Executive Burnout Retreat in Spain
Executive Burnout · Spain

Executive Burnout Retreat in Spain

For founders, leaders and high performers who are still functioning outwardly while the cost of holding everything together keeps rising.

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Scheduled five-day intensive · Six people maximum · €9,500 per person · Private formats available

When functioning hides the problem

You do not have to stop performing to be burnt out.

Executive burnout often looks different from collapse. The person may still be running the company, answering the calls, making decisions, travelling, providing for other people and appearing entirely capable.

What changes first is often the internal cost. Sleep becomes less restorative. Patience narrows. Work takes more effort. Relationships receive whatever is left. Time away helps temporarily, then the same pressure rebuilds.

The Ridge is not an executive coaching retreat, leadership programme or performance reset. It is psychotherapist-led therapeutic work in Andalusia, led personally by Simon Hitchcock. The focus is on understanding the psychological pattern underneath the exhaustion rather than simply restoring enough capacity to return to the same way of operating.

The scheduled Ridge Intensive runs for five continuous days with a maximum of six participants. Where privacy, timing or individual structure matters more, private intensive formats are also available.

For a broader look at how burnout can develop and why rest alone may not resolve it, read more about burnout and intensive therapeutic work at The Ridge.

That strengthens the distinction between therapeutic work and executive coaching, makes the private routes visible earlier, and stays consistent with what the page already says later about the purpose not being performance optimisation.

A private conversation

You can begin here.

If something you've read feels familiar, you can write to Simon directly. A few words are enough to begin. You don't need to explain everything in a form.

Prefer to speak? Book a Private 20-Minute Consultation with Simon

A brief message is fine. Please avoid sharing sensitive details unless necessary.

Or, if you'd prefer to message directly Message Simon on WhatsApp
Beyond the reset

Burnout is not always a workload problem.

For some high performers, reducing the diary is not enough because the pressure is not only coming from the diary.

Performance can become tied to safety, approval, identity, responsibility or the belief that everything depends on staying useful. In that situation, rest can create relief without changing the mechanism that keeps recreating the exhaustion.

The work at The Ridge is not about making ambitious people less ambitious. It is about understanding what the drive has been doing psychologically and whether it is still serving the life the person has built.

Five continuous days create the continuity to work beyond the presenting symptom, while distance from ordinary roles creates room to notice what usually gets covered over by performance. The aim is not to finish the work in five days. It is to understand the drivers clearly enough to begin changing them, then carry that work forward through a written leaving document and ninety days of direct follow-up with Simon.

For some people, the pressure is also reinforced by older patterns around control, safety, self-reliance or relationships. Where earlier experiences or trauma remain part of what is driving the response, there is more detail on The Ridge’s trauma therapy retreat in Spain.

Anxiety can sit inside the same high-functioning pattern. Constant anticipation, overthinking, vigilance and the need to stay in control can become so familiar that they are mistaken for the personality or working style that makes someone effective. Where anxiety is a significant part of what is happening, there is more detail on The Ridge’s anxiety therapy retreat in Spain.

For a broader explanation of why several continuous days can create a different therapeutic environment from weekly sessions, read more about the intensive therapy approach at The Ridge.

Where privacy, timing or individual structure matter more, there are two private routes. The Seven-Day Private Intensive is centred on one person or potentially one couple. The Private Weekend Intensive provides concentrated 1:1 work with Simon from Friday to Monday.

For founders, leaders and professionals specifically looking for therapeutic work without a wider participant group, there is also more detail on The Ridge’s private therapy retreat approach.

Explore the Five-Day Programme

A Burnout Reset

Rest, sleep, nutrition, exercise and reduced stimulation can all help someone recover capacity. But if the underlying psychological pattern remains unchanged, returning to the same life can begin rebuilding the same exhaustion.

Executive Burnout Work at The Ridge

Psychotherapist-led work focused on the pattern underneath the exhaustion. The aim is not simply to restore performance, but to understand why the current way of functioning became necessary and what needs to change.

The work is concentrated across continuous days rather than broken into weekly sessions, with a written leaving document and ninety days of direct follow-up with Simon to help carry what has been understood back into ordinary life.

The practical details

Designed for depth, continuity and uninterrupted work.

