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Returning to Work with Confidence

HeartTouch: Returning to Work with Confidence

Returning to work is about much more than finding a job. For many people, the greatest barriers are anxiety, chronic stress, emotional pain, burnout or a loss of confidence following illness or difficult life experiences.

HeartTouch offers a practical embodied mindfulness approach that helps people develop greater wellbeing, embodied awareness and emotional resilience, supporting them to return to work with more confidence.

People chatting in pairs on the floor deeply relaxed HeartTouch event in London with Talk for Health, 2023.

Through simple embodied mindfulness practices, compassionate human connection and gentle group reflection, participants learn practical ways to support the body's natural capacity for self-regulation. Many find themselves better able to manage anxiety, cope with uncertainty and engage more confidently with everyday life.

The programme is designed to complement existing employment support services rather than replace them. It does not provide job search advice, CV writing or interview preparation. Instead, it focuses on the emotional and psychological foundations that can help people feel more ready to return to work. In this way, HeartTouch provides practical wellbeing support alongside employment, training and wider return-to-work services.

Who is it for?

  • People whose anxiety, chronic stress or emotional wellbeing has made returning to work feel difficult.
  • People recovering from burnout or other periods of prolonged stress.
  • People seeking to rebuild confidence and resilience before returning to employment.

Course outcomes

  • Develop greater awareness of their embodied emotional state and recognise how it influences thoughts, feelings and behaviour.
  • Learn practical embodied mindfulness practices that support the body's natural capacity for self-regulation during periods of stress or anxiety.
  • Develop a greater sense of safety, grounding and confidence in everyday life.
  • Strengthen emotional resilience and the capacity to respond more skilfully to challenges and uncertainty.
  • Develop healthier ways of relating to themselves and others at work and in everyday life.
  • Build simple daily practices that support long-term wellbeing while preparing for a sustainable return to work.

Upcoming courses

HeartTouch Wellbeing CIC offers this programme through online and in-person courses. Details of upcoming courses will be listed here as they become available.

There are currently no courses scheduled. You are welcome to register your interest, and we will let you know when new dates are announced.

Contact us to register your interest in a future course.

For organisations

This programme can also be delivered for charities, community groups, healthcare providers and other organisations. Workshops and courses can be adapted to meet the needs of your organisation and the people you support.

Contact us to start a conversation about bringing this programme to your organisation.

Testimonials for Anthony

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  • HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    I found the one day training in HeartTouch enriching.

    It was so good to spend time ( having said that, I lost all sense of time) grounding myself, breathing, and regulating my nervous system.

    From there, meeting others from that place of groundedness, vitality and regulation, a place of authentic co creation.

    Tuning into myself, allowing my body to feel under the guidance, support of neutral hands.

    I left the workshop feeling more whole, my mind, heart, body connected.

    Thank you!

     Working with Stroke and Brain Injury, London

  • HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    Loved the calm, centred, modest, clear, helpful, engaged and connected way the workshop was held, with a sense of integrity too.

    I am interested in sharing some of these techniques and ideas with clients in mental health services in the nhs.

    Thank you!

     Open Dialogue therapist, London

  • HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    Anthony offers a rare gift of turning up and sharing his experience as a way for others to feel permission to do the same.

    It is a direct approach made safe by the many practices in breathing, walking, moving and finding different places of comfort and reinvigoration within our own body.

    Anthony was able to help us shift our attention outwards to our shared environment and then inwards to feelings and sensations that may arise deep in our personal space.

    This is very helpful as a way to navigate how we are impacted at a nonverbal level and how we turn up in a shared space.

    It deals through this light and mobile shifting of attention, with deep issues such as shame, making this a passing sensation, not a permanent fixture.

    This gives room for so many other small noticings in ourselves and in others, and this can open our way back into a sense of our common humanenes, with all the difficulties and pleasures this may bring.

     Shiatsu therapist, London

  • Sei Ki HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    After your treatment the energy was working like the water circles that spread and touched every cell of my body.

    In some region of my body they caused slight agitation and in some region they soothed the tissue.

    In my chest I felt the gentle opening as if a bud opened to a flower, very gentle clearing.

    Your course was a gift for me!

    I am very greatful to have met you and Sei Ki!

     Craniosacral therapist, Kiental, Switzerland

  • Sei Ki HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    I loved the training. I would have liked to stay another day.

