When we suffer, we instinctively close.
The human mind, trying to protect itself, says **“no”**, not just with words, but with emotions, with posture, with withdrawal, with silence.
That “no” becomes a shield. It keeps danger at bay, but it also keeps life at bay.
This workshop is not about one specific disorder.
It’s about the *universal process* that underlies many forms of emotional pain: anxiety, loneliness, perfectionism, self-criticism, trauma, or depression.
It is the process of **defensive closure**: the way the mind says “no” to protect us, and in doing so, builds a bubble around our pain.
Inside that bubble, nothing new can enter.
The problem keeps repeating itself, not because we are broken, but because the system never has a chance to evolve.
In this transformative experience, **Dr Alessandro Carmelita**, founder of *Mindful Interbeing Mirror Therapy* and international trainer in **Schema Therapy**, will help you understand how this mechanism of “protective no” develops, and how to gently turn it into a “yes” that reopens life.
When we experience emotional wounds early in life, neglect, rejection, unpredictability, or lack of safety, we internalise **schemas**: deep emotional patterns that tell us the world is unsafe, love is conditional, or our needs don’t matter.
To survive, we create **coping modes** that protect us from being hurt again:

* The **Detached Protector** closes feelings and says “no” through numbness.
* The **Compliant Surrenderer** says “no” to personal needs by always saying “yes” to others.
* The **Overcontroller** says “no” to uncertainty by controlling every detail of life.

Each of these parts forms a protective bubble that feels safe but keeps us emotionally isolated.
The more we protect ourselves, the smaller the world becomes.
Our energy no longer moves outward toward life; it circulates inside the bubble, feeding the same thoughts, fears, and sensations again and again.
In Schema Therapy terms, this **maintains the schema**; it keeps the pain active.
What was meant to protect becomes the very mechanism that sustains suffering.
From a **neuroscientific** point of view, this closure keeps the brain’s **amygdala** and **defence circuits** constantly active, sending signals of danger even when no threat is present.
When we begin to say “yes” consciously and safely, we activate **dopamine**, **serotonin**, and **oxytocin**, the chemistry of openness, connection, and trust.
“Yes” is not simply an attitude; it’s a **neurobiological act of healing**.
It tells the nervous system: *I am safe enough to expand again.*
Through real clinical stories, Dr Carmelita will illustrate how people trapped for years in emotional suffering began to change not by fighting their symptoms, but by breaking the bubble of their protective “no.”
One small “yes”, a new conversation, a new feeling allowed, a moment of self-trust, began to move the whole system toward life again.
You will also experience **guided exercises** from Mindful Interbeing Mirror Therapy, a method that helps you meet the part of you that is afraid of openness and teach it safety through compassion and presence.
You will practice:

* The *Mirror Dialogue*, to reconnect with your real self.
* The *No Journal*, to notice where fear closes your life.
* The *Daily Micro-Yes Practice*, small acts of courage that gently expand your emotional system and reawaken flow.

This event is not about pushing yourself or forcing positivity.
It’s about learning that your closure was once necessary, but it no longer serves you.
Saying “yes” doesn’t mean ignoring pain; it means **allowing movement** again and letting the natural process of healing unfold.
Pain transforms when it can flow.
Love returns when defence relaxes.
Life heals when we stop saying no to it.

***

### **A Journey That Continues: The 3-Module YES MAN Training**

This introductory event opens the path to a **three-module training** designed to transform this deep inner process step by step:

1. **Module 1 – The Awareness of No**
Recognize how closure manifests in your thoughts, emotions, and body.
Understand the protective logic behind your no’s and learn to see them without judgment.
2. **Module 2 – The Power of Yes**
Through neuroscience-based exercises, imagery, and mirror work, you’ll experience how saying yes reorganizes your emotional brain and restores vitality.
3. **Module 3 – Living the Yes Life**
Integrate this new posture in relationships, work, and daily life, learning to remain open even in the presence of discomfort or uncertainty.

Each module combines insight, experience, and practice, not to treat a single diagnosis, but to **transform the process that sustains many forms of suffering**.

***

Saying "*Yes*" is not a concept.
It is a shift of energy, a return to life, and the beginning of healing.
Because when you stop fighting life and start saying yes,
life begins to move through you again.

