Description
LIVE STREAM: June 30, 2026 from 8:30am – 4:00pm (Vancouver, BC) Please adjust your start time according to your specific time zone.
ON-DEMAND: Recorded footage & course content (certificate, videos, quiz) will be available until August 8, 2026. Please allow 3 – 5 business days for footage to be processed. Extensions cannot be granted under any circumstances.
Deconstructing Anxiety is an award-winning, evidence-based approach to treating anxiety disorders. It offers a dramatically new understanding of the nature of suffering and its resolution. Based on the book voted one of the top 15 books on anxiety, it is being recognized internationally as an unusually fast and deep way of “transforming fear into Fulfillment”. Incorporating aspects of psychodynamic, Mindfulness, exposure and cognitive-behavioral therapies, it provides a holistic synthesis that significantly transcends traditional models.
This webinar will introduce you to cutting-edge techniques for targeting the true source of anxiety, even in the most challenging clients. These techniques give you the tools you need to reveal the fundamental mechanism where anxiety can give way to an experience of deep meaning and high purpose.
The cornerstone of the model is the concept that there is a single “core fear” that drives not only anxiety, but all forms of suffering. Once identified, this fear can be addressed directly, allowing for rapid and profound change. The core fear shows up through five universal themes of loss:
- Loss of love
- Loss of identity
- Loss of meaning
- Loss of purpose
- Fear of death
You will then learn how anxious personality patterns emerge from the interplay between one’s core fear and what is called their “chief defense”. By identifying the chief defense and learning precisely how and when it arises, participants gain highly targeted tools to dismantle it. This reveals the “lie” of the core fear, catalyzing a “shift in perception” to a transcendent view that is both healing and fulfilling.
In this training you will learn the actual techniques of the Deconstructing Anxiety program, including how to find the core fear and chief defense. Participants can expect a dynamic, experiential journey into the deepest regions of the unconscious, where the hidden sources of suffering reside, making them available for rapid and lasting transformation.
Testimonials from Past Participants:
- “Outstanding. Ingenious….This is worth the world’s attention.” –Stanley Krippner, Ph.D.
- “Truly profound” — Ken Wilber
- “One of the most exciting things I’ve come across in a long time.” — G.S. Clinical Director
- “A revolutionary way of viewing and working with anxiety.” — F.H., LCSW
Morning Lecture: 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM
- Two Basic Drives in the Human Experience: Fear and Fulfillment
- The Creation Story Revisited – Understanding the Birth of Fear in the Psyche
- 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
- Identity
- Meaning
- Purpose
- Death
- The “Chief Defense”: A Faulty Strategy for Fulfillment
- Secondary and Tertiary Defenses: Adapting the “Chief Defense” to the Variety of Circumstances in Life
- Why All Defenses Backfire, Creating the Anxiety They were Designed to Protect Against
Break: 10:00 AM – 10:10 AM
Mid-Morning Lecture: 10:10 AM – 11:30 AM
- How to Build a Personality – The “Core Fear/Chief Defense” Dynamic
- Three Phases in Personality Development: Birth, Childhood, Adolescence
- Projecting a Worldview: How the Core Fear/Chief Defense Dynamic Builds a “3-D Multi-Sensory Hologram”
- How to Create an Anxiety Disorder – When the “Chief Defense” Strategy Spins Out of Control
- Powerful 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?
Lunch: 11:30 AM – 12:20 PM
Afternoon Lecture: 12:20 PM – 1:50 PM
- 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
- New Tools for Transforming Anxiety into Fulfillment:
- Asking “What Happens Next?” – Exercise: The Alchemist
Break: 1:50 PM – 2:00 PM
Mid-Afternoon Lecture: 2:00 PM – 3:40 PM
- New Tools for Transforming Anxiety into Fulfillment (continued):
- 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”
- Putting It All together–Exercise: “Vision Questing”
Clinical Professionals: All mental health professionals including, but not limited to Clinical Counsellors, Psychologists, Psychotherapists, Social Workers, Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Hospice and Palliative Care Workers, School Counsellors, Youth Workers, Mental Health Workers, Addiction Specialists, Marital & Family Therapists, Speech Language Pathologists, Vocational Rehabilitation Consultants and all professionals looking to enhance their therapeutic skills.
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.
| Registration | Early bird Fee | Regular Fee |
|---|
| Individual Enrollment | $229.00 | N/A |
| Group 3 - 7 | $169.00 | N/A |
| Group 8 - 15 | $119.00 | N/A |
| Group 15+ | $99.00 | N/A |
| Full-Time Student | $99.00 | N/A |
All fees are in Canadian dollars ($CAD) and per person.
How to Purchase a Group Rate
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Complete Your Purchase
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Contact Our Office
Once your purchase is complete, please contact our office at webinars@jackhirose.com with your order number.
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If you have any questions or need assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Fees are per person, seat sharing is not allowed. Please respect this policy, failure to comply will result in termination of access without a refund. For group rates please contact webinars@jackhirose.com
