Course curriculum

A comprehensive online group program for learning how to thrive as a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP)


In this 8-week group program you will go from feeling emotionally overwhelmed or avoidant of your emotions to feeling confident and empowered by discovering how to thrive as a HSP within a community of like minded and supportive people. 

Before we get into the nitty gritty about the program, we want to talk about who this program is actually for…

You’re a sensitive person who has always felt a little different than most people. You have an urge to express yourself but are uncomfortable doing that due to previous rejection, so you sometimes feel the need to hide the true nature of who you really are.

Whether you’re…

  • Hiding aspects of yourself (sensitivity, sexuality, emotionality, unmet needs) due to prior experiences of criticism or judgement
  • Don’t understand how to accommodate or work with these highly sensitive aspects of yourself
  • Feeling socially overwhelmed and anxious
  • Struggling in your relationships
  • Can’t seem to kick that pesky habit of people pleasing
  • Feeling alone in the world without connection with other highly sensitive or empathic people


You're in the right place and we want to tell you exactly how Authentic Relating & Empowerment will give you the tools, inspiration and support to learn how to thrive as a HSP in a world that often tells you to be something that you're not.  

By the end of this 8-week program you will:

  • Have a better understanding of your sensitive nature

  • Learn how to embrace and accommodate your sensitivity

  • Have a greater sense of safety and confidence to show up just as you are without hiding behind the masks you have created

  • Develop strategies to manage the anxiety that being highly sensitive can cause

  • Experience more vitality and aliveness as you establish meaningful connections with like-minded people

  • Develop interpersonal skills and new ways of relating to others in an authentic way

  • Learn how to become more self-expressive so you can get your needs met and live a more fulfilling and satisfying life

Here is what some of the ARE participants, clients and colleagues have to say:

Testimonials

Alissa Boyer

ARE Participant

Hi, my name is Alissa Boyer and I completed the ARE program this past summer and I had a great experience. I recommend the course to every highly sensitive person that I know. One of my favorite things about this program is that it's live on zoom. I think it's really great to have time set aside for yourself each week to learn and grow. As a highly sensitive person. I'm often taking care of other people and always putting others first and sometimes forgetting to fill my own cup. It was really great to have this set time each week to focus on me to learn more about myself and how to support myself, and you most definitely learn how to do that in the ARE program. One of my favorite things that we learned was emotion regulation. I think this is essential for all highly sensitive people to know how regulate their emotions. I can't say enough good things about this course, I believe it is essential for every highly sensitive person to take this course. In order to not only learn more about yourself but also learn how to interact better with the people in your life and how to just live a more fulfilling life as a sensitive person.

Miguel Diaz

ARE Participant

Taking the ARE course was a significant journey into my personal exploration of being an HSP. Knowing that being highly sensitive is a relevant aspect of my personality, I didn’t know how to use this important characteristic to my advantage. Slowly but surely, the path was revealed. In this course you will learn how to accept, comprehend, and thrive with this meaningful part of who you are. Practical exercises, videos, suggested reading material, podcasts, slide presentations, guest speakers, and other information will be utilized. In my opinion, the participants in the course will be a significant part of this experience. Why? You will know that you’re not alone. There are others like you who understand your journey and you will have the opportunity to interact with them. The course may seem daunting but be good to yourself. Transformation is within your reach.

Vanessa McAndrew

ARE Participant

Hey! I’m Vanessa, I wanted to share a little bit about my experience with the ARE course. I never knew what an HSP was before this course. Learning about what it means and why I am the way I am has really been life-changing for me. I always knew I felt different but never really knew why and what it meant. This course has not only been helpful for me but also for my nine-year-old son. He has had sensory issues since he was a baby. This course was a huge benefit to us both. Being able to understand myself has helped me understand him and his needs. Doing this course was definitely out of my comfort zone. I was extremely nervous at first. It was really powerful to meet with a group of people that have the same thoughts and feelings as I do. As the weeks went on I got more and more comfortable. About midway through the course I was able to share with the group. That is something I was terrified of before. I felt so empowered after my first share. That was the highlight of the course for me. I loved the course so much and got so much out of it. I have decided to sign up for the next one. Matt is brilliant at what he does. He has helped so many people. I highly recommend going on this journey with Matt and the other HSP’s you will meet.

