Authority Rebuild
The Pattern Resolution & Authority Rebuild Programme.
Hidden Patterns, Visible Impact:
A Programme for Lawyers Who were Bullied in the Past.
A targeted 6-session programme to help lawyers resolve the lasting impact of past bullying and to gain clarity, authority, and clear communication in their professional lives. This programme has been developed by Dr Catherine Sykes and draws upon Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Coaching techniques.
Bullying doesn’t always stay in the past.
Even when it’s no longer happening. Its impact often continues, quietly, and often unnoticed.
In my work with lawyers, it tends to show up like this:
You hesitate in moments where you need to be direct
You find yourself appeasing difficult people with a cost to your energy and progression
You soften or dilute your point
You over-explain to avoid being misunderstood
You replay conversations afterwards
You adapt quickly to keep things smooth even when it costs you
You’re still performing. But not always expressing yourself fully.
For some, the origin is clear:
Being singled out, undermined, intimidated or physically hurt
Repeated criticism or humiliation
Feeling exposed or unsafe in a group
For others, it was less obvious:
Being talked over or dismissed
Being made to feel “too much” or “not enough”
Learning early that it was safer to stay quiet, agreeable, or careful
Often this happened at school. Sometimes it was the home environment. Sometimes it is in early professional environments.
Often, it was normalised or dismissed. This can feel a safer coping mechanism.
At the time, adapting was an intelligent response.
You learned how to:
Read the room quickly
Stay one step ahead of potential conflict
Adjust your behaviour to stay safe
That worked.
But those types of patterns don’t update automatically when the threat is no longer present.
You may still be responding to past threat, not present reality.
This is where it becomes a performance issue:
Avoiding necessary conflict with colleagues, clients, or partners
Making yourself small for fear of conflict
People-pleasing that weakens your position
Miscommunication despite strong thinking
Over-preparing or over-functioning to compensate
A subtle sense of “losing yourself” in certain interactions
This is not because you lack ability. It is because your system has learned to prioritise perceived safety over clarity.
This is not actually a confidence problem.
It is a pattern that made sense at the time, but is now interfering with how you operate. These patterns can be updated.
Programme Overview
The Pattern Resolution & Authority Rebuild Programme
A two-part process designed to:
Resolve the original imprint of bullying experiences
Rebuild how you operate in high-stakes professional situations
Rather than focusing only on behaviour change, this method works at the level where the pattern was formed and then translates that shift into practical, observable change at work.
I have developed this intervention specifically for lawyers.
It combines:
1. Pattern Resolution With EMDR
Reducing the emotional charge linked to past bullying experiences so they no longer drive automatic responses.
Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR) is an evidence-based psychological approach used to process distressing or overwhelming experiences.
It is recommended by:
World Health Organization
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Research indicates EMDR can:
Reduce the intensity of emotional responses linked to past events
Change how quickly those responses are triggered in current situations
Support more adaptive, flexible thinking under pressure
2. Authority Rebuild
Developing clear, direct communication in real professional scenarios
This programme is not:
Open-ended therapy without direction
A focus on revisiting the past without clear outcomes
Generic “confidence coaching”
About becoming more aggressive or confrontational
It is a targeted, outcome-focused intervention designed to change specific patterns that are affecting how you operate now.
Programme Structure
Sessions 1–3: Processing the Past
Identify specific bullying experiences (explicit or subtle)
Process them using EMDR
Reduce automatic threat-based responses
These sessions are delivered online due to the software used for EMDR.
Outcomes
Clients typically notice:
Less hesitation in high-stakes conversations
Reduced emotional reactivity to certain individuals or dynamics
Clearer, more direct communication
Less overthinking after interactions
A stronger, more stable sense of professional authority
Sessions 4–6: Changing How You Operate Now
Apply assertiveness in real professional situations
Reduce over-explaining and over-adapting
Develop clear, direct communication
Strengthen your ability to hold your position under pressure
These sessions can be in person or online. During these sessions, you will need to commit to having time outside these sessions to put into practice what we agree in these sessions. This will include approximately 2 hours of self-reflection outside of the session time.
Who This Is For
This programme is for lawyers who:
Have experienced bullying or undermining behaviour in the past
Notice patterns of holding back, over-adapting, or second-guessing
Are performing well, but not always to your full potential
Want a precise, effective way to shift these patterns
Check availability for an initial consultation:
This is a focused programme delivered personally by Dr Catherine Sykes who has been helping lawyers process bullying memories for 17 years.
Due to the nature of this work, I take on a limited number of clients at any one time.
Availability for new programmes is therefore selective and scheduled in advance.
In this 30-minute conversation, we will:
Clarify what you’re experiencing
Identify whether this programme is the right fit
Outline a tailored approach
No preparation is needed.
A Pattern You May Recognise
A senior associate I worked with was technically strong and well-regarded.
But in meetings, she would:
Hold back her view
Over-prepare extensively beforehand
Leave feeling she hadn’t said what she really thought
Please others at a cost to herself
She described it as:
“just needing to be more confident.”
What emerged instead was a history of being repeatedly being excluded from her peer groups.
When she mentioned it, it didn’t feel that extreme to her. However, this repeated exclusion was consistent enough to shape how she responded under pressure with certain types of individuals.
After processing those experiences and working on assertiveness:
She contributed earlier in meetings
Spoke more directly, without over-explaining
Reported significantly less overthinking afterwards
She felt more at ease with herself
