This introduction discusses the messy phase of healing, working with emotions safely, and creating a self-care plan. It explores how to notice and respond to emotions without suppression or overwhelm, and how to begin building simple, supportive strategies for emotional regulation.

It also highlights the role of support networks and when to seek help, alongside developing practical, personalised approaches to self-care.

Explore the concept of the self-relationship and how it influences thoughts, emotions, behaviours, and overall wellbeing. This module introduces a parts-based understanding of the self, supporting greater awareness of different internal states, emotional experiences, and patterns of resistance that may arise in daily life.

You will also explore the window of tolerance and the foundations of self-regulation, including how to recognise when you are within or outside your optimal emotional range and how to support a return to balance. Drawing on the neuroscience of the self, the module builds understanding of how the brain and nervous system shape emotional and relational responses.

This module explores what self-awareness is and how it develops, focusing on the capacity to observe internal experience—thoughts, emotions, sensations, impulses, and inner parts—as dynamic and shifting processes rather than fixed truths. It also introduces the limits of introspection, highlighting how simply “thinking about ourselves” can sometimes reinforce existing patterns rather than deepen understanding.

You will learn about awareness through differentiation, including identifying and distinguishing between different inner parts, and exploring how these parts interact, conflict, or withdraw. The module also examines self-interruption patterns and how they shape emotional and behavioural responses, alongside your relationship to emotions and how they are experienced, avoided, or regulated.

Overall, this section supports the development of a more integrated inner awareness, helping you recognise patterns with greater clarity and begin to bring different parts of experience into a more coherent and balanced whole.

This module explores the structure of Negative Treatment of Self (NTS), including how self-criticism, self-sabotage, and emotional responses interact to form repeating cognitive, emotional, and behavioural cycles. It supports you in identifying how these patterns develop and are maintained over time, and how they can impact wellbeing.

You will learn to uncover habitual patterns of self-criticism and the internal processes that reinforce them, with a focus on understanding how the NTS cycle operates in daily life. The module also introduces ways of working with and interrupting these cycles, supporting greater choice and flexibility in response.

A key focus is the introduction of self-soothing as a supportive practice, offering practical ways to regulate emotional experience and begin shifting from self-criticism toward a more balanced and compassionate inner stance.

This module explores the spectrum of self-attack, from subtle forms of self-dislike and doubt through to more intense and persistent self-criticism. You will be supported in recognising these patterns in your own experience and understanding how they can shape emotional wellbeing, behaviour, and self-perception.

A key focus is on mapping your specific challenges and concerns in relation to self-attack, allowing for a more targeted and personalised understanding of how these patterns operate for you. This helps to clarify where difficulties arise and how they are maintained over time.

By making these patterns clearer and more defined, this module supports a more targeted approach to developing a balanced, constructive, and compassionate inner dialogue.

This module explores how self-monitoring can shift into patterns of excessive control, rigidity, or internal hostility, where self-evaluation becomes harsh, punitive, or unhelpful. You will be supported in recognising how these tendencies show up in your thoughts, behaviours, and emotional responses, and how they can affect wellbeing and self-development.

A key focus is on mapping your individual patterns of control and self-monitoring, helping you to understand how these processes operate for you in specific situations. This creates a clearer picture of the internal dynamics that maintain stress, self-criticism, or over-control.

By increasing awareness of these patterns, the module supports a more balanced and flexible approach to self-regulation, encouraging gentleness, reduced internal pressure, and healthier pathways for personal growth.

This module explores patterns of hostile self-neglect, where attention to physical, emotional, and psychological needs is reduced or dismissed within the self-relationship. It considers how these patterns can develop in response to stress, internal strain, or long-standing relational dynamics with the self.

You will be supported in identifying and mapping self-ignoring behaviours and understanding how they show up in daily life, helping to clarify the patterns that maintain disconnection from your needs. This creates a clearer foundation for working more intentionally with these processes.

The module also introduces ways of beginning to prioritise self-care and support a more attentive, responsive, and sustaining inner relationship.

This module explores “hostile freedom,” where the drive for independence or autonomy can also function as a way of distancing from others and emotional connection. It considers how self-imposed separation may develop as a protective strategy, and how it can influence wellbeing, relationships, and sense of belonging.

You will be supported in identifying and mapping patterns of withdrawal or disconnection, helping to clarify when and how these tendencies arise in your relational life. This allows for a more precise understanding of the balance between autonomy and avoidance.

The module also explores how to begin holding both needs—autonomy and connection—in a more integrated way, supporting healthier relational engagement alongside a stable sense of self-direction.

This module builds on earlier work by supporting a more integrated and compassionate relationship with the self. Participants develop a personal case formulation to better understand their emotional and relational patterns, including how past experiences shape current responses, attachment styles, and internal narratives.

A focus is placed on attachment awareness and the development of “earned security,” supporting greater internal stability and healthier ways of relating to self and others. This includes strengthening emotional awareness and the capacity to stay present with internal experience in a regulated way.

The module also emphasises self-compassion, self-acceptance, and self-affiliation, alongside the development and maintenance of healthy boundaries. Together, these processes support greater emotional resilience, coherence, and relational balance.

This section supports you in continuing your self-relationship journey beyond the course content. Growth is rarely linear, and it is natural for old patterns to re-emerge along the way—these moments are part of the process rather than setbacks.

You are encouraged to keep returning to self-compassion, notice patterns with curiosity rather than criticism, and gently recommit to your development over time. Sustaining change comes through ongoing awareness, reflection, and a consistent, caring relationship with yourself.

The programme offers drop-in online support sessions where you can reflect on your experiences, discuss any challenges, and explore personalised ways to apply your insights in everyday life. These sessions provide a supportive space for ongoing reflection, learning, and personal growth.