Discovering the Hidden Genius in Anxiety and Procrastination

This workshop is being hosted live online only and will not be recorded to maintain the privacy of all attendees. Instructions on how to join will be emailed to registrants shortly before the workshop start date.

If you need to request accessibility accommodations, please email publicprograms@ciis.edu at least one week prior to the workshop start date. For more information, explore our Frequently Asked Questions.

If you’re feeling anxious, very anxious, or deeply anxious right now, it may help to know that your anxiety is normal and necessary. You need your anxiety, and there are supportive skills and practices to help you work with anxiety instead of being overwhelmed by it. 
 
Most of us have been taught to feel ashamed or afraid of our anxiety, or to treat it as a sign of weakness. Some even talk about anxiety as an epidemic, as if it’s a serious disease that’s also contagious. Anxiety is an essential emotion with an important job to do: it helps you prepare for the future, organize yourself, and gather the energy you need to get things done.  
 
When you can reframe your anxiety and learn how to work with it lovingly, it can help you focus, plan, take action, complete your tasks, and fulfill your goals. Luckily, there are many ways to support working with your anxiety so that you can soothe and focus yourself, gather the energy and information you need, and work gracefully with it instead of fighting against it. 
 
Join emotions and empathy pioneer Karla McLaren for this rich and supportive workshop and develop new skills, explore ways of befriending and embracing your anxiety, and uncover the hidden genius in procrastination.  
 
Learn new practices to help you engage with the genius and foresight your anxiety brings, and how to work with your anxiety when it pairs up with other emotions such as fear, panic, or shame. 

Explore the often-unseen genius in procrastination, and how to identify whether your natural task-completion style includes procrastination (and how to honor and welcome it in yourself and others). 
 
This two-day live online workshop is open to anyone interested in accessing the genius in anxiety—from healthcare professionals and people wanting to know more—to people who are struggling with anxiety and procrastination.  

Karla McLaren, M.Ed. is an award-winning author, social science researcher, and empathy pioneer. Her lifelong work focuses on her grand unified theory of emotions, which revalues even the most “negative” emotions and opens startling new pathways into self-awareness, effective communication, and healthy empathy.  Her applied work, Dynamic Emotional Integration® (also known as DEI) is a trailblazing approach to emotions and empathy that reveals the genius and the healing power within the emotional realm.  
 
Karla is the author of Embracing Anxiety: How to Access the Genius Inside This Vital Emotion, The Dynamic Emotional Integration Workbook, The Art of Empathy: A Complete Guide to Life’s Most Essential Skill, The Language of Emotions: What Your Feelings are Trying to Tell You, and many audio learning programs and online courses. She is also the developer of the Empathy Academy online learning site. 
 
Karla's upcoming book, The Power of Emotions at Work: Accessing the Vital Intelligence in Your Workplace, will be released in August of 2021. She is online at KarlaMcLaren.com.

CIIS students, staff, and faculty receive discounts on all events. CIIS Public Programs Members receive a 20% discount on all events. Contact us for more information at publicprograms@ciis.edu.