The Burned Out Therapist Group
An Ongoing Experiential IFS Therapy Group for Therapists in California and Washington
Set down the professional role. Reconnect with Self. Stop carrying it alone.
Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30 p.m. Pacific · Online via Zoom ·
Beginning September 1, 2026 · Limited to 10 therapists
Schedule a Free 20-Minute Consultation →
You may still be showing up for your clients while parts of you are quietly wondering how much longer you can keep doing this.
This work can be deeply meaningful. It can also be emotionally demanding, isolating, administratively exhausting, and difficult to sustain, especially now, when so many therapists are carrying more than ever.
My heart goes out to therapists who keep caring for others while feeling depleted, disconnected, or unsure how to care for themselves.
The Burned Out Therapist Group is a compassionate, ongoing space where you can step out of the professional role, turn toward the parts of you carrying this work, and be supported by peers who genuinely understand.
You might recognize yourself here
You do not have to be in crisis to belong in this group. Many therapists reach out because something quieter has been true for awhile:
- You finish your last session with nothing left for the people you love
- You have started dreading how many clients are on tomorrow’s calendar
- You feel guilty resting, and guilty when you don’t
- You are the one everyone comes to, and you are not sure who you go to
- You have had the thought — maybe more than once — I don’t know if I can do this for another year
- Some part of you loves this work, and some part of you resents it, and both feel true
If any of that landed, nothing is wrong with you. Your parts have been working extraordinarily hard, for a long time, without enough support.
A place where you do not have to be the therapist
You spend much of your week listening closely, regulating your own responses, tracking complex clinical dynamics, running a practice, completing documentation, and staying emotionally available.
Here, you do not need to perform, offer insight, take care of anyone else, or have the answers.
You are invited to arrive as a whole human being.
Together we will use Internal Family Systems to build a more compassionate relationship with the parts of us that carry the therapist role — parts that may feel:
- Exhausted, overextended, or emotionally depleted
- Responsible for everyone’s healing
- Pressured to stay competent, organized, and consistently present
- Burdened by paperwork, business demands, or financial stress
- Perfectionistic, self-critical, resentful, or disconnected
- Longing for more rest, play, creativity, and life beyond work
The purpose is not to push your parts to work harder at “self-care.” It is to listen to them, understand what they are carrying, and help them feel more supported from the inside.
Why a group, and not only individual therapy
Burnout is intensified by isolation. Much of the difficulty of this profession is not only the workload. It is carrying that workload alone, behind a closed door or a screen, with few places to say what you are actually holding. A group interrupts that.
Being witnessed by therapists who understand can soften shame. Saying “I dread my Tuesdays” and watching another clinician nod in recognition does something private insight rarely can. Your parts learn, experientially, that they are not the only ones — and belonging becomes possible where isolation used to be.
Shared presence supports healing that solitary reflection cannot. When a group settles into calm, curious, compassionate presence together, it becomes easier for each nervous system to find its way there — and easier to carry that state back into your own consulting room. Much of what heals here comes from the circle, not only from the facilitator.
What happens in the group
Each 90-minute session includes a combination of:
- Guided IFS meditation and internal check-in
- Supported connection with the parts carrying stress, responsibility, and burnout
- Reflection with another therapist or with the larger group
- Exploration of common therapist parts and professional burdens
- Integration and intentions for bringing more Self-energy into work and life
You are always welcome to participate at whatever depth feels right on a given evening.
What this group is designed to support
This group is intended to help you:
- Reconnect with compassion, clarity, calm, curiosity, courage, creativity, confidence, and connection
- Relate more gently to the self-critical and perfectionistic parts
- Explore boundaries, rest, and capacity with less guilt
- Deepen your felt understanding of IFS from the inside
- Experience being known and supported by colleagues who understand
Every therapist’s process is their own, so I cannot promise particular outcomes. What I can offer is a consistent, well-held space and a model that takes your parts seriously.
Schedule a Free 20-Minute Consultation →
Group details
| When | Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30 p.m. Pacific Time |
| Where | Online via Zoom |
| Begins | September 1 |
| Investment | $300 per month |
| Size | Limited to 10 therapists |
| Who | Therapists located in California or Washington |
The monthly fee is paid on the first of the month and reserves your ongoing place in the group, regardless of attendance. The fee covers 4 groups per month. When there are 5 Tuesdays in a month, we take one week off.
All genders are welcome. The group is LGBTQIA+ affirming, trans affirming, and neurodiversity affirming.
This is an ongoing group
Although we begin September 1, my hope is to create an ongoing community where therapists build meaningful relationships over time, continue their inner work, and receive sustained support. Burnout does not resolve in six weeks. The ongoing structure exists so something real can be built.
If you are finding this page after September 1, you are still welcome to reach out. If there is an opening, we can explore whether it is a good fit. If the group is full, you may join the waiting list. If there is enough interest, I will consider opening a second group.
I am trusting that the right therapists will recognize something here that they have been needing.
About the facilitator
Forest Benedict, LMFT
I am a Certified IFS Therapist and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California and Washington, with more than 16 years in the field.
Group work has been part of my life for my entire career. I have facilitated hundreds of therapy groups and I have published writing on group therapy for other clinicians. I love leading groups because I keep seeing what they make possible: belonging, mutual support, and the kind of healing that happens when people are willing to be real with one another.
A meaningful part of my practice is devoted to supporting other therapists, and I understand burnout personally. There have been seasons when I felt deeply exhausted, disconnected from the work, and close to leaving the profession.
IFS helped me move beyond asking “How can I make myself keep doing this?” and begin asking “Which parts of me are carrying this and what do they need from me?”
That shift changed my relationship with my work and with myself. I created this group because therapists deserve the same depth of compassion, presence, and care they offer everyone else.
California LMFT #86048 · Washington LMFT #LF.61604122
Learn more about me and my approach →
Endorsement
“Therapists need a place where they can set down the professional role and receive the same depth of presence and compassion they offer others. Forest understands IFS both internally and externally, has done his own deep work, and brings tremendous relational skill to the healing process. I highly recommend him to therapists seeking a compassionate, grounded space to connect with their own parts and be genuinely supported.”
— Joe Bielling Certified Level 3 IFS Practitioner and Licensed Professional Counselor Associate
A few questions therapists ask
Is this therapy or professional consultation?
This is an experiential therapy group focused on you, your internal system, and your experience of the therapist role. It is not case consultation or clinical supervision.
Do I need to know IFS? No. Familiarity is welcome but not required. I will guide each experience.
How much will I have to share? Only what you choose to.
What if the group is full, or I am finding this after September 1? Reach out anyway. If there is an opening, we can talk about fit. If not, you are welcome on the waiting list, and I may open a second group if there is enough interest.
Schedule a free 20-minute consultation
Joining an ongoing therapy group is a meaningful decision.
The first step is a complimentary 20-minute phone or Zoom consultation where we can meet, talk about what you are looking for, answer your questions, and explore whether the group feels like a good fit. There is no pressure to join.
Many therapists think about reaching out for a long time before they do. If a part of you is hesitating, that makes complete sense and it is welcome here too.
Email Forest to begin: ForestBenedictLMFT@ForestBenedict.com
Schedule a Free 20-Minute Consultation
You do not have to carry this work alone.
There can be a place where the parts of you carrying everyone else are finally welcomed, understood, and supported.