Work Addiction & Burnout Treatment
Private, one-to-one residential care for work addiction, chronic overwork, and burnout. Evidence-based, fully confidential — in Southern Spain.
For individuals who value complete discretion and a truly personalised approach
Work Addiction & Burnout: Scope of Care
Burnout is highly individual. Group settings can add performance pressure and reduce privacy for sensitive workplace details — the last thing someone in burnout needs is another environment that demands performance.
One-to-one care provides clinical continuity, stable attunement, and enough time to change the systems that drive overwork. We keep exposure low so you can recover momentum without managing a cohort.
Work addiction
Compulsive overwork, loss of control over working hours, withdrawal-like discomfort when not working, and clear harm to sleep, mood, and relationships. The pattern persists despite awareness of its consequences and repeated intentions to change.
Burnout
Exhaustion, reduced efficacy, and detachment after sustained chronic load. Burnout is not weakness or laziness — it is a physiological and psychological state that requires specific clinical intervention. It is frequently masked by caffeine, stimulants, alcohol, or sedatives, which delay recognition and treatment.
Co-occurring conditions
Burnout frequently overlaps with anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma themes, and broader mental health needs. Treating burnout in isolation from these co-occurring conditions produces limited and short-lived results. We integrate the full clinical picture into a single treatment plan.
Clinical assessment
Mapping Burnout and Overwork
Before treatment begins, we build a complete picture across six areas. Assessment informs every clinical decision — therapy, capacity planning, environment design, and the daily structure of the programme.
Workload and calendar
Hours, variability, travel cadence, meeting density, and decision load. Understanding the structure of the working pattern is the foundation of an effective capacity plan.
Boundary fitness
Email and messaging rules, availability windows, escalation paths, and handover quality. Boundary failures are often as clinically significant as the total hours worked.
Sleep and physiology
Sleep latency, night waking, morning readiness, caffeine and light exposure, movement, and nutrition. Sleep disruption is both a driver and a consequence of chronic overwork.
Coping and substances
Alcohol in evenings, sedatives for sleep, stimulant or ADHD-medication misuse, and energy drink reliance. Substance use in burnout is common and requires integration into the clinical plan.
Perfectionism and control
All-or-nothing standards, delegation difficulties, and fear-of-failure loops. These cognitive patterns are often the engine that keeps overwork running even when the individual wants to stop.
Relationships and meaning
Partner strain, parenting demands, social isolation, and values misfit at work. Burnout rarely exists in isolation from relationship and meaning dimensions that require direct clinical attention.
CLINICAL APPROACH
Our Approach to Work Addiction & Burnout
We combine evidence-based psychological therapy with practical capacity planning and environment design — addressing both the compulsive pattern and the physiological depletion that sustains it.
DBT-Informed Skills
Distress tolerance for work spikes, emotion regulation for criticism and uncertainty, and interpersonal effectiveness for delegation and boundary-setting. DBT skills address the moments that most commonly drive overwork — fear of failure, people-pleasing, and the inability to tolerate unfinished tasks.
Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET)
Resolves ambivalence about slowing down, aligns personal values with workload decisions, and converts intentions into specific daily rules. Many clients intellectually understand the need to change but find it genuinely difficult to act on that understanding without structured motivational support.
Somatic Regulation
TRE, functional breathwork, and pacing to downshift hyperarousal, improve sleep quality, and stabilise energy. Chronic overwork dysregulates the nervous system in ways that require direct physiological intervention alongside psychological therapy.
Sustainable Performance Coaching
Realistic capacity planning, meeting hygiene, email windows, decision triage, and recovery blocks built into the calendar. The goal is not to stop performing — it is to perform sustainably without the physical and psychological cost of overwork.
Environment Design
Morning and evening routines, device rules, light and caffeine timing, travel protocols, and social scaffolding. The environment is redesigned to support recovery and prevent the automatic slide back into overwork patterns after discharge.
Medication and Safety Coordination
Where sedatives, stimulants, or sleep medication are involved, a physician sets any medical plan. We do not prescribe or alter doses. We coordinate pathways and match the therapeutic pace to clinical safety throughout.
Is This Burnout, or Something More?
Work addiction and burnout exist on a spectrum. If you find yourself unable to stop working even when you want to, or if exhaustion has become your baseline, a confidential conversation with our team is a useful first step — no obligation, no pressure.
Every programme is one-to-one. The weekly clinical dose is calibrated to your current capacity and adjusted as the programme progresses. A typical week includes:
Weekly clinical dose:
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7–10 hours of individual psychotherapy per week — focused on burnout drivers, work addiction loops, perfectionism, and the values work that makes sustainable change possible.
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3–5 hours of skills and planning work per week — boundary scripts, calendar design, meeting hygiene, decision triage, and relapse prevention for high-pressure periods.
