Overview
The 'Festival of Feelings' is a two-day schema therapy workshop series which focusses on working therapeutically with anger and building the happy child mode.
Workshop A: The Five Faces of Anger in Schema Therapy, facilitated by Chris Hepworth
Anger, like all other emotions, has a useful function and is trying to tell us about our needs. Anger can often cause problems for our clients though and in addition can be both triggering for us as therapists and confusing about how to conceptualise and treat within the Schema Therapy model.
In this workshop Chris will discuss the five core different conceptualisations of anger in Schema Therapy, or 8 slightly nuanced anger modes, including how to differentiate between them and treat them appropriately. He will demonstrate through role-play, videos and discussions:
- The “Vent” technique for the Angry Child
- Limit setting and empathic confrontation for overcompensatory anger
- Chairwork and ways to deal with the punitive critic
- The healthy function of anger and increasing and encouraging Healthy Adult expression of anger.
In addition, participants will discuss what different presentations of anger triggers in them, to increase their own self-reflection and awareness, and practice an experiential exercise to try and deal with these triggers more effectively.
Workshop B: Building the Happy Child Mode in Schema Therapy, facilitated by Andrew Phipps
According to the Schema Therapy model, we experience joy and happiness via contact with our Happy Child mode. It is surprising then, that the development of this mode earns only passing mention in most texts which focus on individual schema therapy. This highly experiential workshop will focus on developing skills to access and build the happy child mode in the context of individual schema therapy. The workshop will cover the following:
- A conceptual model of working with the happy child mode in schema therapy.
- Common presentations where development of the happy child is most needed.
- A review of research and academic thought in the field of ‘play’, as it applies to schema therapy. This will highlight the importance of the happy child mode to our physical and emotional health, as well as the development of a sense of self.
- Experiential and traditional assessment strategies to determine unique play temperaments as well as determine historical and current barriers to play.
- Experiential strategies to access and build the happy child mode.
- Experiential strategies to identify and work with schemas and modes that are inhibiting the expression of the happy child.
In keeping with the powerful effects of Self-Practice and Self-Reflection (SPSR) to the process of learning and mastery, registrants will be encouraged to participate in skills practice ‘as themselves’ rather than in ‘role-play’. Given that we are aiming to access ‘joy’, rather than painful emotions, the activities are unlikely to be experienced as particularly confronting. Furthermore, participants will be able to choose their level of engagement.
Workshop sequencing details:
Sydney
- Monday 14th September 2026: The Five Faces of Anger in Schema Therapy
- Tuesday 15th September 2026: Building the Happy Child Mode in Schema Therapy
Adelaide
- Monday 14th September 2026: Building the Happy Child Mode in Schema Therapy
- Tuesday 15th September 2026: The Five Faces of Anger in Schema Therapy
Learning Outcomes
Workshop A - Anger
- Develop an understanding of the different conceptualisations of anger in schema therapy.
- Build competence in facilitating experiential techniques to work therapeutically with anger.
- Build competence in the capacity for self-reflection and responding more confidently when confronted by clients expressing anger.
Workshop B - Happy Child
- Develop an understanding of the conceptual model of working with the happy child mode in schema therapy.
- Build competence in the assessment of unique play temperaments as well as assessment of barriers to play.
- Develop competence in facilitating experiential techniques to access and build the happy child mode.
Presenter(s)
Dr. Andrew Phipps & Chris Hepworth
About the presenter(s)
Andrew Phipps
Andrew is a Clinical Psychologist and Advanced Certified Schema Therapist and Trainer based in Sydney, Australia.
With 25 years of clinical experience, he has spent much of his career in public mental health settings and now works exclusively in private practice. Andrew previously held an academic position at Western Sydney University and currently maintains a casual teaching and research supervision role at the University of New South Wales. As part of Schema Therapy Training Australia, he facilitates accredited schema therapy workshops across the country.
In addition to his work in the schema therapy space, Andrew has published research in areas including early intervention for trauma, self-help strategies for depression, and clinical outcomes in DBT.
Chris Hepworth
Chris is a Clinical Psychologist and accredited advanced schema therapist, trainer and supervisor who lives in Perth, Western Australia. He has a small private practice and is also the Clinical Lead on the DBTeen Program in WA, within which he provides clinical consultation and guidance to DBTeen group clinicians and to Lifeline about clinical aspects of the program.
In addition to being trained in Schema Therapy, Chris has been coordinating and delivering Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) programs for a number of years, and his practice is also informed by EMDR and other cognitive-behavioural therapies.
Chris provides formal training in Schema Therapy, and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, in addition to providing Supervisor training for the Australian Psychology Society.
Notes
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