Beyond People-Pleasing
with Special Guest Terri Cole
Early Bird Registration Available
$199 Early Bird | $249 Regular
Monday, March 30, 2026
10:00am – 1:00pm PT | 1:00pm – 4:00pm ET
Session 2
Monday, April 20, 2026
9:00am – 10:30am PT | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
A recording will be available to registered participants for 90 days.
When competence hides exhaustion
Many people are quietly holding up the world—managing logistics, smoothing over tension, remembering everyone’s needs, and stepping in before things fall apart. From the outside, it looks like competence and reliability. On the inside, it can feel like pressure, resentment, and a deep disconnection from what we actually need.
Psychotherapist and boundary expert Terri Cole coined the term high-functioning codependency to describe this pattern of over-giving and over-responsibility—one that often goes unnoticed precisely because it looks so capable. In Terri’s work, these patterns are adaptations shaped by early relational environments. Many people learned to stay safe, connected, or valued by anticipating others’ needs, managing emotional dynamics, and becoming indispensable long before they had the option not to.
In this special two-part Learning Lab, Terri and Frank come together to explore how these patterns form, how they live in our nervous systems and relationships, and what it means to move toward greater self-respect—without losing care for others.
About the Program
As host of this Learning Lab, Frank Anderson brings an integrative, trauma-informed perspective to understanding people-pleasing, over-functioning, and chronic responsibility. Throughout the program, Frank serves as the through-line—helping frame the conversation, slow it down, and place these patterns within a broader understanding of trauma, development, and survival.
In the main session, our special guest, Terri Cole, will explore high-functioning codependency—where it often begins, how it shows up in adult relationships, and why people who are “the responsible one” can find it so difficult to step back or say no. She will examine the internal pressure that often accompanies this role, including the fear of letting others down, the discomfort of not being needed, and the deeply held belief that one’s value lies in holding everything together.
Terri will address the emotional and relational cost of always taking care of everything, including chronic resentment, exhaustion, and the gradual loss of connection to one’s own wants and limits. She will explore why boundary-setting is rarely just a skill issue, but often a deeply emotional process tied to attachment, identity, and long-standing loyalty to roles that once ensured belonging or safety.
Bringing his integrative, trauma-informed clinical lens into dialogue with Terri’s work, Frank Anderson serves as the primary integrative guide for this Learning Lab. He helps translate insight into understanding by synthesizing developmental history, attachment dynamics, and nervous system organization, and by supporting participants in integrating these perspectives across clinical, relational, and lived experience. Together, they invite careful reflection on where over-doing remains protective, how these patterns are maintained over time, and how a more self-honoring way of relating can emerge gradually—without withdrawal, rigidity, or disruption to meaningful relationships.
Key Themes We’ll Explore
What high-functioning codependency means—and how it differs from classic stereotypes
How early roles and expectations shape over-giving and over-managing
The emotional and relational cost of being “the one who always handles it”
Why boundary-setting can feel threatening or destabilizing
How these patterns live in the nervous system and relational field
Pathways toward more balanced, self-honoring care for ourselves and others
This Program Is For
- People who are capable, reliable, and often carrying more than their share—at work, in relationships, or within their families
- Those who recognize patterns of people-pleasing, over-functioning, or chronic responsibility, even when things appear “fine” on the outside
- Mental health clinicians, therapists, coaches, and healthcare professionals seeking a trauma-informed, nervous-system-aware understanding of high-functioning codependency
- Clinicians interested in how early roles, attachment dynamics, and survival strategies shape adult relational patterns and show up in clinical work
- Practitioners looking to expand clinical language around boundaries, over-responsibility, and self-respect in ways that are non-pathologizing and relationally attuned
- Helpers, caregivers, and leaders who notice these dynamics in themselves or the people they support
- Anyone seeking language and understanding for patterns that developed for a reason, and who is interested in exploring change without blame, urgency, or self-criticism
This Learning Lab supports reflective clinical practice and case conceptualization rather than prescriptive techniques. Content explores high-functioning codependency as an adaptive survival strategy, with attention to developmental context, nervous system dynamics, and relational patterns. Clinicians may find this program especially relevant for integrating boundary work into trauma-informed care and for deepening relational attunement with clients.
Session 1
Beyond People-Pleasing: High-Functioning Codependency, Boundaries, and Self-Respect
Hosted by Frank Anderson, MD with Special Guest Terri Cole
Monday, March 30, 2026
10:00am – 1:00pm PT | 1:00pm – 4:00pm ET
Schedule in Pacific Time
- 10:00 – 10:15am PT | Welcome, Opening Meditation & Orientation with Frank
- 10:15 – 11:45am PT | Special Guest Teaching with Terri Cole
- 11:45 – 12:30pm PT | Teaching Dialogue with Frank & Terri
- 12:30 – 1:00pm PT | Community Q&A & Closing with Frank & Terri
Session 2
Integration Discussion: From Over-Doing to Self-Honoring
Hosted by Frank Anderson, MD
Monday, April 20, 2026
9:00am – 10:30am PT | 12:00pm – 1:30pm ET
Frank Anderson returns to host a dedicated integration session with the community, revisiting what emerged around high-functioning codependency, people-pleasing, and the lived experience of “doing it all.”
