APS Webinar: Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria in ADHD: From Pain to Connection – 7th May 2026
Rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) is the experience of intense, pervasive, and long-lasting distress in response to perceived or actual rejection. For ADHDers, rejection sensitivity is a common and often misunderstood feature of their experience that in therapeutic settings can be mistaken for mood instability, anxiety, or interpersonal difficulties. Unwanted outcomes can include relationship breakdowns, unemployment, loneliness, manipulation and ongoing abuse.
In this workshop, you’ll explore the neurobiological and developmental origins of rejection sensitivity in ADHD and the factors that maintain this pattern. You will gain a deeper understanding of why ADHDers are vulnerable to rejection sensitivity, learn how to address these complex emotions, help clients make sense of their experiences, and develop the skills to support safe and supportive relationships that foster lasting emotional well-being and belonging.
This workshop will last 90 minutes, including time for self-reflection and discussion, with an extra 20 minutes at the end for questions.
What You Will Learn
- How to recognise when rejection sensitivity is driving your client’s intense emotional distress
- The neurological, developmental, and interpersonal factors that contribute to rejection sensitivity in ADHD, including emotional dysregulation, masking, alexithymia, and interoceptive differences
- How to support clients who are stuck in the pain of rejection to navigate and alleviate complex emotions
- Practical pathways to self-compassion in response to confusion, shame, loss, and regret
Learning Outcomes
On completing this workshop, you will be better able to:
- Explain the neurological and developmental factors that contribute to the development and maintenance of rejection sensitivity in ADHDers.
- Identify when rejection sensitivity is underlying a client’s emotional distress and differentiate this from other presentations.
- Apply therapeutic strategies that support ADHDers to manage rejection sensitivity, cultivate self-compassion, and build interpersonal safety.
Open to all – APS members and non-members. The workshop will be recorded.
