Support Groups and Workshops

This group offers Black, Indigenous, People of Colour (BIPOC) physicians a safe space to discuss their challenges and share their lived experiences. Participants and facilitators support and empower each other by sharing lived experience, processing burdens and leveraging strengths collectively.

Past participants note that the group was a safe space to share because the facilitators created a non-judgmental environment and expressed it had a positive impact on their wellbeing and finding community.

Dates

• 4-week cohorts: Wednesdays from 4:30–6 p.m. Pacific Time.
  • Cohort 1: February 11–March 4, 2026
  • Cohort 2: May 13–June 3, 2026
• Drop-in sessions: 5–6 p.m. Pacific Time, by invitation only for previous/existing cohort participants.
  • March 11
  • June 10
  • September 23
  • November 18

Registration

• Complete the BIPOC registration form.
• For questions about this group, please email groups@physicianhealth.com.

Format

• 4-week cohort of 1.5-hour sessions led by Dr Rahul Gupta.
• Groups are a maximum of 15 participants.
• Themes for each session include:
  • Healing Wounded Healers: Exploring the Personal Health Impacts of Racialization
  • Healing Wounded Families: Legacy Burdens and Intergenerational Resilience
  • Reclaiming Our Connectedness at Work: Addressing Conflict and Setting Boundaries
  • Reclaiming Our Wholeness: Leading Ourselves and Others with Compassion

Requirements

• Practicing BC/PEI/NL physician or medical resident/fellow
• Computer, laptop, or handheld device with Zoom app and webcam.

Facilitators

Dr Rahul Gupta is a settler on the unceded land of the shíshálh and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Nations, is a Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) Teacher and Somatic Experiencing (SE) Practitioner. With over 18 years of experience as an ICF Certified Professional Coach, he supports healthcare providers in developing compassionate self-awareness.

The BC Physician Health Program and Mind Space Skills for Wellbeing offer a CBT Skills Group for BC physicians and medical residents with mental health diagnoses. Participants will learn to manage anxiety, depression, and stress through CBT techniques, emotional regulation, mindfulness, and acceptance-based approaches.

Dates

• Thursdays, September 10–October 29, 2026 from 7:30 a.m.–9:30 a.m.

Registration

• Complete the CBT Skills interest form. Registration deadline is September 3, 2026.
• For questions about this group, please email groups@physicianhealth.com.

Format

• 8-week series of 2-hour sessions.
• Delivered virtually via Zoom, 15 participants per group. Classroom style format, where facilitators teach one chapter of a workbook per week.
• Personal sharing is limited, but each participant is encouraged to share a brief weekly report on their learning.

Requirements

• Free—$75 deposit required, refundable if participants attend at least 7 out of 8 sessions. Physicians and medical residents are covered through MSP.
• Availability to attend all eight sessions. Regular attendance is requested.
• Computer, laptop, or handheld device with Zoom app and webcam.

Whom will this serve?

• BC Physicians and Medical Residents.
• Individuals with a PHQ-9 score of 18 or lower who face anxiety, depression, chronic medical conditions, insomnia, chronic pain, addictions, eating disorders, or attention regulation issues are eligible for referral. Please include the relevant psychiatric diagnosis (ICD-9 code) on the referral form.
• Physicians with no cognitive impairment such as active psychosis, mania, or dissociation, substance use disorder which impacts group-based learning, or personality disorder that may impact the group process.

Facilitators

• Dr Jennifer Barley

The CBT for Insomnia group offers physicians a safe space to explore their relationship with sleep and practice using different tools and resources to help make improvements. This group is change-oriented and sessions include education, skill development, and shared experiences with colleagues.

Past participants note that the group offered a safe space to connect with peers around common struggles and the wide range of resources and tools shared helped find the one that worked best for them individually. 

Dates

• 4-week cohorts: Wednesdays from 7–8:45 p.m. Pacific Time.
  • Cohort 1: February 4–25, 2026.
  • Cohort 2: April 22–May 13, 2026.
  • Cohort 3: October 14–November 4, 2026.

Registration

• Cohort 1: February 4–25, 2026—Registrations now closed
• Cohort 2: April 22–May 13, 2026—Registrations now closed
• Cohort 3: October 14–November 4, 2026—Complete the CBTi interest form; registrations close October 6.   
• For questions about this group, please email groups@physicianhealth.com.

Format

• Free–Physicians are covered through MSP.
• 4-week series of 1.5-hour sessions.
• Delivered virtually via Zoom, 15–16 physician participants per group.