    It was so nice to practice for myself. I feel reconnected to my inner peace state. Good reminder that I can let my body decide how to move.

    Very inspiring for my professional work in 1:1 settings as well as in groups. I want to offer more Seiki in my Shiatsu work. Also I feel, it helps me to give Shiatsu easier/lighter (with less effort).

    I'm very inspired by your work!

     Sonja, Kiental, Switzerland

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    I attended the Heart touch workshop and was surprised by how accessible and varied the methods were and how easy they are to reproduce at home

    These methods are now very much part of my regular routine, and in times of extreme stress, anxiety and hopelessness they are a life line to helping me process my emotions.

    I'm beginning to develop the intuition needed to access trauma in my body and to strengthen my understanding of my felt senses.

     Anon

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    Over recent decades, we've neglected the energetic component of emotions over a focus on the chemical aspects.

    The world is slowly waking up to this, and I believe Anthony is a world leader and pioneering an approach that will help millions of people.

    When you think about it, most mental health conditions inadvertently describe a relationship to energy, whether someone is activated in an extreme state or depressed to a dangerous low, we're basically talking about energy levels, but pretty much all mental health support neglects the underlying problems of having too much or too little energy.

    Anthony has explored the globe and found ancient practices and traditions that understood the energetic components of energy thousands of years ago.

    It's a privilege that Anthony has done the hard work and found a way to make these practices accessible, without us having to do decades of research and exploration.

    Anthony is a pioneer and I dream of a world where his work is a first step on the journey for people entering into our mental health systems.

    This is honestly one of the most powerful mental health trainings a person could do.

     Joe Tudor, TEDxNHS Speaker & Depression Campaigner, Founder of Reconnect Wellness, London

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    This was an excellent training.

    Anthony was very boundaried and kept us safe as a group with clear consent and building safety individually and within the group before deepening the work.

    I learnt a lot about how to regulate the nervous system and what co-regulation feels like.

    I think it will help me professionally to work in a more embodied way with my clients.

     Nicole, Psychotherapist, London

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    I attended the HeartTouch workshop yesterday, found it extremely useful, interesting, fascinating.

    A day to reset my nervous system and help it recover from trauma, like a “Spa day” for my brain and soul.

    Felt rested, strangely complete.

    What I appreciated most was the feeling of acceptance!

     Iole, Yorkshire

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    Buenos días!

    Desde mi participación en el taller, estoy practicando estas sencillas técnicas diariamente y me siento mucho más relajada y me concentro más fácilmente en mis tareas diarias. Fantástica experiencia! María

    Good day!

    Since my participation in the workshop, I am practicing these simple techniques daily and I I feel much more relaxed and concentrate more easily on my daily tasks.

    Fantastic experience!

    I think it's interesting for the population in general not just put the focus on health professionals or people suffering with mental health

     María, Ibiza

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    Moltes gràcies!

    Amb aquest taller he trobat el que buscava: unes tècniques senzilles partint del cos, orgàniques i amoroses de connectar amb mí mateixa per poder practicar sola i/o amb gent en qualsevol moment.

    Many thanks!

    In this workshop I found what I was looking for: some simple techniques from the world, organic and loving to connect with my partner, to be able to practice alone and/or with people at any time.

     Gemma, Ibiza

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    What did I like best? La calma que Antonio irradia. The calm that Anthony radiates.

    If you prepare one of those 1 or 2 days workshops in Ibiza someday please let me know!

     Ruth, Ibiza

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    I thoroughly enjoyed the day and the teaching and presentation from Anthony was excellent.

    I felt anxious when I started but that disappeared throughout the session.

    Everyone in the group was really friendly and got on well.

    I'm going to practice this in my own time and with others as we have started our little group, as I find this helps a great deal with my mental health.

    I recommend Heartouch to anybody who suffers from any kind of mental illness.

     Alex, Bristol

  • HeartTouch: Working with Anxiety, Emotional Pain & Trauma

    This course helped me see the need to consider space.

    As a newly qualified Shiatsu therapist my instinct is to connect and enquire through touch, but this course opened my mind and body to the value of allowing space: to sit; to breathe; to be; before connecting.

     Jacqui (Shiatsu Therapist), Scotland

  • HeartTouch for Psychotherapists

    Thank you for rich and inspiring workshop and for the follow-up.