Blair Wilcock

ARE Participant

I did the ARE course and I'm still getting great benefit from it. This course has given me more insight into who I am, who I want to be and who I will be in the future. Learning to having more awareness of my self and the people around me has helped me to connect deeper than before. I've become more aware of possible triggers and how to deal with and or avoid those situations. I've become more authentic and grounded following this course. This course will help you in so many ways and covers a wide range of knowledge that you will help anyone in what ever stage of life you are in. The support and understanding is amazing from everyone that is in the course and especially the course facilitators.

Ryan Williams

ARE Participant

The lack of feeling like I belonged was one of the biggest reasons I chose to take the ARE program. The ARE program provided me with a sense of community to other sensitive people. I was able to see so much of myself in all these other people and it helped me to not feel alone. The community helped me understand what I was going through and why I viewed my sensitivity the way I did before taking the course. Connecting to the community taught me to start to view my sensitivity as a strength. I felt like once I had that sense of community I felt safer to talk more and share my experiences. It’s amazing what can happen in 8 weeks! If you are looking to understand your sensitivity and connect to a community of people just like you, then I highly recommend taking the ARE course.

Paul Monster

Client

There are many coaches out there and I specifically chose Matt. Firstly because we shared the same burden of shame and toxic masculinity. Secondly because Matt understands the shame growing up gay and the effects that has had on little me. The outcome is that I am very happy I made this decision because Matt is a really good coach. Matt has a unique skill that is his empathy. This enables him to "feel" what is going on and it helped me during my sessions to get a grasp of what was really going on below the surface. I love how open Matt is about his own journey that showed me I am not alone there. We have worked through some of my issues and step by step it enabled me to peel off the protection layers to get to my true self, my authentic self. Some topics might feel heavy such as shame, but they are very impacting on my life. I was happy to work with Matt to feel these feelings and the triggers I had as a consequence of that. I am glad I got to know Matt and am convinced he is of added value if you want to get to know your authentic self as well.

Carlos Vela

Client

I can attest to Matt's approach and how warm, kind, loving, empathetic and genuine he is. You won't regret working with him. He is life saving. Thanks again Matt for allowing me to find the real me that I am happy to love and honor.

Toni Harris

Counselling Psychologist

“Matt’s work on authenticity is incredibly relatable, insightful, grounded in expansive knowledge and wisdom, and is deeply engaging.”

Jacqui Leland

Clinical & Forensic Psychologist

“Matt’s genuine and compassionate approach holds space for true transformation.”

Sneak peek at what's inside the program:

8 weeks of interactive group training and coaching:

Week 1: Introduction to ARE

  • Creating a safe space and getting to know each other
  • Course overview and setting your goals
  • How to get the most out of the course
  • Understanding the nature of highly sensitive people

Week 2: Setting Context

  • Exploring the benefits and challenges of being a HSP
  • Unpacking the social conditioning be may have inherited 
  • How to start to empower ourselves as HSP
  • Understanding the unique needs of the HSP

Week 3: Emotion Regulation

  • Explore the difference between healthy and unhealthy emotion regulation
  • Learn how to accommodate your sensitive nature through emotion regulation
  • Understanding your emotions as messengers 
  • Addressing unresolved emotional responses from the past by exploring the journey of emotional development

Week 4: Emotion Regulation and Healing Trauma

  • How to care for this highly sensitive part of ourselves (self-care)
  • Addressing unhelpful coping behaviours (substance use, comfort eating, procrastination, codependency, dissociation and social withdrawal) 
  • Moving towards an internal sense of safety and security
  • Understanding trauma and how to begin the healing process

Week 5: Integration Period

  • This week is used to address any overwhelm this course may bring up
  • We will connect over a one hour zoom discussion to talk about how the course content is being digested and strategies we can use to integrate the content more effectively

Week 6: Being present

  • How to authentically connect to self and other through presence
  • Addressing roadblocks to presence 
  • Developing the observer self: the part of you that witnesses your experiences 
  • Developing your intuition and curiosity in relation to other people's feelings and behaviours 

Week 7: Listening Skills

  • How to give and receive emotional validation 
  • Understanding differences in relating to highly sensitive and less sensitive people
  • How to actively listen and make people feel heard 
  • How to slow down your pace of relating so it can meet your needs and the needs of others 
  • The art of conflict transformation