This session emphasizes metabolizing insight rather than rushing toward action—allowing understanding to land not only intellectually, but emotionally and somatically. Frank reflects on the survival roots of over-functioning, the impact of chronic responsibility on mind and body, and the complex mix of guilt, fear, and loyalty that often keeps these patterns in place.
Between sessions, participants are invited to reflect privately with Frank on what they noticed following Session 1—what felt newly visible, what questions arose, and how themes of over-doing or responsibility may have shown up in their lives or clinical work. These reflections can be shared with Frank through our written integration form, which will be reviewed and synthesized to help shape the focus of the integration discussion.
From there, Frank shares how these dynamics can be worked with over time within an integrative approach—offering gentle, realistic pathways for personal and clinical application that honor pacing, safety, and self-respect.
Program Access & Integration
If you are unable to attend either live session, a recording will be available for 90 days following the program.Participants are also welcome to submit questions, reflections, and feedback between sessions. These submissions will be reviewed by Frank and thoughtfully integrated into the Session 2 integration discussion, allowing the conversation to be shaped by the community’s lived experience—even if you are engaging asynchronously.
This Integration Session Is Designed to Support
Revisiting key insights from the conversation with Terri through Frank’s integrative lens
Seeing high-functioning codependency as an understandable survival strategy rather than a flaw
Noticing how over-doing and people-pleasing show up in your life or work
Considering small, realistic experiments in setting limits or stepping back
Reflecting on how to move toward greater self-respect, space, and care
About the Learning Lab
The Learning Lab is designed to offer both depth and digestion: time to learn from trusted voices, space to reflect, and a return to community for integration. Rather than rushing toward change, this format invites thoughtful awareness, shared inquiry, and realistic shifts that unfold over time—held and led by Frank as host.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This Learning Lab is designed for a wide range of participants—mental health clinicians, coaches, helping professionals, and individuals interested in understanding relational patterns, boundaries, and the impact of early survival strategies.Whether you’re grounded in somatic therapy, attachment work, parts-informed approaches, or you’re simply looking for insight into your own lived experience, the program offers thoughtful, accessible teaching that can support both personal reflection and professional growth.
No prior familiarity is required. While some attendees may know Frank’s writing and teaching, each Learning Lab is structured to be fully accessible whether you’re new to his integrative approach or looking to deepen your understanding.
Each Learning Lab includes:
• A live main session with Frank and a featured expert including teaching, dialogue, and community Q&A
• A follow-up integration session, led by Frank, to revisit themes and support embodied, realistic application
• Optional written reflection prompts, which participants can submit between sessions to help shape the integration discussion
Session lengths may vary by Lab, but all programs take place live on Zoom and include access to session recordings.
Not a problem!
All registrants receive access to the full replay of both sessions for 90 days after the program concludes. You’re welcome to watch (and rewatch) at your own pace.
Yes.
Teaching segments may include lecture, dialogue, and reflective prompts. Each session also includes time for live Q&A, giving participants the chance to bring forward questions about the material, their work, or their lived experience.
Absolutely.
The Learning Lab is educational, reflective, and supportive. Many participants attend because the material resonates with their own history. You are encouraged to move at your own pace, take breaks as needed, and seek personalized support outside the program if emotions arise.
Please note: This program is for educational purposes and is not a substitute for therapy.
The Learning Lab offers clinical insight, case-informed discussion, and developmentally and neuroscience-informed framing, but it is not a step-by-step clinical certification program.
Instead, it supports:
• reflective understanding of integrative concepts
• deeper understanding of patterns as adaptive
• integrative, relational ways of conceptualizing experiences
Clinicians often find the material directly applicable to their work, while lay participants value the clarity and validation it brings to their own relational dynamics.
After you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with:
• Your Zoom link(s) for the live sessions
• Instructions for how to join
• Any relevant program materials
After the program ends, you’ll receive an email with a link to the 90-day replay portal, where you can watch the recordings at any time.
Recordings are available for 90 days following the final live session.
To honor the agreements with our host and special guests, extensions cannot be provided.
Yes.
Participants may submit questions or reflections between sessions using our written integration form. Frank reviews all submissions and incorporates themes and questions into the Session 2 integration discussion, ensuring asynchronous participants remain part of the learning process.
You may request a full refund up to 7 calendar days before the first live session begins. After that point, all sales are final.
Refunds may incur a nominal processing charge (approximately $25).Additional notes:Registration covers the entire program (all sessions). We are unable to offer partial refunds, credits, or prorated adjustments if you miss one or more sessions.
Access to the recordings remains available for 90 days regardless of live attendance.
If promotions or sale prices occur before or after your purchase, we cannot retroactively adjust your registration fee.
Please reach out to our team anytime—we’re happy to help with questions about registration, access, or program expectations.
You don’t have to stop caring.
You just don’t have to disappear in the process.