Scheduled format Five-day psychotherapist-led therapeutic intensive
Scheduled group size Maximum six participants
Clinical lead Simon Hitchcock leads the therapeutic work personally throughout
Location The Ridge near Pizarra in the mountains of Andalusia, Spain
Accommodation Nearby rural accommodation approximately one kilometre from The Ridge is included
Included Accommodation, meals, agreed Málaga airport transfers, the full programme, written leaving document and ninety days of direct follow-up with Simon
Investment €9,500 per person for the scheduled Five-Day Ridge Intensive
Private options The Seven-Day Private Intensive is available for one person or potentially one couple. The Private Weekend Intensive runs Friday to Monday and is always 1:1. Both are arranged privately with Simon. Accommodation, all meals and agreed Málaga airport transfers are included across both private formats.
No hard sell

If the current way of functioning is costing too much, start there.

Executive burnout does not always arrive as a collapse. Often the person is still functioning, still making decisions and still carrying responsibility. The question is what that level of functioning is now costing.

For some people, the problem is sustained pressure and exhaustion. For others, anxiety, control, emotional disconnection, relationship patterns or earlier experiences are also part of what has made the current way of operating increasingly difficult to sustain.

The Ridge does not begin by forcing somebody into a single explanation. Executive burnout may be the clearest presenting problem, but the work is concerned with what is actually driving the pattern underneath it. Where the picture is broader or harder to name, there is more detail on The Ridge’s mental health retreat approach in Spain.

You also do not need to decide in advance whether the scheduled Five-Day Intensive, Seven-Day Private Intensive or Private Weekend Intensive is the right format. The first conversation with Simon is there to understand what is happening, whether The Ridge is appropriate and what amount of time, privacy and structure can responsibly hold the work.

That conversation is private and does not commit you to attending.

Start the Conversation
Further information

Common questions.

What is an executive burnout retreat?
: At The Ridge, executive burnout work is psychotherapist-led intensive therapeutic work for founders, leaders and high performers whose outward functioning may still look intact while the internal cost has become increasingly difficult to sustain. The scheduled format runs for five continuous days with a maximum of six participants, with private intensive formats also available where privacy or individual structure matters more.
Is executive burnout different from ordinary burnout?
: The underlying exhaustion can be similar, but executives, founders and high performers often remain highly functional for longer. Responsibility, identity, financial pressure and the belief that other people depend on them can make it harder to stop, acknowledge the cost or recognise how much the pattern is affecting the rest of life.
Is The Ridge about improving executive performance?
: No. The Ridge is not an executive coaching, leadership or performance-optimisation programme. Better functioning may follow meaningful therapeutic change, but the work focuses on the person and the psychological pattern underneath the exhaustion rather than restoring performance for its own sake.
Do I need to be signed off work to attend?
: No. Suitability is based on what is happening psychologically and whether an intensive format is appropriate, not whether someone has formally stopped working. Practical arrangements are discussed directly with Simon before participation.
Is there a private option for executives?
: Yes. There are two private formats. The Seven-Day Private Intensive is arranged for one person or potentially one couple and provides the greatest amount of individually structured therapeutic time with Simon. The Private Weekend Intensive runs from Friday to Monday and is always 1:1. Both are arranged privately around suitability and timing, with accommodation, all meals and agreed Málaga airport transfers included.
Where does the programme take place?
: The therapeutic work takes place at The Ridge near Pizarra in Andalusia, around forty minutes from Málaga Airport. Participants stay in nearby rural accommodation approximately one kilometre away, giving them a separate place to rest and decompress while remaining close to The Ridge throughout the work.
How much does the scheduled programme cost?
: The scheduled Five-Day Ridge Intensive is €9,500 per person. This includes accommodation, meals, agreed Málaga airport transfers, the full programme, a written leaving document and ninety days of direct follow-up with Simon.
Is The Ridge suitable for acute psychiatric crisis or active addiction?
: No. The Ridge is not an emergency, inpatient, detoxification or medically supervised service. Where acute crisis, detoxification or inpatient care is required, that support should come first.
When achievement stops solving it

You can still be capable and know something has to change.

You do not need to wait until functioning becomes impossible before doing something about what it is costing you.

The first step is simply to speak privately with Simon about what is happening and whether this kind of intensive therapeutic work is appropriate. You do not need to know which Ridge format is right before making contact.

From the Start page, you can book a private 20-minute consultation with Simon or, if you would rather write first, send a short private enquiry. Neither commits you to attending.

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