— TRAINING & EVENTS —

Inspiring helpful conversations about mental wellbeing

Upcoming Training & Events

  • Supporting Parents and Family Members of people with OCD: A Clinician's Guide

    ONLINE PRESENTATION

    Tues, 10 Jun 2025 9:30 AM – 10:30 AM NZST

    Online event

    Hosted by: OCD Skillbuilders NZ
    Presenter: Lisa W. Coyne, PhD

    When a child or teen struggles with OCD, the whole family is affected. Often parents and other family members find themselves accommodating the compulsions or even doing compulsions themselves. Other parents find themselves demanding that their child just stop the compulsions or stop thinking the intrusive thoughts, which is both invalidating and unhelpful.

  • Sharpen your skills: Intermediate ACT workshop

    CLINICIAN TRAINING

    Mon, 23 Jun 2025 9:00 AM – Tue, 24 Jun 2025 4:00 PM NZST

    Venue: Naumi Hotel, 213 Cuba Street, Wellington, New Zealand

    Hosted by: Ben Sedley and Giselle Bahr.

    This workshop enables you to practise using ACT with more precision, flexibility and heart. It uses demonstrations, experiential exercises, role-plays, real-plays and self-reflection to develop your experiential understanding of ACT’s basic processes.

  • ACT for teens with OCD

    CLINICIAN TRAINING

    Tues, 21 Oct 2025 7:00 PM – 10:00 PM (Melbourne time)

    Online workshop

    Hosted by: Contextual Consulting

    Helping teens with OCD stick with exposure and response prevention (ERP) can be tough—rigid approaches often lead to frustration, avoidance, and dropout. This interactive 3-hour workshop will show you how to use acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to make ERP more flexible, engaging, and sustainable.

  • Promoting an understanding of taboo content in P-OCD

    ONLINE PRESENTATION

    Tues, 4 Nov 2025 9:30 AM – 10.30 AM NZST

    Online event

    Hosted by: OCD Skillbuilders NZ
    Presenter: Elyse Stewart, PhD

    This presentation will discuss special considerations for working with clients whose obsessional content centers on worries about being a pedophile (P-OCD). The negative reinforcement cycle of OCD will be reviewed with a special emphasis on the function of symptoms rather than the content of symptoms.

  • Introduction to Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

    CLINICIAN TRAINING

    Mon, 17 Nov 2025 9:00 AM – Tue, 18 Nov 2025 4:00 PM NZDT

    Venue: Naumi Hotel, 213 Cuba Street, Wellington, New Zealand

    Hosted by: Ben Sedley and Giselle Bahr.

    At this experiential workshop you will establish a foundational understanding of Psychological Flexibility, develop skills for using ACT and learn about Relational Frame Theory (RFT). 

  • Stuff That’s Loud: Integrating ERP and ACT for OCD

    CLINICIAN TRAINING

    Coming in 2026.

    Hosted by: Ben Sedley

    Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is the most effective treatment for OCD. Integrating ACT enhances ERP therapy by increasing precision and connecting behaviour to client values.

Need a speaker?

I regularly run workshops and training sessions on topics such as:

  • ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)

  • Supporting teenagers through mental health challenges

  • Understanding and treating OCD

  • How we can rethink and reframe mental health conversations

These sessions are designed for professionals, parents, educators, and anyone interested in fostering a more compassionate approach to mental health. I also speak at events and collaborate with clinicians, educators, and organisations to make mental health support more accessible and effective.

Connect with me

If you’re looking for insights or just a fresh perspective on mental health in the media, I invite you to explore my books, join a workshop, or reach out via this form.

For enquiries regarding my private clinical practice, please visit ACT Wellington.