Developing women leaders with ACT

Book here: https://contextualconsulting.co.uk/live-training/developing-women-leaders-with-act

Are you ready to transform the way you support women in leadership? Many organisations have a gender imbalance in senior roles and take steps to address it, including through leadership development programmes. However, these programmes often send the message that women need to be “more”—more assertive, more commercial, or more something else.

What if we flipped the script? Dr. Alison Maitland and Liz Walker are on a mission to equip women with the psychological flexibility needed to lead with confidence, clarity, and impact. Using the principles of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), their innovative program helps women navigate workplace challenges, overcome self-doubt, and make bold, values-driven decisions—without feeling the need to conform or hold back.

Background to the workshop

Men and women often navigate workplaces differently due to biological factors (e.g., maternity leave, menopause) and societal or organizational assumptions about roles. Many companies aim to address gender disparities through women’s leadership programs, yet these can unintentionally suggest that women need to change—becoming more assertive, more commercial, or more ‘something.’ The real challenge lies in reshaping workplace structures and cultures, rather than ‘fixing’ women.

What if, instead, we used ACT to support women in developing psychological flexibility, enabling them to lead with authenticity and confidence? This approach fosters resilience in navigating workplace challenges, staying present, and making values-driven decisions about how to move forward.

In this workshop, Alison and Liz will explore how you can shift from simply teaching women what to ‘do’ to using ACT tools and techniques that foster growth in confidence, resilience, and authentic leadership.

Through practical ACT exercises—such as defusion techniques to navigate self-doubt, mindfulness to stay present, and values-based decision-making—participants will learn how to support women in embracing their strengths and maximising their impact.

What you will gain from this workshop

In this 2-hour interactive workshop, you will:

• Experience key ACT tools first-hand and build a powerful, practical toolkit to support women in leadership.
• Explore approaches to tailor ACT exercises to organisational and leadership contexts.
• Understand the societal, organisational and personal experiences that have the power to knock women off track in their careers and how to address them effectively.
• Identify why the usual “fluff and duff” of women’s programmes can be unhelpful and why they may not always deliver meaningful change.
• Discover how, and when, ACT is relevant to women’s leadership development in organisations.
• Learn how ACT helps women to ‘unstick’ and step forward to live and lead as themselves.
• Recognise approaches to building ACT-aligned learning programmes for women leaders.
• Differentiate between using ACT in therapy or coaching compared to a learning environment.
• Understand the broader impact of an ACT-informed approach, benefiting both individuals and organisations.

Who will benefit from this workshop?

ACT practitioners who are interested / involved in leadership development within organisations.

• HR / L&D / EDI leaders who are interested in helping women progress through leadership development that shifts behaviour and unlocks potential in organisations.

This workshop is ideal for:

• People working in HR, learning and development / equality and diversity roles.
• Therapists working with women leaders
• Coaches
• Organisational psychologists

Attendees are expected to have a basic working knowledge of ACT. We have a free on-demand introduction to ACT workshop available to help you prepare.