Skip to content
  • About
  • Events
  • Content
    • Talks
    • Podcasts
    • Blog
  • Members Area
  • Log In
Menu
  • About
  • Events
  • Content
    • Talks
    • Podcasts
    • Blog
  • Members Area
  • Log In
Loading...

READING RECOMMENDATIONS

A Day on Behaviour Change

Loading...
Rory Sutherland

Placebos and Behaviour Change

Rory Sutherland
Gabija-Toleikyte-The-Weekend-University

Neuroplasticity and Behaviour Change – Dr Gabija Toleikyte, PhD

Dr Gabija Toleikyte
Sophie Sabbage

How to Make Changes that Last

Sophie Sabbage
A Day on Behaviour Change

Learn how to make changes that last in 2020.

Usually, when trying to make a change, we think willpower is the answer. If we just try harder and be more disciplined, it’ll work this time. But very often, it doesn’t. A 2016 study found that 80% of New Year’s Resolutions fail by the second week in February. Whether we want to give up smoking, start exercising, or commit to a new habit, often we find our best efforts fall to the wayside, and after a few weeks we’re right back where we started. Worse still, now we feel guilty we’ve ‘failed’ which can make us feel less motivated to try again in the future. Could it be that most of us are just lazy and irresponsible? Or might it be that we don’t understand how our brains really work and the actual science of changing behaviour? In other words, might our common sense about behaviour change be wrong? A growing body of research indicates that if we want to make changes that last, willpower is not the answer. Rather, there are evidence-based approaches now being used every day to help people drop extreme addictions and develop new empowering habits. So for your New Year’s Resolution this year, what if you tried a different approach? One that was evidence-based and scientifically proven to make changes that last – even in extreme cases? Might you also get a different result?

Content

On Sunday 26th January 2020, three of the UK’s leading experts on behaviour change will present lectures on:
  • Neuroplasticity and Behaviour Change; how past experiences influence your perception, personality and behaviour today, and practical neuroscience-based insights for making the changes you want in your life – Dr Gabija Toleikyte, PhD
  • How to Make Changes that Last; the truth about the behavioural, psychological and cultural factors that lead to change, and how you can apply these insights to create lasting changes – Sophie Sabbage
  • Placebos and Behaviour Change; the role of unconscious processes in change, and how we can hack the amazing power of placebos for changing behaviour; both on a personal, and societal level – Rory Sutherland
You’ll learn how these unique insights can benefit your own life, but also your ability to help others too. Want to give this experience as a gift to someone else? Check out our gift vouchers.

Event Schedule:

  • 10:00am – 12:00pm: Neuroplasticity and Behaviour Change – Dr Gabija Toleikyte
  • 12:00 – 1:00pm: Lunch break
  • 1:00pm – 3:00pm: How to Make Changes that Last – Sophie Sabbage
  • 3:00pm – 3:30pm: Afternoon break
  • 3:30pm – 5:00pm: Placebos and Behaviour Change – Rory Sutherland
  • 5:20pm – 7:00pm: Attendee Social & Networking (Optional)

Lectures & Speakers

Loading...

How to Make Changes that Last

Sophie Sabbage defines ‘transformation’ as ‘the shift that doesn’t shift back again’, but that word has been so overused and under-delivered it now qualifies as a ‘jargon’ word with little substance or meaning. The personal growth arena is flooded with ‘mindset coaches’ and ‘transformational’ practitioners promising lasting behavioural change. But, in reality, this is a relatively rare accomplishment – one that requires work, courage, commitment and no small amount of pain.

In this session, Sophie will:

  • Address why one of the most powerful words in the English language (transformation) has been stripped of its true meaning and power;
  • Outline some of the most resisted and neglected factors for lasting change (behavioural, psychological, cultural) that she has discovered in her work with tens of thousands of individuals and some leading organisations;
  • Explain why change is often necessarily incremental and why we need to embrace this instead of expecting seismic shifts that human beings are not designed for;
  • Highlight some of the shadows being cast by the self-help movement in this area;
  • Share personal examples of transforming in response to adversity and of changing slowly, layer by layer, in other areas of her life.
  • Provide information about how you can create lasting change in your life AND accept the changes that need to unfold over time (even in our instant gratification culture).

