Avoidant Coping: Managing Withdrawal
and Low Engagement

Live Online 3hr CPD Workshop for Occupational Therapists

Course Overview

This 3-hour interactive training workshop supports occupational therapists to work more effectively with clients who appear disengaged, withdrawn, ambivalent or unmotivated. It introduces a psychologically informed framework for understanding avoidance as a possible threat-based protective response and exploring how it affects therapeutic engagement and occupational participation.

Participants will explore how perceived safety, emotional regulation and relational dynamics can influence motivation and engagement. Practical examples connect these concepts to self-care, rehabilitation activities, home programmes, return to work and community participation. Participants will also consider pain, fatigue, cognitive difficulties and environmental barriers when exploring reduced participation.

The focus is practical, ethical and clinically grounded: recognising early signs of withdrawal, preventing relational ruptures and restoring engagement without pressure or confrontation. Strategies support collaborative choices about goals, activities and manageable next steps within occupational therapy practice.

What will this course give you? 

• A clearer understanding of how avoidant coping can affect everyday activities and participation

• Practical ways to reduce defensiveness and increase psychological safety during OT interventions

• Greater confidence responding to missed appointments, ambivalence, humour or shutdown

• Skills to repair subtle relational ruptures before engagement is lost

• Ways to explore avoidance of agreed activities and home programmes
without assuming a lack of motivation

• Tools to support autonomy, motivation and progress towards meaningful occupational goals

Teaching Methods    

This training is delivered live online and uses a mix of brief expert instruction, facilitated discussion, live demonstration and supported practice. Participants engage in guided reflection, OT-focused clinical vignette work and practical exercises, with debriefs to consolidate learning.

Vignettes and role plays explore avoidance of agreed activities, perceived threat or feared failure, and the impact on daily routines and occupational participation. Participants practise curiosity, validation, micro-repair and collaborative communication to support a manageable next step.
Downloadable worksheets and participant reference materials are provided to support integration into occupational therapy practice.

Assessment / Evidence of Learning                                

Learning is evidenced through active participation in guided reflection, clinical discussion and practical exercises during this live workshop. Supported skills practice and debriefing provide opportunities to demonstrate and reflect on the learning objectives.

Participants receive a certificate of attendance for 3 CPD hours.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Evaluate avoidance and disengagement as possible threat-based protective responses within occupational therapy practice, while considering other barriers to participation.

2. Identify and assess observable indicators of withdrawal, ambivalence and reduced engagement in therapeutic activities and occupational participation.

3. Demonstrate strategies that increase psychological safety, protect autonomy and reduce defensiveness during occupational therapy interventions.

4. Apply and evaluate techniques for responding to ambivalence and repairing relational ruptures to support sustained engagement and progress towards occupational goals.

About the Presenter

Karen Bartle is a postgraduate in Health Psychology, Advanced Clinical Hypnotherapist and coach, clinical supervisor, educator, and consultant. She co-founded the Academy of Advanced Changework in 2006, and is the founder of HealthTalk Psychology - 'The psychology of patient/client change'.

For over 25 years, Karen has worked with individuals, caregivers, and health professionals navigating behavioural, lifestyle, and psychosocial challenges. She has seen first-hand how caring practitioners can feel stuck when empathy, education, coaching and even motivational interviewing can’t shift engagement — and how reframing avoidance can transform therapeutic outcomes.

Karen’s teaching style blends clinical depth with clarity and compassion. She is known for translating complex psychological concepts into language practitioners can use immediately, and for creating learning environments that feel safe, reflective, and practical.

Who is this course for?

This training is designed for occupational therapists who work with clients who withdraw, shut down, disengage or struggle to follow through with agreed activities or interventions.

It is relevant across mental health, rehabilitation, persistent pain, vocational and community practice, wherever avoidance or ambivalence affects self-care, daily routines, work or social participation.

The workshop supports psychologically informed OT practice, with strategies applied within each practitioner’s role and scope.

Places are limited to ensure an interactive, skills-focused learning experience.