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Description

Stress and Emotions at Work: Holding Up Under Pressure, Responding Well and Protecting the Relationship

Two days to stay effective in work situations where pressure and emotion build up together

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Some work situations combine urgency with emotional load: an unhappy client on the telephone, an announcement of reorganisation, a mistake discovered in the middle of a meeting. Pressure raises emotion, emotion degrades decision-making, and the relationship suffers.

This 14-hour programme addresses stress and emotions together, in the professional contexts where they are actually triggered. Participants learn to spot the build-up, to recover between two demanding interactions and to conduct a difficult conversation without being overwhelmed. Role-play exercises cover customer relations, the tense meeting and the announcement of change.

Learning objectives

  • Identify how rising pressure and rising emotion combine
  • Name the emotion experienced in a tense professional situation
  • Apply a regulation technique during a difficult exchange
  • Acknowledge another person's emotion without escalating
  • Recover between two demanding interactions
  • Address an exchange that remained difficult afterwards

What makes this programme different

Role-play exercises on customer relations, the tense meeting and the announcement of change
Focused work on recovery between back-to-back demanding interactions
A method for reopening a difficult exchange after the event

Programme

1Identifying the Build-Up of Pressure and Emotion

What happens in tense situations

  • The chain reaction between perceived pressure, physical response and emotion
  • Recognising your own tipping point
  • Effects on listening, wording and decision-making
  • The professional situations most exposed

2Regulating Yourself During the Exchange

Staying in control in the moment

  • Early warning signals of being overwhelmed
  • Breathing and posture techniques usable in front of the other person
  • Buying time through reformulation and questioning
  • Regaining control after an impulsive reaction

3Acknowledging the Other Person's Emotion

Avoiding escalation

  • Reading emotional signals in the other person
  • Receiving anger and criticism without immediate justification
  • Wording that lowers tension
  • Setting boundaries when remarks become unacceptable

4Recovering and Handling the Aftermath

Between interactions and after the event

  • Transition time between two demanding exchanges
  • Recovery after a day of high emotional load
  • Reopening an exchange that ended badly
  • Identifying situations to escalate internally

Who is it for

Employees exposed to tense situations with clients or colleagues, as well as managers facing repeated difficult conversations.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.