Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria & ADHD Tame Emotional Pain

What you'll learn
Understand what Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria is and why it occurs in ADHD and AuDHD brains
Use fast-acting crisis tools to manage RSD episodes before they escalate
Apply DBT and ACT techniques to reduce the long-term intensity and frequency of RSD responses
Communicate about RSD effectively with partners, family members, and colleagues
Identify your personal RSD triggers, response patterns, and early warning signals
Build a personalised daily regulation practice that fits an ADHD nervous system
Requirements
No prior knowledge of psychology or neuroscience required
An open mind and willingness to reflect on your own emotional patterns
Access to a printer is helpful for the downloadable resources (not essential)
Description
Do you feel rejection like a punch to the chest - even when you know, rationally, that you're overreacting? If you have ADHD, AuDHD, or suspect you're neurodivergent, you may be living with Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria (RSD) - the most painful and least-talked-about symptom of emotional dysregulation in ADHD adults.
Here's the thing - most people with ADHD have spent their entire lives being told they're "too sensitive," "too intense," or "too much." What nobody told them is that their brain is literally wired to experience rejection as physical pain. That's not weakness. That's neurology. And it has a name.
What you'll learn in this course
- The neuroscience of why ADHD and AuDHD brains feel rejection differently - and why willpower will never fix it
- How to tell the difference between RSD, anxiety, depression, and BPD (because misdiagnosis costs years)
- The 4 RSD response patterns - fight, flight, freeze, and fawn - and which one is running your life
- A 5-minute emergency protocol you can use the next time RSD hits before you say or do something you'll regret
- DBT skills (TIPP, Wise Mind, interpersonal effectiveness) adapted specifically for ADHD brains
- ACT defusion techniques to unhook from the rejection stories your mind keeps replaying
- How to talk about RSD with your partner, family, and employer - with actual scripts
- How to build a personalised, sustainable RSD management system that works with your brain, not against it
This course is for you if
- You have ADHD, autism, AuDHD, or suspect you might
- One critical comment can derail your entire day - or week
- You people-please, over-explain, or over-apologise to prevent rejection before it happens
- You avoid opportunities - jobs, relationships, creative work - because the risk of rejection feels unbearable
- You're exhausted from feeling everything so intensely
- You want real tools, not toxic positivity
Who I am and why this is different
I'm Dr. Melanie du Preez - clinical psychologist with 26 years of experience, one of fewer than five Maudsley/FBT-certified therapists in South Africa, and someone diagnosed with AuDHD at 53. I don't teach RSD from a textbook. I teach it from the inside. I know what it feels like when a three-word email from your boss ruins your entire afternoon. I know the shame spiral after an RSD episode wrecks a relationship you care about. I know the exhaustion of masking, people-pleasing, and working twice as hard as everyone else just to feel half as safe.
Everything in this course is evidence-based and lived. No oversimplified solutions. No "just reframe your thinking." Just honest, practical tools for real neurodivergent brains.
What's included
- More than 3 hours of video content across 6 focused sections
- 10 downloadable resources including self-assessments, crisis tools, and worksheet templates
- Emergency RSD Response Card (print and keep in your wallet)
- Partner and Family Guide to RSD - share directly with loved ones
- DBT and ACT skills reference cards
- Lifetime access and all future updates
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Who this course is for
Adults with ADHD, AuDHD, or suspected neurodivergence who experience intense emotional responses to real or perceived rejection, criticism, or failure. This course is also for people who have been told they are too sensitive, too intense, or too reactive - and who want practical, evidence-based tools rather than generic advice.