Requirements

• Availability to attend all four sessions.
• Computer, laptop, or handheld device with Zoom app and webcam.
• All referrals to the CBT for Insomnia (CBTi) Group not made directly by the participant’s Primary Care Provider (PCP) will require confirmation from the PCP to meet MSP requirements. PHP will contact the participant’s PCP directly to request agreement with the referral. If the PCP does not agree, PHP will work with the participant to identify other appropriate resources

Whom will this serve?

• BC physicians, residents and retired physicians who identify as struggling with insomnia.

Facilitators

• Dr Karen Palmer
• Dalal Badawi

Join this practical six-session skills series for physicians at all stages of medicine. Physicians are trained to solve complex problems for patients. Yet, strengthening the internal systems that support our own attention, focus, time, prioritization, and follow-through are often left to chance. 

This series offers a practical approach to strengthening the executive function skills that underpin your clinical work and your life to support increased agency, wherever you choose to apply it. You will leave each session with concrete tools you can test during the week. The deeper return is personal. Investing in these skills is one of the most lasting ways to support yourself for steadier days now, and a good life and practice over the long term.

Executive function skills underly all aspects of life and clinical practice. Strengthening these skills can enhance your life and clinical work, helping you feel calmer and less depleted, while protecting attention and energy for the priorities you want your practice and life to serve.

Format and facilitator

Presented by Dr Elisabeth Baerg Hall, MD, CCFP, FRCPC, a psychiatrist and Clinical Professor at UBC who specializes in executive function enhancement and adult ADHD in physicians. 

• Six 90-minute online sessions.
• Small-group, confidential format with cameras on when possible.
• Designed for medical learners and physicians at any stage of practice.
• Sessions are stand-alone but you are welcome to attend all six sessions for best results.
• No cost to attend.

Registration

Workshops are limited to 25-30 physicians.

Register for a workshop

For questions about this group, please email admin@ebhallmd.com.

Workshop 1: Optimizing Your Executive Function Toolkit—Enhancing Impact and Wellbeing 

Tuesday, October 6, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time

Executive function skills like task initiation, planning, working memory, cognitive flexibility, and emotional regulation run quietly in the background of everyday work and living. Medical training depends on these skills but rarely names them directly. This session offers a practical, plain-language overview of executive function through the lens of real clinical, home and life demands. You’ll learn why more effortful work is often the wrong intervention.

You will:

• Explore the Foundations of Executive Function skills.
• Assess Your Personal EF Profile: Use a structured self-assessment tool to identify your unique strengths and areas for growth.
• Apply Evidence-Based Strategies: Learn actionable techniques to strengthen less-developed EF skills, grounded in current research and tailored to the realities of medical practice.

Workshop 2: Prioritization—Managing Boundaries and Competing Demands

Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time

A physician’s task list can expand faster than the day can absorb, especially when clinical, administrative, and personal demands compete for the same limited bandwidth. This session offers practical ways to triage, order, and scale commitments so you are not constantly firefighting, and to recognize how default yeses, professional guilt, high standards, and unclear ownership can pull attention away from the clinical and personal priorities you most want to protect.

You will:

• Gain ideas to manage your ever expanding to do lists.
• Get tips on managing tasks when everything feels urgent.
• Learn how to work on tasks that matter to you and offload ones that don't.

Workshop 3: Making Time Work

Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time

Your time rarely belongs only to your clinic day. Invariably, charts and inboxes follow you home and demands from your personal life seep into your workday. The best-laid plans are routinely interrupted by unexpected events like traffic, illness, late patients, and urgent calls. This session reframes a values-based approach to time management, focusing on realistic systems over rigid schedules and systems that hold across both work and home to help build realistic expectations and calm.

You will:

• Gain insights into your relationship with time.
• Learn tools to boost time management.
• Implement actionable tips to improve time efficiency.

Workshop 4: Breaking through the Delay Cycle to Build Momentum 

Tuesday, November 3, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time

Delayed tasks may be put off for good reason. Perhaps they are ambiguous, emotionally loaded, too large, low-reward, or dependent on missing information. This session takes a closer look at why certain tasks get delayed despite clear intentions and how to reduce friction, so progress is less dependent on adrenaline, guilt, or last-minute pressure.

You will:

• Identify the drivers powering your most avoided tasks.
• Consider ways to master task initiation and build momentum.
• Channel procrastination into productivity.

