mean the same work for everyone. These anonymised records show the sequence, the practice and what happened afterwards.
Full record available
Driving Panic and Public Pressure Overload
The work began with broader role overload, then addressed driving-specific fear and tested the change on the road.
79 → 4
25-item self-reported tracker, out of 125; baseline to 90 days
Panic stopped. Driving range expanded from roughly five miles beyond the city edge to 15, 100, and eventually 200-mile drives.
Client-maintained tracker
Full case record→Full record available
Complex PTSD and Burnout
Daily practice and systematic work through personal history, including workplace experiences, family relationships and longstanding self-criticism.
72 → 7
21-item self-reported tracker, out of 105; baseline to six-week follow-up
The score continued falling during six weeks of independent practice after the meetings ended. Work boundaries improved and previously avoided financial matters were addressed.
Client-maintained tracker
Full case record→Full record available
Senior organizational leader under multiple crises
Daily practice, work through accumulated emotional material and a shorter working day with time protected for recovery.
~60 → ~10
Retrospective practitioner estimate, 0–100
Net output stayed stable despite the shorter day. Sleep and energy for work improved while the external crises continued; change held at an informal four-month review.
Retrospective practitioner estimate
Full case record→Full record available
Catastrophic Anxiety and Future Collapse After Stroke
Work on fear of the future and an older response to criticism, with unusually intensive independent practice. The medical conditions were treated medically.
~70 → ~10–15
Retrospective practitioner estimate, 0–100
During a three-month pause after the engagement, the client handled a layoff and heart surgery without the earlier collapse response and found new work.
Retrospective practitioner estimate
Full case record→What participants report
From people who came here after other approaches had not produced lasting results, or who came in conditions where standard approaches could not reach them. Participant reports are supporting evidence, not the primary proof.
“Panic attacks I had suffered from for more than 40 years disappeared. Not a single doctor had been able to help me with this.”— Participant report, anonymized
“Not only did I get rid of the phantom siren in my head — in just three weeks I also resolved issues I had been working on for years in psychotherapy.”— Participant report, Ukraine program
“My sleep has normalized. I am in a stable calm state despite war and daily bomb threats. Once again I have the desire to live and create.”— Participant report, Ukraine program
“For four years they could not find the right antidepressants for my anxiety-phobic disorder. Thanks to this method I began to feel better.”— Participant report, anonymized
“I almost didn't try this. The method sounded too simple to do anything real. I expected placebo. What changed my mind wasn't the explanation — it was that situations which normally triggered a strong reaction just stopped hitting with the same intensity. I believed it because something shifted, not because it sounded impressive.”— Participant report, anonymized
Practitioner uptake
Some participants were themselves treating people affected by the war. After experiencing the programme, they wanted to learn to deliver it.
Twenty Ukrainian therapists, psychologists, and medical doctors joined the delivery team — not through recruitment, but after experiencing the program themselves during active hostilities and concluding they needed to learn it for their own patients.
“I have been working with trauma for many years and currently have a large number of refugee clients with whom many standard methods do not produce results. This approach works and brings real benefit.”— Trauma professional working with refugees, Ukraine program
What this evidence is and is not
Field evidence, not a peer-reviewed trial. The Ukraine data is structured measurement across multiple cohorts with follow-up where available. There was no control group.
Case evidence, not a controlled study. Individual case records are anonymized practitioner records. They represent range across different presenting situations, not a selected set of the most dramatic available.
Tracker data where available. Two of the four individual cases include client-maintained symptom trackers. These are self-reported, not clinically administered instruments.
Practitioner-estimated ratings where explicitly labelled. The remaining two cases use retrospective practitioner severity estimates. These are directional indicators, not validated measurements.
Not a substitute for medical or psychiatric care. No claim is made that this method guarantees similar outcomes. Results vary. Where clinical or psychiatric care is needed, it takes precedence.
If you recognise something of your own situation here, we can talk about what you want to change and what the work would involve.