Week 8: Self-Expression

  • Exploring barriers to self expression
  • Breaking the habits of people pleasing
  • How to communicate your needs and make decisions more effectively 
  • Using vulnerability to enrich your relationships 
  • Cultivating your sense of worthiness
  • How to set and maintain healthy boundaries


When you enroll for this 8 week program you’ll learn how to:

  • Embrace and value your sensitivity
  • Be vulnerable in a safe space with like minded people
  • Accommodate the impact of your sensitivity in everyday life
  • Address the challenges of being a HSP 
  • Draw on the strengths of being a HSP
  • Get your needs met as a HSP
  • Honour your own boundaries
  • Let go of people pleasing habits
  • Let go of unhelpful coping habits 
  • Develop emotion regulation skills that are essential for a HSP
  • Show up authentically so you can stop hiding
  • Let go of shame related to being sensitive and recognize and develop tolerance to your shame triggers
  • Show up more presently in your own life 
  • Express yourself in a way that gives you more satisfaction in your roles and relationships 
  • Handle rejection and let go of your fear of judgement
  • Self-affirm instead of seeking outside validation
  • Replace unhelpful coping habits with facing up to challenges with courage 
  • Form healthy relationships that will meet your needs

Do you believe that life has singled you out, and in some ways has placed an unfair burden on your shoulders?

Instead of dealing with your feelings, you may have suppressed them in order to function and survive.

You may feel that your sensitivity inhibits you from accessing life like you want to, or that you're not able to live life on your own terms.

We are also highly sensitive people so we understand what you're going through.

We know what it's like to disown aspects of ourselves. 

We know what it's like to abandon ourselves for the approval of others. 

We know what it's like to feel like we need to hide away from the world because our anxiety is out of control. 

We want to offer you a way out. The same way out that we took to learn how to thrive as a HSP. 

We know you are capable of transforming the way you relate to yourself and the world around you. 

We know you can stop disowning aspects of yourself and embrace who you really are.

We know how powerful it can be to connect with other people on this journey and we want to share this opportunity with you. 

The ARE group program offers you a healing community where we all walk each other home to the truth of who we are. For many of us it will be the first time we feel as if we finally belong to a tribe of like-minded people.

This is the power of the ARE group program and we would love for you to join us on this powerful and transformative journey.  

You may be asking yourself “who is this person that will show me how to change my relationship with my highly sensitive nature?

I teach HSP who feel they need to hide who they are, and are struggling with low self-worth, learn how to overcome insecurity, loneliness and shame. I offer you a step-by-step process and a supportive community to go on a journey towards living a more authentic and empowered YOU! 

About your Facilitator:

Matt Landsiedel

Matt is a Counsellor & Facilitator from Calgary, Canada.

Matt specializes in working with highly sensitive people (HSP), empaths and gay men to develop a stronger sense of self-worth. His areas of expertise are teaching people how to heal toxic shame and attachment trauma and embody their authentic self so they can enjoy meaningful connections in their lives.

Matt is a Registered Professional Counsellor through the Canadian Professional Counsellors Association. He has spent the last 15 years working in the fields of Mental Health & Addiction Counselling and Intuitive Life and Spiritual Coaching where he guides people on their psychological and spiritual journey through life.

Matt has also studied Peruvian Shamanism through the Santa Tierras Earth Medicine Traditions and incorporates this healing modality into his own life and coaching/counselling practice.

Inspired to Be Authentic is a mission Matt has purposefully created. Through his creative content, coaching/counselling, and community facilitation, he offers you inspiration to share more of your truth with the world. He does this by teaching you life changing skills and sharing energetic transmissions that inspire you to show up courageously in your own life by practicing vulnerability.

Matt’s vision for this world is for us all to live with more courage so we can share our authenticity and enjoy more meaningful connections in our lives.

In his spare time, you can find Matt traveling the world, writing, reading, hiking mountains, meditating and contemplating life, spending quality time with family and friends, learning the guitar, singing, photography, and spending time building conscious community and his private coaching/counselling practice.

You can learn more about Matt Landsiedel by visiting his website

www.mattlandsiedel.com

Next Course Offering:

ARE with Matt Landsiedel - Fall (online)

Dates: Every Wednesday between October 23rd and December 11th, 2024

Time: 4:30pm - 7:30pm MT (Calgary time)

Pricing