    I feel well equipped to start introducing elements of HeartTouch into my practice.

    A good result!

     Teresa (Psychotherapist), Bristol

  • HeartTouch for Psychotherapists

    Accessible introduction to HeartTouch providing a variety of experiences.

    Gentle and safe. Good pace - not rushed.

    Emphasis on comfort and self-care.

    An essential workshop to broaden experience and perspectives on health, with focussed attention on the body in a safe and accepting environment.

     Louise (Psychotherapist & Ex-Psychiatrist), Bristol

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    This course brought me back to the importance of the basics.

    In a world where we are constantly trying to adhere to a variety of societal rules, we end up withdrawing and becoming lonely in a room full of people.

    Remember, when you were children, and our mother would hug us, and all your problems and worries would disappear?

    This is how I felt in the heart touch class.

    I feel that we have to go back to the basics, and to give importance to hugging, to let ourselves be hugged in a safe way.

    We all need touch, but we have forgotten it, or are afraid of it.

    During the heart touch course, we learned how to create safety through consent, how to put rules for safe interaction, so we can let ourselves be vulnerable, and become able to give and receive touch.

    And through this touch, create a sense of safety and belonging.

    I would recommend this course to anyone who would like to learn how to create a safe space for physical contact, and to learn to be open and vulnerable with themselves, an opportunity to learn how to hold others and let themselves be held.

     Juliana, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    Anthony's teaching was exceptional and this short course was wholly transformative both personally and professionally.

    We were able to spend an entire morning regulating our own nervous systems via several grounding exercises such as qigong - most entirely new and transformative for me.

    From this embodied and grounded base we were then able to hold and receive others in the afternoon session.

    On arriving in the morning, I was feeling particularly vulnerable and there was an additional feeling of anxiety about what the course might entail.

    The title 'Heart Touch' therefore summoned feelings of intrigue mixed with dread!

    What might happen in the space? Would this be something nourishing and informative or open up even more vulnerability and anxiety...?

    Anthony is an incredible human being with a deep awareness of the human experience.

    He openly shared much of his own journey with us from his earlier traumas to his personal healing -via a medical health system than failed him.

    Anthony has committed to years and years of exploration of self-healing and the healing of others - and you will feel that in his sessions.

    I felt completely safe, supported, nourished, conscious and held, and now have a new toolkit for my own personal well-being and the well-being of others.

    Thank you Anthony!

     Lucy, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    What I appreciated about the training was experiencing a way to connect, communicate and meet the other from meeting myself first.

    Anthony facilitated this by applying himself what he asked the group to do and the language he used to accompany the physical process

    His work opens up a different way of connecting to ourselves and others; it's down-to-earth, interactive, skillful;

     Gerda, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    The technique that Anthony Fidler shared with us felt an essential in the took kit for self care and for authentic relating to one self and to others, as well as a potential to build more conscious community.

    I appreciated the pace of presenting, the integration of practice and theory, the modelling of the technique and the way I felt connected to myself , the person I did afternoon exercise with an the whole group.

    I live with persistent pain. I felt this technique really helped my body and mind to regulate and regain balance.

     Pilar, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    It is a good tool for connection and possibly for healing as well.

     Pak, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    I never thought I could slow down my body, breathing and movements in just one workshop!

    I learnt so much about my own body and how to breathe for relaxation.

    I really felt a weight had been lifted off my body!

    I enjoyed working with touch and how wonderful it can feel to receive and give light touch. It's amazing how you feel

     Linda, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    Hearttouch is a practice of connection, respect and exchange of energy - so essential on this era when people don't interact in this form anymore.

    We can give more.

    Thank you Anthony, I had a great day.

     Paula, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    Anthony's honesty about his own problems and personal experiences made it possible to relate to him more easily and to value his instructions.

    He presents himself as a companion on the way.

     Ernest, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Community Well-being Groups

    Anthony really opened my eyes to the reality that I was living - too driven by fear, feeling trapped in my life, in my body, and living without touch.

    His way of explaining was very authentic and straight from the heart, and it made me feel very secure.

    I went home and asked permission of my family if I could touch them on the shoulder now and again, and they said 'yes'.

