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When There Is Nothing to Fix

A Clinical Deep Dive into Therapeutic Work at the End of Life

Are you working with people approaching the end of their lives?

But find yourself wondering if you are doing the work well? 

Do you notice getting in your own mind about how you should have approached things differently? 

Are you looking for something to enhance your practice?

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Do you find yourself thinking; 

  • I know the theory, but what do I actually say here?

  • I don't want to reassure them or minimise what is happening.

  • This patient really stayed with me.

  • I wasn't sure where to take that conversation.

  • I would like to feel more confident sitting with this kind of distress.

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What we will work on?
- A full day of online training 
- Small Group (Max 10 people)

End-of-life work can bring us into therapeutic territory where there may be no problem to solve, no reassurance that feels adequate, and no obvious next intervention. Patients may bring fear, anger, despair, existential distress, family complexity, unfinished business, or simply the knowledge that time is running out.

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These moments can be challenging for patients, but they can also be challenging for us as therapists.

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This day creates space to slow the work down, explore what happens in these encounters, and practise ways of responding with greater flexibility, confidence and intention.​

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We will spend our day together exploring;

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Difficult therapeutic moments
Working with presentations where you find yourself unsure what to say, where usual therapeutic strategies seem inadequate, or where the patient is asking questions that cannot easily be answered.

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Language and clinical responding
Developing language for conversations about death, fear, uncertainty, meaning, loss, hope and what matters now.

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Therapeutic presence
Practising how to remain alongside distress without rushing to reassure, fix, reframe or move away from what is happening.

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Working experientially
Using role play, scripting, demonstration and repeated practice to explore different ways of responding.

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The therapist in the room
Paying attention to our own reactions to the work, including discomfort, helplessness, sadness, frustration, urgency and the wish to make things better.

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Complex cases
Working together with challenging patient presentations and exploring different therapeutic possibilities.

This training is....

The Practical Details...

Workshop Date: 16th October 2026
Where: Online via Zoom
Number of Places: 10
Cost: $440
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Presented by Dr Toni Lindsay.

Dr Toni Lindsay is a Clinical and Health Psychologist who works at Chris O'Brien Lifehouse in the Oncology service and is a specialist in the care of Adolescents and Young Adults with cancer. Toni teaches in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney Nursing School. 


'Everything Anxiety Ever Told You is a Lie' is her 5th book. 'The Certainty Myth' (2022) and ‘The Cancer Companion’ (2021), as well as two textbooks 'ACT at the End' (2024) and ‘Cancer, Sex, Drugs and Death’ (2017) are all about the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).


She is an AHPRA approved supervisor and provides clinical supervision for both psychologists and other health professionals.

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