Psychological Flexibility

By practicing these skills, we become more self-aware and mindful of our approach, we learn to use values rather than emotions to guide our behaviour and we learn how to pursue meaningful goals.

The scientific evidence supporting psychological flexibility is impressive and the approach has been used in a wide range of organisational settings to boost employee health and satisfaction at work. Principles-led, it can be developed in a variety of ways, which is reflected in our approach.

If psychological flexibility represents a set of skills, then many of us could benefit from practicing these skills a little more.

Think about how you respond to challenges and setbacks. The types of situations you try to avoid. The actions you’ve taken which you later regret. Common examples of psychological inflexibility include:

• Lashing out emotionally at others and regretting your actions later
• Responding to events around you impulsively
• Making decisions based on imagined futures
• Getting caught up with worries to the detriment of taking helpful action
• An unhelpful attachment to aspects of your identity, such as seniority or profession

Moving from inflexibility to flexibility is a learning journey. We’re not born responding to the world around us in an ideal and helpful way. It’s a function of our upbringing and life’s experiences. But change is always possible.

When we’re psychologically flexible, we bring our best selves to each context. We don’t take passing thoughts and flashes of emotion as guides for action, but rely on our values.

These skills help us avoid pointless struggles with unwelcome inner experiences, ground us in the present here and now, while giving us clarity on what really matters so we can make progress towards our goals. While there are six key skills involved, we can also summarise them in the following easy to remember call to action:

To maximise access to the training, we’ve created several training routes. Regardless of the route you choose, you’ll get an excellent introduction into these important life skills and have opportunities for one-to-one time with a member of the WorkLifePsych team.

We have three Psychological Flexibility courses, ranging from a 90mins introductory session, through to a one-day workshop. All courses can be run in person or via webinar.

Additionally, all our training courses can be augmented with the addition of one-to-one coaching following course completion, providing an end-to-end solution in personalised development.

We have something for every audience and context. Full details of these courses can be found on our Wellbeing Courses page.