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2–4 hours of somatic regulation per week — TRE and body-based work to downshift chronic hyperarousal and restore the physiological baseline that sustained performance requires.
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Protected integration time daily — nature, rest, and unstructured recovery so change consolidates between sessions. Rest is treated as a clinical intervention, not an indulgence.
SAMPLE PATHWAYS
Two Sample Treatment Pathways
Every programme is tailored to the individual. These two pathways illustrate how the clinical framework is applied across the most common burnout presentations we treat.
Pathway 1 — Founder Burnout with Stimulant Reliance
Week 1: Assessment, sleep and nutrition stabilisation, DBT regulation blocks, MET values work, TRE, caffeine and screen rules, and creation of a first relapse map for both overwork and substance use.
Week 2: Capacity plan, decision triage, meeting hygiene, graded exposure to work without overdrive, partner check-in, and aftercare calendar.
Weeks 3 to 4: Travel and investor-meeting protocols, energy budgeting, and step down to structured follow-ups.
Pathway 2 — Executive Burnout with Evening Alcohol and Sedatives
Week 1: Physician coordination if indicated, sleep architecture rebuild, DBT distress tolerance, evening routine design, device limits, and TRE.
Week 2: Delegation practice, boundary scripts, calendar hygiene, MET to resolve the fear of saying no, and aftercare plan with family alignment.
Weeks 3 to 4: Graded exposure to high-stress weeks, relapse drills for travel and quarter-end, and step down to structured follow-ups.
Sustaining Recovery from Burnout
Burnout has a high recurrence rate when the systems that caused it remain unchanged. Discharge planning begins in the first week, not the last — because the boundary charter, energy budget, and work protocols need to be built, tested, and refined during the programme, not assembled at the end of it.
You leave with a concrete plan that has already been stress-tested against your real conditions.
What you leave with
A written boundary charter, an email and meeting protocol, a 90-day energy budget, and a slip drill for both overwork and substance risk. Every component is built and tested during the programme — not handed to you on the last day.
Ongoing support
Lifetime Aftercare with scheduled follow-up sessions. With your consent, we can liaise with employers, coaches, or other professionals you choose to involve in maintaining the gains made during treatment.
Work contact during treatment
Limited remote work may be considered once you are clinically stabilised, with clear communication rules that protect recovery from burnout. This is agreed individually and reviewed regularly. Most clients find that a genuine break in the first week significantly accelerates recovery.
Partner and family involvement
Structured sessions are available where they are clinically helpful — to align boundaries and expectations at home, and to support the transition back into family life after discharge. All involvement requires your explicit consent.
How to Start
The admissions process is straightforward, low-pressure, and fully confidential. Most clients move from first enquiry to confirmed programme within a few days.
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1Step 1
Send a confidential enquiry
Share a concise outline of your situation and goals. Everything is treated with complete discretion — including any workplace or professional details you share.
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2Step 2
Pre-admission assessment
We review history, risks, workload, and practical needs via secure video. This session informs the programme proposal and confirms clinical fit.
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3Step 3
Receive a tailored plan
We propose programme length, focus areas, and next steps. Physician coordination is arranged if clinically indicated. You review and confirm before anything is booked.
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4Step 4
Plan your travel
We arrange your arrival and private ground transfer to the residence. Straightforward routes into Malaga with unbranded, discreet logistics throughout.
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5Step 5
First 72 hours
Stabilise sleep, nutrition, and daily routine while beginning focused assessment and clinical work. Work contact rules are agreed and implemented immediately.
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6Step 6
Step down and aftercare
Continue with structured aftercare and boundary practice at home. Your boundary charter, 90-day energy budget, and scheduled follow-ups are in place before you leave.
Find the right fit
Programmes
All programmes follow the same clinical framework but differ in duration, depth, and intensity. The right starting point depends on severity, co-occurring conditions, and your professional context.
The Foundation Retreat
Assessment, stabilisation, and first boundary milestones. For clients who need to stop the overwork cycle and understand its drivers before building long-term change.
The Restorative Path
Structured daily work on burnout recovery, boundary scripts, and sustainable capacity planning. For clients ready to build and consolidate the core toolkit.
The Regenerative Stay
Deeper change for complex presentations — particularly where anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, or co-occurring substance use require integrated clinical work.
The Signature Experience
A fully bespoke programme with complete clinical flexibility, maximum privacy, and a senior-led framework built around your specific professional and personal circumstances.
Our admissions team will recommend the most appropriate programme after the pre-admission assessment.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re considering a private luxury rehab centre for yourself or someone you love, we’re here to help you take the next step with clarity and discretion.
Still have questions? Our admissions team is available 24 hours a day for confidential conversations.
Speak With Us in Confidence