Workshop 5: Right Sizing Your Standards—Matching Effort to Task

Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time

High standards are part of good medical care. Yet, treating every task as if it carries the same high stakes can lead to exhaustion. This session looks at how to begin establishing a balance between precision and effort. You will consider how to use high standards more deliberately without abandoning excellence.

You will:

• Recognize your patterns, exploring how rigid standards shape your approach.
• Distinguish between useful and costly standards.
• Discover ways to practice calibrating your effort to match the task at hand.

Workshop 6: Managing Cognitive and Digital Load 

Tuesday, November 17, 2026, 7:30–9 a.m. Pacific Time and Wednesday, November 18, 2026, 5–6:30 p.m. Pacific Time

Modern medical practice demands nonstop task-shifting, where inboxes and charts are accessible anywhere, at any hour. In the same way, personal and family logistics often compete for your attention throughout the day. For many, these demands can quietly push attention and working memory past what feels manageable.

This session uses a digital wellbeing lens and cognitive load theory to examine every day and clinical work. We will look at the boundary-less nature of practice and personal life, examining ways to reduce avoidable friction and decision fatigue. With an eye to sustaining a fulfilling, values-aligned life and career, we will discuss practical approaches to lighten unnecessary load and protect your mental bandwidth across your workday and personal time so that life feels steadier and more sustainable.

You will:

• Describe how cognitive load and mental bandwidth function across work and personal life.
• Identify the habits and patterns that create overload and decision fatigue.
• Plan personalized adjustments to make your practice and daily life more sustainable.

In partnership with Mind Space Skills for Wellbeing, Raising Resilient Kids parenting groups are for parents with kids 0-6 years old. In this group, we teach skills to prepare and support you in raising a secure, resilient child based on the best evidence from child development, mindfulness, attachment, and reflective parenting.

You will learn how to be curious of your child’s inner world, navigate conflict, normalize distress, and manage not only your child’s but also your own big emotions and behaviors. We will also teach you how to create a secure home base to support your child’s development. This is a preventative care program designed to strengthen caregiver-child relationships.

Registration

• Complete the Raising Resilient Kids interest form.
• For questions about this group, please email groups@physicianhealth.com.

Dates

• Wednesday, April 8–May 27 5:15–7:15 p.m. Pacific Time.

Format

• Free–Physicians are covered through MSP.
• 8-week series of 2-hour sessions.
• Delivered virtually via Zoom, 15 participants per group.
• Classroom style format, where facilitators teach one chapter of a workbook per week.
• Personal sharing is very limited, but each participant is encouraged to share a brief report on their learning each week. 

Requirements

• Caregivers who attend the groups must be referred by a doctor, but the child does not have to have any particular diagnosis for the caregiver to be eligible to participate.
• Cost: $75 deposit to Mindspace that is returned if at least 7 of the 8 sessions are attended.
• Availability to attend all eight sessions. Regular attendance is requested.
• Computer, laptop, or handheld device with Zoom app and webcam.

Facilitators

• Dr Jane Ryan

The Physician Health Program is pleased to announce the New to Practice group starting in September 2026. These sessions will be facilitated by Dr. Karen Palmer, and clinical coordinator Kristina Saprai. The group will provide monthly supportive, informal space to foster peer connection, normalize challenges, and build community. The focus will be on emotional coping, relationships, boundaries, and work life integration for BC medical residents, new to practice physicians, BC fellows, and Internationally Trained Physicians. 

Registration

• Complete the New to Practice registration form
• For questions about this group, please email groups@physicianhealth.com.

Dates

Tuesdays from 7–8:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

• Workshop 1: Imposter Syndrome—September 29, 2026
• Workshop 2: Relationships and Their Impacts—October 20, 2026
• Workshop 3: Boundaries; integrating self care, signs of burnout, self compassionate, relationships—November 10, 2026
• Workshop 4: Boundaries; integrating self care, signs of burnout, self compassionate, relationships—December 1, 2026

Note: Workshop 3 and 4 complement one another. Participants are encouraged to attend both workshops, though registration for individual workshops is available.

Format

• Delivered virtually via Zoom.
• Max 20 participants per workshop.
• No cost to attend.

Requirements

• Computer, laptop, or handheld device with Zoom app and webcam.

Whom will this serve?

• BC medical residents, new to practice physicians, BC fellows, and internationally trained physicians.

Facilitators

• Dr Karen Palmer
• Kristina Saprai