Beyond Denial: Working with Client Self-Deception

What does this workshop cover?

This event is a workshop designed for therapists, counsellors, and mental health practitioners who wish to deepen their understanding of how clients (and we ourselves) unconsciously minimise, ignore, or distort reality as a psychological defence.

In this session, we will explore:

• How discounting operates as an unconscious defence mechanism that blocks the processing of difficult experiences
• The four levels of discounting—from ignoring stimuli entirely to minimising the significance or solvability of problems
• Practical frameworks for recognising when clients (and ourselves) are stuck in patterns of self-deception
• How to distinguish between healthy selective attention and problematic discounting that keeps people trapped

The workshop will combine theoretical input, case discussion, and interactive breakout exercises to help you identify discounting patterns in your clinical work. You will leave with practical tools to support clients in moving beyond denial and toward meaningful processing and change, as well as increased awareness of how these dynamics may manifest in your own therapeutic practice and supervision.

About the Presenter

Patrick Brook TSTA, CTA (Psychotherapy), MA, BA (Hons) is a UKCP-registered psychotherapist and supervisor. He is one of the founding directors and the Academic Director of Connexus Institute. Alongside his teaching, he runs a private psychotherapy and supervision practice in Brighton and Hove. Before training as a psychotherapist, Patrick worked for many years in higher education as a university lecturer and academic manager, teaching in the UK and abroad. He has written widely on curriculum design and learner-centred education and remains interested in how ideas translate meaningfully into practice. Patrick enjoys creating warm, engaging, and lively learning spaces where people can explore and develop their own professional and personal identities.