Knowing Your Relational, Emotional and Psychological issues

Alex

Emma Chappell

Suneel V

Olja Rusaya

Simona Gorin

Katarina Hašková

Sue Wallis

Gopal Haris

Gianina 

Tanya

Anna

Maryem

Ivan

Sarah

Ram G

Sharon

Mr H

petra kolenakova

Cris

YES MAN – How “Yes” Can Change Your Life - The Schema Therapy Approach

Online event

Curiosity is one of the most extraordinary and underestimated forces of the human mind.
It is the power that can transform fear into openness, routine into discovery, and pain into awareness.
Every time we choose to be curious, **reality itself changes**.
Curiosity doesn’t just observe — it **creates**.
It reshapes perception, activates new neural pathways, changes our emotional state, and allows us to live in entirely new inner worlds.
When we stop being curious, life turns into repetition.
We may change country, friends, or job, but inside we stay the same.
We keep meeting the same patterns, the same disappointments, the same emotional stories in new disguises.
Without curiosity, the mind doesn’t explore, it simply replays.
But when curiosity returns, the world becomes alive again.
Because how we look at things transforms what we see.

**The Psychology of Curiosity**
From a psychological point of view, curiosity is the foundation of growth and inner freedom.
It is the opposite of fear, rigidity, and defense.
It is the natural movement of the psyche toward expansion.
In **Schema Therapy**, maladaptive schemas keep us trapped inside rigid mental realities.
Each schema filters life through a fixed interpretation:

* The *Defectiveness/Shame* schema makes us see limits where there is potential.
* The *Emotional Deprivation* schema makes us feel emptiness even in the presence of love.
* The *Subjugation* schema convinces us to give up our voice to keep others close.

Each schema defines what we expect from life, and so we unconsciously recreate it again and again.
Curiosity is the force that breaks this inner hypnosis.
When we dare to ask, *“What if this isn’t true? What if it could be different?”*,
we introduce a spark of freedom into the system.
The brain shifts attention from fear to possibility, and in that moment, new neural connections are born.
Curiosity doesn’t only expand knowledge — it **heals**.

**The Cognitive Dimension**
Cognitively, curiosity represents mental flexibility — the ability to think beyond what we already know.
It allows us to hold uncertainty without anxiety and to replace judgment with exploration.
Neuroscience shows that curiosity:

* activates the **dopaminergic reward system**, creating motivation and pleasure;
* stimulates the **hippocampus**, forming new associative memories;
* reduces activity in the **default mode network**, the system responsible for rumination and self-criticism.

In other words, curiosity keeps the brain **young, plastic, and creative**.
It is not just a mental attitude — it is a neurobiological state of openness.
When curiosity is alive, our thoughts flow more freely, our learning deepens, and our attention becomes a creative force.

**The Emotional Power of Curiosity**
Emotionally, curiosity is a form of courage.
It means staying present even when we don’t understand, even when it hurts.
It transforms avoidance into discovery and anxiety into movement.
When we bring curiosity to our own emotional world, we stop fighting parts of ourselves and begin to understand them.
A curious mind can hold pain with compassion.
Curiosity says to the inner child, *“I want to know you. I’m not afraid of what I’ll find.”*
In therapy, curiosity is one of the most healing forces.
A curious therapist listens without trying to fix, explains without labeling, and invites the client into a space of shared exploration.
When the therapist embodies curiosity, the patient begins to look at themselves through the same gentle eyes.
And in that moment, healing begins.

**Curiosity and Reality**
Every act of curiosity is an act of creation.
When you change the way you look at something, you change what that thing becomes in your mind — and therefore in your experience.
Neuroscience confirms that perception is not passive; it is an **active construction** of the brain.
Reality is not fixed. It responds to the quality of our attention.
Curiosity is the highest and most vital form of attention.
It reorganizes the mind, updates memories, and reshapes emotional meaning.
The absence of curiosity, on the other hand, traps us in the same inner movie, played again and again in different settings.
You can move to another country, meet new people, start a new career — but if you look through the same lenses, you will meet the same patterns.
Curiosity is the power that stops the repetition.
When you look with curiosity, the world becomes new again.
You see colors you never noticed, hear tones you had ignored, and feel life returning to you.
Curiosity doesn’t change external events, it **changes your level of consciousness**, and that changes everything.

