Endometriosis surgery is among the most technically demanding work in gynecologic medicine. Surgeons and OB-GYNs who specialize in this space are not just managing complex anatomy. They are often the first person in years to believe a patient’s pain, which means they carry a weight that goes far beyond the operating room. Vicarious trauma in healthcare workers is well documented, and the research is clear that the more you’re exposed to patients’ suffering, the higher your risk. For surgeons absorbing years of dismissed, chronic pain, that exposure is the job.

The emotional load is real and largely unacknowledged in medical culture. Research on physician burnout consistently identifies surgery and high-acuity specialty care as among the highest-risk fields, and the particular nature of endometriosis care compounds that further. Patients arrive after years of being dismissed. Outcomes are uncertain. The disease recurs. And the suffering is chronic in ways that no single procedure can fully resolve.

Physicians in this space commonly report:

• Moral distress from watching patients cycle through inadequate treatment options without sufficient systemic support

• Secondary traumatic stress from repeated exposure to patient suffering, especially in younger patients or those facing infertility

• Guilt and self-doubt after complicated surgeries or unexpected outcomes, even when the clinical decision-making was sound

• Emotional exhaustion from holding space for highly distressed patients while managing the cognitive demands of complex surgical work

• A quiet sense of isolation, because the culture of medicine does not make it easy to name any of this

Just as endometriosis patients carry trauma from their medical experiences, the physicians who treat them accumulate their own. That is not a weakness. It is a consequence of doing difficult, meaningful work in a system that rarely offers adequate support for the people delivering care.

The Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (GTEP) is a structured, evidence-based group intervention adapted from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). It was developed by EMDR trainers Elan Shapiro and Brurit Laub as a way to bring the processing mechanisms of individual EMDR into a group format, without requiring participants to share their experiences out loud.

EMDR is one of the most rigorously researched trauma interventions available, with strong support from the World Health Organization and an extensive body of peer-reviewed literature. GTEP applies the same underlying neurological mechanisms in a group context, making it both efficient and scalable for professionals who cannot always commit to ongoing individual therapy.

In practical terms, GTEP helps participants:

• Process specific distressing professional experiences, including complicated cases, patient deaths, surgical complications, or accumulative moral fatigue

• Reduce the physiological and emotional charge connected to those experiences without having to narrate them to the group

• Access a sense of shared humanity with colleagues who are navigating the same professional terrain

• Leave sessions with measurable reductions in distress and a greater capacity for self-regulation

This is not a processing circle or a debriefing session. It is a clinical protocol with a clear structure, grounded in neuroscience, and led by a trained EMDR therapist.

• This program is designed specifically for surgeons, OB-GYNs, and other physicians whose clinical work involves endometriosis and adenomyosis care. You do not need a formal trauma diagnosis or a crisis to participate. Many of the physicians who benefit most from GTEP would not describe themselves as struggling. They would describe themselves as tired, a little numb, and overdue for something that is actually for them.

  If any of the following resonates, this may be worth your time:

  • You have carried a patient case home with you in ways that are hard to put down

  • You have experienced guilt, grief, or helplessness after a surgical outcome that did not go the way you hoped

  • You notice emotional blunting or detachment in clinical interactions and recognize it as a form of self-protection

  • The cumulative weight of high-acuity patient contact has started to affect your focus, your sleep, or your sense of purpose

  • You want a structured, evidence-based intervention, not a wellness workshop.

No. This is one of the most important things to understand about how GTEP works.

Participants do not share the content of their experiences with the group. You identify privately what you want to work on, and you process it internally while the facilitator guides the group through bilateral stimulation. The group format provides nervous system co-regulation and a felt sense of shared experience, without requiring disclosure.

This matters in a medical professional context for obvious reasons. Confidentiality concerns, professional identity, and the culture of stoicism in medicine all create legitimate barriers to vulnerability in group settings. GTEP sidesteps most of those barriers by design. You do not have to say what happened. You just have to be willing to work with it quietly.

Sessions run 60 to 90 minutes in a small group format, either virtual or in-person. The facilitator opens with grounding and orientation, walks participants through the GTEP protocol, and closes with stabilization and a brief check-in.

Here is a more specific breakdown:

• Preparation: The facilitator explains the process, establishes a grounding resource, and orients participants to what bilateral stimulation looks and feels like

• Assessment: Each participant privately identifies a distressing professional experience they want to process, using a structured internal framework rather than verbal sharing

• Processing: The group moves through bilateral stimulation sets together, each person working privately on their identified memory

• Closure: The session ends with grounding and stabilization. Participants are not left in an activated state.

Because the protocol is structured and time-limited, it integrates well into a demanding schedule in ways that open-ended therapy often does not.

The research base for EMDR in healthcare worker populations has grown substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic drew wider attention to physician mental health. Studies have demonstrated significant reductions in PTSD symptoms, burnout indicators, and secondary traumatic stress following EMDR-based interventions with nurses, physicians, and other frontline workers. GTEP has been used specifically in humanitarian and mass-casualty contexts and has been adapted successfully for professional groups facing collective and cumulative stress exposures.

This is not a wellness trend. It is a clinical tool with a documented mechanism of action and measurable outcomes.

Confidentiality is built into the structure of this program. Sessions are facilitated by a licensed mental health professional who is bound by professional, ethical, and legal standards. Participants agree to a group confidentiality agreement before joining.

Because this is a group setting, absolute legal confidentiality cannot be guaranteed the way it can in individual therapy. However, the program is designed with medical professionals in mind, which means the facilitator understands the professional stakes and creates a container that reflects that understanding.

Groups are intentionally small, typically between 4 and 8 participants, and are composed of peers in the same specialty space.

• Format: Small group, virtual or in-person

• Session length: 60 to 90 minutes

• Group size: 4 to 8 physicians

• Participants: Surgeons, OB-GYNs, nurses, and other physicians who work in Women’s Healthcare (i.e., endometriosis specialist surgeons)

• Payment: HSA and FSA accepted; superbills available for out-of-network reimbursement; institutional partnership inquiries welcome. Shakira can come on-site to facilitate groups in person at your workplace.

• Scheduling: Cohorts are scheduled with physician availability in mind. Reach out to discuss joining.

• Download this flyer and share it with someone who may be interested.