Controlled Explosions in Mental Health – Feb 2026

In this webinar, Dr Heriot-Maitland will introduce participants to his new book, Controlled Explosions in Mental Health (publication date 23rd Jan 2026 – see full book details here).

As well as hearing a presentation by the author, webinar participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and to interact with some of the book’s key ideas and themes.

Participants will be invited to explore the complex ways in which our brains can, often unconsciously, generate self-defeating or self-harming patterns as an attempt to manage threat and maintain psychological safety. Drawing on the metaphor of “controlled explosions,” participants will examine how certain protective strategies – while aimed at preventing anticipated harm – can paradoxically create further distress or difficulty. Participants will be introduced to the book’s core framework that personifies these self-protective processes as the Bomb Squad. The Bomb Squad comprises 15 members, each performing different types of controlled explosions that serve to shield us from perceived danger in different ways.

This approach provides a compassionate and accessible way of understanding how protective systems, when over-activated or rigidly applied, can contribute to patterns such as self-criticism, procrastination, avoidance, and self-harm. Framing these experiences as part of a shared human continuum of threat and protection can help reduce stigma, foster empathy, and open new therapeutic perspectives on the underlying functions of such experiences.

Participants will be encouraged to reflect on parallels within their own lives and clinical work, and to consider how a compassionate understanding of these mechanisms can support recovery, integration, and psychological growth.