Deconstructing Anxiety: A New Evidence-Based Approach for Understanding and Treating Anxiety

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• CE Hours Included: 4 (please see below for details)
• Format: On-Demand Webinar (“Asynchronous”, Non-Interactive) ~ At your leisure this recorded video is to be viewed at your own pace. You may pause, rewind, and fast forward at any point during the videos. You are in complete control of how you view this workshop. It also comes with a PowerPoint and references. There is a quiz at the end to ensure viewing and required by all CE approval organizations.
  • NOTE: Your certificate will be dated when you complete the course - Click here for more detailed information on the best way to do this: https://www.theknowledgetree.org/p/help
• Investment: $109 (provides lifetime access!)
• Presented by: Todd Pressman, Ph.D. (see bio below)
• Date of Recording: February 12, 2027
• Instruction Level: Intermediate
• Target Audience: Psychologists, Counselors, Social Workers, Marriage & Family Therapists
• This workshop is not yet available; by pre-registering, you will receive immediate access when it becomes available in February.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this workshop in its entirety, you will be able to:

• Describe the core fear/chief defense model and how it shapes personality
• Demonstrate why anxiety is the underlying cause of all emotional suffering
• Apply the principle of “doing the opposite of the chief defense” to promote healing
• Identify the “resistance to resistance” at the heart of all defenses
• Explain the three ways of “doing the opposite of the chief defense”
• Organize the various parts of the Deconstructing Anxiety model in a coherent frame

Workshop Description:

With the revolutionary understanding that anxiety (fear) is at the root of all suffering, you will gain insight into the five core fears–“universal themes of loss”–we all share, including:

• abandonment (loss of love),
• loss of identity,
• loss of meaning,
• loss of purpose, and
• fear of death.

We develop our primary defenses, usually early in childhood or at times of trauma, as our best attempt to protect ourselves from these fears, but always at too great a cost. This leaves us constantly holding vigil, on the lookout for the resurfacing of the fear. We build our entire personality upon this fear-defense dynamic. When left unchecked against reality, an anxiety disorder can develop.

The theory and techniques offered in this workshop will teach you how to uncover the core fear and chief defense quickly and reliably. These will be understood as the architects of personality and the creators of our perceptual world. Armed with this knowledge, new strategies for “doing the opposite of the chief defense” (and its secondary derivatives) have proven highly effective in even the most anxious clients. Incorporating psychodynamics, mindfulness, Gestalt, CBT, and transpersonal psychology, participants will undergo some of the actual techniques being presented, making for a rich and highly experiential presentation.

At the deepest level, we will pinpoint the precise moment where resistance is created and how to release it. This leads to the ultimate goal of letting go of “the resistance to resistance”, a key to transforming our entire view of Self and redefining the limits of the human experience. The way is then paved for the final section, exploring what it means when the five core fears are fully resolved, living a life of increasing meaning, purpose, and enduring fulfillment.

Come prepared for an exciting adventure into the deepest regions of the unconscious, where the hidden fears at the source of our difficulties live, to bring them out into consciousness, available for rapid and lasting transformation.

Workshop Agenda:

• 45 minutes:
  • Two Basic Drives in the Human Experience: Fear and Fulfillment
  • Overview of the “Deconstructing Anxiety” Model: “Core Fears” and “Chief Defenses” Make the World Go ‘Round
  • The Five “Core Fears” (Basic Universal Themes of Loss):
  • Abandonment (Loss of Love)
  • Loss of Identity
  • Loss of Meaning
  • Loss of Purpose
  • Fear of Death
  • The “Chief Defense”: A Faulty Strategy for Fulfillment
  • Why All Defenses Backfire, Creating the Anxiety They Were Designed to Protect Against
• 45 minutes:
  • How to Build a Personality – The “Core Fear/Chief Defense” Dynamic
  • How to Create an Anxiety Disorder – When the “Chief Defense” Strategy Spins Out of Control
  • New Tools for Diagnosing the Source of Suffering:
  • Finding the “Core Fear” – Exercise: Digging for Gold
  • Uncovering the “Chief Defense” – Exercise: Who Are You Really?
• 30 minutes:
  • The Master Key to Resolving Suffering: “Doing the Opposite of the Chief Defense”
  • Three Ways of “Doing the Opposite”:
  • Moving Directly into the Fear
  • Refusing to Respond to Fear
  • Placing Attention on Something More Compelling than the Fear
• 90 minutes:
  • New Tools for Transforming Anxiety into Fulfillment:
  • Asking “What Happens Next?” – Exercise: The Alchemist
  • Enhanced Vipassana (Mindfulness) Technique – Exercise: The Witness
  • Active “Not Doing” –Exercise: The Warrior’s Stance
  • The Final Defense – Exercise: Letting Go of the “Resistance to Resistance”
• 30 minutes:
  • Tying It All Together:
  • Exercise: “The Visioning Process”
  • Basic Outline of the Path to Healing
  • Concluding Remarks

Presented by: Todd Pressman, Ph.D.

Dr. Pressman is an award-winning speaker, psychologist, and author. He is known internationally for his work on "Deconstructing Anxiety". Graduating with degrees in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and Saybrook University, he has authored 3 widely acclaimed books and over one hundred published articles on the subject of human potential. He is also a highly sought-after media expert, having appeared on scores of television, radio, and podcast shows. His most recent book, Deconstructing Anxiety: The Journey from Fear to Fulfillment, was named one of the top 15 books on anxiety by a panel of mental health professionals.

In 1982, he traveled the world to study the great wisdom and healing traditions, including with a Zen master in Kyoto, a Jain family in Delhi, a Zoroastrian high priest in Mumbai, and a Sri Lankan firewalker. His education also includes an internship under Stanislav Grof, M.D (considered the grandfather of Transpersonal Psychology), mentoring by Stanley Krippner, Ph.D., and other notables in the field.

With a background deeply rooted in tradition (he was groomed by a father whose teachers were taught by Sigmund Freud), he has integrated this wide-ranging experience into a new program of psychological and personal development called "Deconstructing Anxiety". His working model is based on Michelangelo's ideal: to release the statue from the stone, the authentic Self from the overlays of imposed identity, into the discovery of purpose, meaning, and enduring fulfillment.

4 "Asynchronous" CE Hours Included - Details by License Type Below:

• PSYCHOLOGISTS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company maintains responsibility for this program and its content. For more detailed information on the current CE ruling in Georgia, or if you are licensed in another state or country, please click here.
• COUNSELORS: The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company has been approved by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) as an Approved Continuing Education Provider (ACEP), ACEP No. 7153. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. The Knowledge Tree, A Summit Professional Education Company is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
  • GA: Counselors in GA will receive 4 Core Hours for completing this course. Please click here for more detailed information.
• SOCIAL WORKERS: The Knowledge Tree, a Summit Professional Education Company, provider #2470, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 1/14/2026-1/14/2027. Social workers completing this course receive 4 clinical continuing education credits.
  • GA: Social Workers in GA will receive 4 Core Hours for completing this course. Please click here for more detailed information.
• MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPISTS: TKT has applied for approval for this workshop through the Georgia Association for Marriage & Family Therapy (GAMFT). If you are licensed in another state or country, please click here for more detailed information.

We are an approved vendor for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for easy reimbursement of educational expenses for VA employees.