> “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
> *(Matthew 7:7)*

To be curious is to knock on the door of life — and life always answers.

**Curiosity and the Spirit**
Curiosity is not only a mental process. It is also a spiritual posture.
To be curious is to say yes to mystery, to accept that not everything needs to be controlled or understood.
It is faith in motion — the willingness to keep exploring, to keep asking, to stay humble before the infinite.
In that sense, curiosity unites science and spirituality.
It is the voice of the Spirit that moves us toward growth, understanding, and connection.
Each time we are curious, we open a channel between mind and soul, between knowledge and wonder.

**What You Will Experience**
In this 2-hour live presentation, **Alessandro Carmelita**, clinical psychologist, international trainer, and creator of the *Mindful Interbeing Mirror Therapy*, will guide you through:

* how curiosity reshapes the brain and emotions;
* how rigid schemas suppress curiosity and how to reopen them;
* how to cultivate curiosity in daily life and relationships;
* how curiosity can become a form of self-compassion and inner transformation.

This event will be both **inspirational and experiential**, combining psychology, neuroscience, and spirituality to awaken your natural sense of wonder and vitality.
You will leave with new insights, a renewed sense of presence, and practical tools to keep curiosity alive in your everyday life.

**A Path That Continues on CloseByYou**
This event is the **opening gateway** to a deeper journey:
The **Curiosity Training**, hosted on www.closebyyou.com.
It will be a **10-module program**, one module each month, exploring how to train and strengthen curiosity as a living force within you —
psychologically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.
Each session will include guided practices, experiential learning, and integrative reflection designed to help you not only understand curiosity but **live through it**.
Step by step, you will learn to let curiosity reshape your perceptions, relationships, and inner world — until life itself begins to feel new again.

Understanding Relational, Emotional and Psychological Issues

Mirette Ghanem

Steven Irvin 

The Super Power of Curiosity – The Force That Changes Reality

Maybe you’ve read countless books, analysed your childhood, talked endlessly about your problems, and even changed therapists after therapist. And still, here you are, seeing your patterns, understanding them perfectly, yet feeling powerless to break free.
So what’s the truth?
Is there something wrong with you?
Are you somehow beyond change?
Are you condemned to repeat the same pain, again and again?
The answer is no. There is **nothing wrong with you**, but there is something deeply human happening within you. Your brain, your emotions, and your body have learned to protect you in ways that once made sense, even if now they keep you trapped.
In this transformative event, we’ll explore why awareness doesn’t automatically lead to change and what truly makes transformation possible. Drawing on **Schema Therapy**, **Mindful Interbeing Mirror Therapy (MIMT)**, and the latest findings in **neuroscience**, we’ll discover:

* Why emotional memories override logic and insight
* How the brain’s protective systems keep us “safe” in familiar suffering
* The hidden link between attachment, shame, and resistance to growth
* How to activate real change through emotional connection, compassion, and presence

There are **no magic formulas**, but there is a clear, evidence-based understanding of how change happens when we stop fighting our mind and start listening to it with awareness and care.
The event is divided into two parts:

* In the **first half**, the teacher presents a lecture. Participants are not visible and cannot interact. This part is **recorded** to allow everyone—including those who cannot attend live—to **watch it later** on demand, while protecting everyone’s privacy.
* In the **second half**, the recording stops, and the space becomes **fully interactive**. Everyone can be seen and heard, ask questions, share personal experiences, and support one another. It’s an open, safe, and human moment of connection where understanding turns into growth.

Join us to discover that you are not broken, just *wired to survive*. And that real transformation begins not when you try to fix yourself, but when you finally learn how your brain and your heart are asking to be healed.

Simone Marcus

Daniel

Varun Shori

Stefan

Gwladys 

Bojana M

Claire L

Adam

Steve

Zena

cathrine

Maz Shah

Katie

Mahomed

Silvia Bortoletto

David M

I Am Aware of My Emotional and Psychological Issues… So Why Don’t I Change?

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