For organisations
Off-Switch programmes for organisations
When sustained emotional strain begins to affect the work.
Often it does not look dramatic. The role is still being done, but sleep is poorer, decisions take more out of the person, and time away no longer brings the same recovery.
Off-Switch offers structured work for sustained stress, burnout risk, trauma exposure and the strain left after a crisis — from confidential individual engagements to cohorts and internal practitioner training.
The Ukraine 2022 field programme enrolled approximately 7,000 people.
Not a replacement for medical, psychiatric, emergency, or crisis care.
Three levels of work
Individual work
One person, with work directed to their situation.
Confidential 1:1 engagement.
Group cohorts
A shared programme for people facing similar pressures.
Structured work over a defined period.
Internal training
People inside the organisation able to deliver the work.
Train practitioners or support teams.
When private stress becomes organizational risk
The personal strain and the organisational consequences often appear together. These are some of the signs that recovery needs attention.
Private signal
Sleep deteriorates
Organizational consequence
Recovery capacity drops.
Private signal
Emotional reactivity increases
Organizational consequence
Conflict and decision quality worsen.
Private signal
People withdraw or shut down
Organizational consequence
Teams have less capacity to draw on.
Private signal
Stress becomes chronic
Organizational consequence
Sick leave and retention risk rise.
Private signal
Leaders cannot switch off
Organizational consequence
Strategic judgment narrows.
Private signal
The immediate crisis is over
Organizational consequence
People still react as though it is continuing.
This is a wellbeing concern and an operational one. The effects reach decisions, absence, retention and the team’s ability to deliver.
This page is for organizations dealing with:
Organisational situations where the method may be relevant
The method has been applied in some of these settings; in others, its structure is relevant to the need. We would assess the fit for your particular situation before proposing work.
Workplace capacity
Burnout-risk employees in high-pressure roles
Situation
The work is still getting done. Sleep, concentration and emotional steadiness are becoming less reliable.
Relevant for
IT, trading, finance, consulting, sales, customer support, logistics, healthcare administration.
Format
HR-referred 1:1 work, small recovery cohorts, or a burnout-prevention programme.
A reason to address the strain before it becomes absence, resignation or breakdown.
Executive and senior-leader overload
Situation
Poor sleep, an inability to switch off, sharper reactions and less room to think. The responsibility has not become any smaller.
Relevant for
CEOs, founders, country managers, senior executives, board-level leaders, and key decision-makers under prolonged responsibility.
Format
Confidential 1:1 commissioned engagement.
For leaders who are still carrying the responsibility, but finding recovery harder.
Post-crisis organizational recovery
Situation
The crisis is over externally — but still active internally.
Relevant for
Organizations after layoffs, restructuring, workplace incidents, scandal, leadership crisis, merger pressure, or another major operational shock.
Format
Leadership recovery work, team cohorts, or an organization-specific recovery programme.
Work on the reactions that remain after the immediate crisis has ended.
Exposure and trauma contexts
Frontline, medical, and emergency-response teams
Situation
Exposure is not occasional. It is built into the job.
Relevant for
Hospitals, emergency medicine, ambulance, firefighters, police, prison staff, social workers, child protection, crisis-line and victim-support workers.
Format
Small cohorts, structured decompression programmes, or practitioner-supported internal delivery.
Recovery support for repeated exposure load before it becomes shutdown or attrition.
Humanitarian, refugee, and war-related programmes
Situation
Large-scale crisis creates emotional load at population level. War, displacement, and prolonged insecurity require more than ad hoc support.
Relevant for
NGOs, foundations, cities, diaspora organizations, refugee-support programmes, humanitarian institutions, and donor-funded initiatives.
Format
Online cohort delivery, large-scale field deployment, local practitioner training, or train-the-trainer.
The Ukraine 2022 programme is the closest existing model for structured delivery at scale.
Defence, security, and confidential trauma roles
Situation
People may carry events they cannot fully disclose, describe, or discuss publicly.
Relevant for
Military personnel, veterans, intelligence and security services, police tactical units, border guards, private security, diplomatic security staff.
Format
Confidential individual work, closed cohorts, or trained internal practitioners.
Structured work without requiring detailed narration of operationally sensitive content.
Not a substitute for medical, psychiatric, emergency, or crisis care.
What changes
What the work is intended to change
Recovery capacity
In completed engagements, sleep and recovery between demands typically improve as the continuing emotional strain reduces — even before the external situation changes.
Decision quality and reactivity
As the reactions become less intense, there is more room to think and respond. Decision quality can recover without every pressure having to disappear first.
Function under sustained pressure
People may become steadier even while the outside pressure continues. The Ukraine field application is the largest documented example here.
How the work can be delivered
Individual commissioned work
Best for
Executives, key personnel, or employees at risk
Structure
Confidential 1:1 engagement.
Small cohort programmes
Best for
Teams with shared stress, burnout, or exposure patterns
Structure
Finite structured programme.
Large-scale field deployment
Best for
Humanitarian, refugee, or population-level contexts
Structure
Cohort delivery adapted to scale.
Practitioner or internal-team training
Best for
Organizations needing their own people to deliver the work
Structure
Training for practitioners or internal support teams.
The right format depends on population size, risk level, context, and whether the organization needs direct delivery or internal capability.
A documented example of online delivery during an ongoing crisis.
Field evidence
Applied at scale: Ukraine 2022
In 2022, the Off-Switch Method was delivered online as a free six-month programme for Ukrainians experiencing war-related trauma symptoms.
7,000+
participants enrolled
6
cohort groups
42–60%
PTSD symptom reduction
20
clinicians trained
Around 80% of those enrolled were inside Ukraine during active hostilities. Among completing participants in the publicly shown measured cohorts, PTSD symptom scores fell by 42–60% on a 105-point scale. Reductions held at one-month follow-up where measured.
Twenty Ukrainian therapists, psychologists, and medical doctors joined the delivery team after experiencing the method themselves.
Field evidence — not a controlled clinical trial. No control group. Results reflect completing participants only.
The decision depends on the people affected, the setting and how the work would be delivered.
What to consider for your organisation
How far has the strain progressed?
A person can still be delivering while finding sleep, recovery and the work itself harder.
Does one person need private attention?
Confidential 1:1 work may be relevant for a leader, key employee or another person under sustained pressure.
Is exposure part of the role?
Repeated crisis exposure creates a different recovery need from a single event that has ended.
Is the pattern shared across a team?
Cohort delivery can be adapted to teams or larger populations; internal training is another route.
What cannot be discussed in detail?
The work does not require detailed narration of operationally sensitive traumatic content.
How would you follow progress?
Structured self-rated scales can be used where appropriate.
Who should inquire
This page is most relevant for:
HR directors
People & Culture leaders
Occupational health teams
L&D directors
Executive teams
Humanitarian programme directors
NGO and foundation leaders
Medical institution leaders
Defence or security wellbeing officers
Clinical or practitioner teams interested in referral or collaboration
Next step
Start an organizational assessment
Start with who is affected, how the strain is showing up in work and what you have already tried. You do not need a finished brief.
The first conversation considers whether the method is relevant, which form of work could make sense and what it would involve. It is an assessment of the situation, not a proposal or a commitment to proceed.
You can enquire about:
— Individual work or a programme for your people
— Humanitarian, refugee or other field delivery
— Training, referral or professional collaboration
— A specific situation you would like to discuss