    Even after a few times, it made me feel much more connected, more grounded, not so alone. Thank you Anthony

     Gina, Talk for Health HeartTouch Day, London

  • HeartTouch for Psychotherapists

    Thank you for a day that gave me an awakening to return to exploring my experience of deafness.

    I felt held which I appreciated.

    Thank you for the notes and handouts.

    There is lots of richness/depth being offered in your work, thank you

     Emma (Core Process Psychotherapist), Edinburgh

  • HeartTouch for Psychotherapists

    Thank you Anthony.

    I really enjoyed and valued the day that you presented.

    Not that you need it, but I am heartily recommending your approach to anyone that I think may benefit or be interested.

     Achalavira (CPP, Karuna Institute Tutor), Edinburgh

  • HeartTouch Training

    If you've tried everything else and the medical model is no longer serving you, Anthony's workshops offer a great taster for his practice.

    If you like Butekyo breathing, Thai Chi, Yoga, Qui Gong you'll definitely get something out of the sessions.

     Pete, Lothlorien Therapeutic Community

  • HeartTouch Training

    A huge thank you to Anthony, and James (Safely Held Spaces) for coming to stay with us to deliver the HeartTouch workshop.

    All were supported and felt safe in the space created by Anthony.

    The practices were beautiful and helped us all to connect with ourselves and to each other.

    We each took something positive from your visit and will be integrating the techniques into our daily habits 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

    Anthony held the space so beautifully. We cannot recommend these workshops enough.

     Lothlorien Therapeutic Community

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony Fidler has remarkable qualities and much valuable experiences of creating safe spaces where we can together explore difficult things.

    This happens through movement, touch, breath work and so much more.

    He has a very instinctive approach that can tune in to what people need regardless of their circumstances and needs.

    I can thoroughly recommend people to join his workshops especially for families who are struggling with emotional distress.

     Jen (Soteria Network UK), Skipton

  • HeartTouch Training

    I came to HeartTouch through a posting that was shared with me online. Wasn't quite sure what to expect, but as I do a lot of work in Mindfulness and have been interested in Reiki and being a massage therapist, I thought I'd give it a go.

    This work is about the individual opening up to the power of touch and flow of energy in the body.

    That is it... there is nothing magical or out there about it.

    The weekend we spent together was tribute to the power of this way of being.

    No matter what you have going on, physical, mental, emotional... this work is so important.

    Not only receiving the touch, but also offering the touch.

    I am looking forward to taking this work of touch as well as mindful movement into my daily life and sharing it with whomever is open and interested in it.

    Thanks Anthony!

     James (Oxford Mindfulness Tutor), Bristol

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony is a very engaging and enthusiastic presenter, he has a deep, uncompromising love for his practice and an unstinting generosity in sharing his knowledge.

    His workshop has helped me to refresh my Qi-based practice and develop my understanding of this fascinating work.

     Elise (Shiatsu Student), Bristol

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony creates a welcoming and safe space, and he is very open about his own past mental heath struggles.

    This enhances trust and a sense of community for participants who have faced/are facing mental health challenges.

    Furthermore, it creates a sense of equity and democratises (as much as possible) the therapeutic space where participants are considered *experts* of their bodies and experience.

     Dina (Peer Mental Health Researcher), Bristol

  • HeartTouch Training

    I would certainly recommend people give Heart Touch workshops a try.

    It's simple and affective treatment almost anyone can learn. I came away feeling empowered in body, mind and soul.

     Peter (Core Process Psychotherapist), Bristol

  • HeartTouch Training

    This is a great workshop for all those who wish to learn how to be there for themselves!

    I've always struggled to soothe myself when others aren't available and I've been implementing new things that Anthony confirmed was useful, giving me further tools to practice on.

    We also learnt other ways for others to be there for us and that was very interesting too.

    "I've learnt nothing" is probably right, as I've learnt so much by very simple, but often missed, things to which Anthony guide us back towards.

     Anna (Shiatsu Student), Norwich

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony has this wonderful skill to make practices powerful but simple enough so I can use them in every day life.

    I very much appreciated learning a technique of safe touch to soothe and release emotions, which I will certainly use with my clients.

     Silvija (Psychotherapist), Luxembourg

  • HeartTouch Training

    The Heart Touch Training was completely new to me.

    I hoped this might be another step in helping me deal with some childhood trauma that I am currently working on from different angles.

