Lorna Devine’s journey is one of courage, self-discovery, and a mission to transform how ambitious founders and leaders navigate pressure while sustaining success. Starting her career as a therapist in the National Health Service and private clinics in London, she supported clients facing anxiety, stress, and perfectionism within demanding environments. Yet, behind the scenes, Lorna Devine was experiencing patterns associated with high-functioning anxiety in herself, a quiet but persistent pressure to keep everything together and perform at her best.
This combination of professional training, clinical experience, and personal insight shaped her approach and led to the creation of The Devine Method®, a psychology-led framework that blends evidence-based therapeutic principles and tools with high-performance coaching. This method is now helping founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders worldwide to manage pressure more effectively, build resilience, and perform sustainably.
Early Career: A Foundation in Psychology and Therapy
Lorna Devine’s passion for psychology started early. She pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology followed by a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology and Mental Health. She deepened her expertise with specialist training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Mindfulness Practitioner Training at King’s College London.
Her early career was spent in demanding clinical environments such as the National Health Service, private clinics, and specialist hospitals, where she supported clients across a wide range of emotional and psychological challenges.
Despite this solid clinical foundation, Lorna Devine noticed that traditional therapy often did not fully meet the needs of founders and high-level leaders. She explains that these people face unique challenges including relentless decision making, high stakes, visibility, and the emotional burden of building something meaningful. They needed support that was deeper, more action focused and aligned with the realities of their fast-paced lives.
Discovering High Functioning Anxiety
While helping others deal with anxiety and stress, Lorna Devine was managing her own high-functioning anxiety, an internal experience, characterized by constant overthinking and pressure, hidden beneath a calm exterior.
This experience gave her valuable insight into the gaps in traditional therapy for high performers. She realized that these individuals require more than conventional therapy alone. They need tailored approaches that combine evidence-based psychological tools with performance coaching.
This revelation led her to create The Devine Method®, a bespoke framework designed to help ambitious leaders develop emotional mastery, clarity, and resilience so they can sustain peak performance without burning out.
Leaving the National Health Service, Building Her Own Vision
One of the biggest turning points in Lorna Devine’s life was leaving the security of the National Health Service to build her own therapy and coaching practice in London. This decision was far from easy. At the time, she was juggling multiple clinical roles alongside private work, and stepping away from a stable career path took immense courage and self-trust.
Lorna Devine explains that The Devine Method® is the culmination of years of clinical training, personal growth, and entrepreneurial experience. It is a psychology led approach that helps founders and leaders not just cope with pressure but navigate it in a way that supports sustained clarity, performance, and wellbeing.
Her personal journey through anxiety, burnout, and high internal standards informed every aspect of the method. Today, it supports founders and chief executive officers around the globe in managing stress, improving decision-making, and leading with clarity and sustained energy.
Expanding Into the United Arab Emirates, A New Chapter
Recently, Lorna Devine expanded her work to Dubai, bringing The Devine Method® to the United Arab Emirates’ rapidly growing entrepreneurial and leadership community. The region’s fast paced, high stakes environment makes mental resilience and emotional balance more important than ever.
She says that the United Arab Emirates is full of innovators and ambitious leaders. Her goal is to help them master their inner world so they can lead with clarity, confidence, and calm in the face of intense pressure.
In addition to private coaching, Lorna Devine collaborates with corporates, venture capital firms, and family offices, focusing on wellbeing and sustainable performance at senior leadership levels.
The Crucial Role of Inner Work and Boundaries
One of Lorna Devine’s key lessons from her career and personal experience is that external success becomes unsustainable without a strong inner foundation.
She explains that many high performers can push themselves through pressure, adrenaline and willpower for years. But over time, this way of operating often comes with a cost, whether that shows up as burnout, chronic stress, emotional reactivity or loss of clarity. At that stage, working on mindset, emotional regulation and inner stability becomes essential.
Lorna Devine also emphasises the importance of boundaries. Boundaries are not about being unkind or limiting ambition. They protect energy, focus and long-term performance. Without them, it becomes difficult to sustain growth, make clear decisions or lead effectively over time.
Breaking the Silence Around Founder Burnout
Lorna Devine wants to change how high achievers relate to pressure. Many founders and leaders believe they must be self-reliant and strong at all times, which often leads to isolation and burnout.
She says there is a hidden loneliness at the top. As responsibility and visibility increase, it can feel harder to be honest about what’s really going on behind the scenes. That silence allows pressure to build internally, even in people who appear calm and are incredibly successful.
Her mission is to make it normal for founders and leaders to seek support and prioritise their inner wellbeing alongside external success, so they can lead clearly, sustainably, and without carrying everything alone.
Advice to Her Younger Self
Reflecting on her journey, Lorna Devine would tell her younger self to trust her intuition sooner and back her own direction, even when it doesn’t yet make sense to others.
She advises getting clear on who you are, what you value, and what an aligned life and career looks like for you, then taking intentional action from that place.
She also emphasises the importance of seeking support earlier. Asking for help doesn’t weaken ambition or slow success. It strengthens your ambition and accelerates your success. Setting boundaries, she explains, is not about being difficult or unkind, but about creating the stability required to build, lead and sustain success over the long term.
Looking Ahead: A Vision for Leadership Wellbeing
Lorna Devine’s vision is to create a lasting impact on the founder and leadership ecosystem, particularly in the United Arab Emirates, by establishing psychology-led support as a core part of high-performance culture.
She hopes The Devine Method® becomes a trusted, recognised approach that helps founders and leaders think clearly, lead with composure, and sustain success without losing themselves in the process.
Her goal is to contribute to a broader shift where ambitious people no longer feel they have to manage pressure alone, and where inner clarity, emotional regulation and self-trust are seen as essential leadership capabilities, not optional extras.
Lorna Devine’s work reflects a new model of leadership, one where strength comes from internal steadiness and success is both sustainable and deeply aligned.
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Book an initial consultation with Lorna here: https://lornadevinebooking.as.me
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