Unmitigated Communion: Managing
Over-Care and Self-Neglect

Live Online 3hr CPD Workshop for Mental Health Professionals
 

Course Overview

This 3-hour interactive workshop supports practitioners to work effectively with clients who present as highly caring, self-sacrificing, conflict-avoidant, or unable to prioritise their own needs.

Rather than mislabelling over-giving as compliance or lack of motivation, this training introduces a psychologically informed framework that understands unmitigated communion as a threat-based protection response.

You’ll learn how guilt, fear of rejection, and relational sensitivity drive self-neglect and resistance to change. The focus is practical and clinically grounded — helping you recognise early signs of overextension, prevent burnout, and support sustainable care without triggering guilt.

What will this training give you? 

Clear understanding of over-care and self-neglect patterns

Practical ways to reduce guilt-based resistance

Confidence working with self-sacrificing clients

Skills to validate care without reinforcing self-neglect

Tools to reframe self-care as sustaining care

A framework to differentiate healthy compassion from overextension

Learning Objectives

Identify unmitigated communion as a coping strategy

Recognise key behavioural and relational indicators of over-care and boundary erosion

Assess how guilt, attachment, and fear of rejection influence client behaviour

Apply values-aligned communication to reduce resistance and increase engagement

Demonstrate boundary-supportive and guilt-sensitive language in-session

Integrate sustainability-focused approaches into clinical practice

Assessment / Evidence of Learning
                                

Learning is evidenced through active participation in guided reflection activities, clinical discussion, and practical exercises during this live workshop.

Participants demonstrate learning through:

• Identification of coping patterns in vignette material
• Appropriate formulation of over-care and self-neglect dynamics
• Use of values-aligned, guilt-sensitive language in role-play
• Demonstration of boundary-supportive communication skills

Participants receive a statement of attendance for 3 CPD hours.

Please note, to fulfill the learning outcomes, this course does require active participation and contribution in activities and exercises. Participants are expected to have their camera on, especially in breakout rooms. 

If the above is not possible on the day, a certificate of attendance may not be awarded and participants will have the option to attend the training at a later date where available.

About the Presenter

Karen Bartle is a postgraduate in Health Psychology, Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist, clinical supervisor, co-founder of the Academy of Advanced Changework, founder of HealthTalk Psychology, and co-author of The Advanced Hypnotherapist.

With 25+ years’ experience, Karen supports practitioners working with complex behavioural and relational patterns. She is known for translating psychological depth into practical, usable clinical skills.

Who is this course for?

Practitioners working with clients who:

Prioritise others over themselves

Experience guilt when self-focused

Struggle with boundaries

Present with burnout or depletion

Engage in people-pleasing patterns


Especially relevant for work with caregivers, health professionals, burnout, chronic illness, and relational coping styles.