    The training was focussed on grounding and coming back to your own breath and turning towards your inner being, finding this deeper connection with oneself in the first place and all of this in a safe place, and yes, it worked!

    I felt immediately at ease and was able to feel the connection and calmness coming over me.

    This training gave me some precious tools that I will surely use on my personal journey.

     Annick, Luxembourg

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony was really engaging and down to earth with this workshop.

    There was plenty of practices to try out and opportunity to reflect.

    I learned a great deal which will inform both my own personal growth as well as my practice as a shiatsu practitioner.

    I intend bringing some of the practices into my own personal and professional practice.

    Thanks to Anthony for his compassionate presence, honesty and heart opening quality to his creative heart-touch approach, may it continue to grow in our communities where it is so needed . Corrinna Bain, shiatsu practitioner.

     Corrinna (Shiatsu Practitioner), UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    Anthony's engaging and authentic teaching style provides a very grounded approach to this work, inspired by his own experiences and work with Akinobu Kishi

     Elaine (Co-Chair Board of Shiatsu Society), UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    The work helped me immensely.

    I have not felt so calm and grounded for a very long time.

    I feel the work gave me some valuable tools to calm and ground myself.

    Really grateful for the safe and welcoming space that Anthony created and held throughout the day.

     Dina (Peer Mental Health Researcher), UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    I would highly recommend Anthony's training to anyone needing to down-regulate their nervous system and wishing to be better able to connect with others.

    Anthony's practices are unique, grounded in decades of training with Eastern masters.

    Through these he has discovered what helps him in his moment to moment experience of life.

    He embodies his experience with complete authenticity and this is what makes the training so powerful.

    I felt really calm and revitalised by the day's workshop and look forward to attending another.

     Anon, UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    I attended Anthony’s HeartTouch workshop not quite knowing exactly what to expect, and to be honest I was just the slightest bit apprehensive about how it would be to be touched by or have to touch someone I did not know.

    But for some time now as a parent of a son with psychosis and as an advocate for compassionate healing outside of the coercive psychiatric model, I had a hunch that this work might be important.

    Anthony has also worked with my eldest son online with really positive results, another reason I wanted to see the workshop practise for myself.

    Within moments of arriving the space was so welcoming as was Anthony himself.

    There were flowers that filled the room with beauty, and the dojo itself was light and airy.

    We had tea and by the time we started the meditative walking practise I was fully present and grateful to be doing this work.

    We chanted together, which I found so enriching. The touch work happened in the afternoon when there was a sense of safety and camaraderie that Anthony had created from the morning session.

    The afternoon offered me a way to connect deeply to my own sense of self and also to the partner I was working with.

    I think that the profound effect of touch cannot be overestimated. I wish that I had been able to use it when my son was distressed as I think it would have deescalated some of his fear.

    We all need to learn to live in our body and to come back to the breath and to remind each other to do so.

    The mind and body are but one organism as this workshop reaffirmed for me.

    Thanks Anthony. I will be back and will put to use what this teaching has given me.

     Tanya Frank (Author & Mental Health Campaigner), UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    I found the day really valuable.

    It was structured and paced in such a way that one activity naturally moved to the next with increased intensity that always felt safe and healing.

    Thank you Anthony.

     Jo, UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    Simple yet such incredibly powerful work.

    Exploring these practices in our society which is grossly touched deprived as a means for supporting each other is necessary now more than ever.

    Thank you Anthony

     Andrew, UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    The Heart touch training was an opportunity to develop an understanding of and participate in compassionate based bodywork.

    It gave me an understanding of how therapeutic touch can soothe the nervous system and open the human heart.

     Joan, UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    I would recommend Anthony's workshops and approach.

    His focus, exploring our self perception and how to develop and work with this in relation to supporting both ourselves and others, I feel to be very effective.

     Adam (Board of Shiatsu Society), UK

  • HeartTouch Training

    The HeartTouch workshop was held in a beautiful Zen healing space, and we warmed up into the bodywork practices very gently.

    Thank you.

     Emily, UK

  • HeartTouch for Anxiety & Burnout

    Your workshop was very useful because it gave me a lot of tools to help me relax in a more profound way, acknowledge my feelings and come back to my body.

    I also loved the compassionate touch practices.

    I found them very rewarding, a great way to connect with other people and to honour our basic humanity.

     Monica, Luxembourg