Resentment is a common yet often entrenched emotional response to pain, disappointment, and perceived injustice. While it may initially serve a protective function, ongoing resentment can significantly impact psychological wellbeing and therapeutic progress.

This workshop explores resentment from multiple perspectives, supporting practitioners to identify its underlying emotional drivers. Participants will examine when resentment is primarily linked to anger, and when it is rooted in envy or jealousy. The workshop also considers how resentment can gradually develop into bitterness, and the consequences this has for mental health and relational functioning.

Drawing on psychologically informed approaches to working with anger and envy, the workshop introduces practical strategies and interventions to help clients respond more skilfully to hurt and disappointment. By normalising human vulnerability and shared experience, practitioners are encouraged to support clients in moving towards greater acceptance, perspective-taking, and forgiveness where appropriate.

The workshop is delivered through a combination of short teaching inputs, video material, reflective exercises, group discussion, and experiential learning. Participants will receive a PDF workbook containing key concepts, quotations, diagrams, and practical exercises for use in clinical practice.

Learning Objective Participants Can Expect From This Event

• Recognise the different expressions of resentment and explore alternative strategies for working with these feelings

• Understand how the brain’s threat-based focus reinforces resentment, and learn ways to counterbalance this tendency

• Appreciate the cumulative impact of unresolved resentment on overall wellbeing