There will then be time for questions, dialogue and a deeper inquiry as a group.

Sophie Sabbage
Sophie Sabbage

How to Make Changes that Last

Sophie is a writer, speaker and transformational facilitator who has worked in the field of human development, mindset transformation and corporate culture change for over twenty years. During that time, she co-founded an award-winning consultancy with her mentor, Dr. K. Bradford Brown, an exceptional psychologist and theologian who was a direct student of Carl Rogers, Viktor Frankl and Alan Watts–three of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century.

Since being diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in October 2014, Sophie has drawn on all her skills, wisdom, courage and tenacity to pull herself back from the brink of death and create her life anew. Instead of going to war with cancer she chose to listen to it, thrive with it and transform her life in response to it. This has included redefining her work so she can continue to be of service within the limits of her illness.

All of Sophie’s work is dedicated to awakening the mind and freeing the spirit through bold, authentic and creative engagement with the challenges of life. You can find out more about her work at www.sophiesabbage.com.

Reading Recommendations:

  • Sabbage, S (2015) The Cancer Whisperer. London: Hodder
  • Sabbage, S (2018) Lifeshocks. London: Hodder
  • Action Inquiry, The Secret of Timely and Transforming Leadership – Professor William Torbert
  • Article on same theme: https://hbr.org/2005/04/seven-transformations-of-leadership
  • Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown
  • The Untethered Soul – Michael Singer

Neuroplasticity and Behaviour Change – Dr Gabija Toleikyte, PhD

Have you ever come up with amazing New Year’s resolutions such as losing extra weight, starting saving up money, starting your own business, make a bitcoin osto, exercising regularly, changing your career, eating much healthier or quitting smoking? You pumped yourself up with great enthusiasm and thought things are going to be very different this year. Fast forward – what happened a month down the line?

If you are like the majority of us, you’ve probably gone back to where you started. We form habits subconsciously without even realising it and yet we often struggle to change them. Although our brains have an enormous ability to change (neuroplasticity), following old habits require much less energy and effort. Also, our brains resist a sudden change and we get emotional conform from following the same old ways. Therefore, creating a lasting behavioural change is not easy.

If you are fed up with this yo-yo effect and want to gradually create a lasting change, then you might want to consider learning from a neuroscientist and performance coach Dr Gabija Toleikyte about what conditions does your brain need to activate neuroplasticity and create a lasting behavioural change.

In this talk you will learn:

  • Which parts of the brain are responsible for creating and maintaining old habits?
  • Which parts of the brain are required for creating a lasting change?
  • What is neuroplasticity and when is it active?
  • A brain-based explanation on why we fall back to old habits
  • Brain-based practical tips on how to create lasting behavioural changes.

Gabija-Toleikyte-The-Weekend-University
Dr Gabija Toleikyte

Neuroplasticity and Behaviour Change – Dr Gabija Toleikyte, PhD

Dr Gabija Toleikyte is a neuroscientist and business coach. She completed her PhD at the University College London on the neuronal basis of memory and navigation. During her PhD, Gabija acquired a business coach qualification and worked as an internal coach at UCL for senior academics and administrative staff.

Combining coaching experience with neuroscience insights allows Gabija to develop unique seminars, where solid neuroscience research is presented in the context of the topics relevant for individuals and organisations.

Reading Recommendations:

  • The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
  • The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge
  • Brain Rules by John Medina
  • Mindset by Carol Dweck

Placebos and Behaviour Change

Why should aspirin be expensive?

Why are branded analgesics more effective?

The psychologist Nicholas Humphrey argues that placebos work by prompting the body to invest more of its limited resources in recovery. He believes that human immune systems evolved for an environment much harsher than the one we are currently living in, so we have evolved capabilities to ‘trick’ our unconscious into believing the conditions for recovery are much more favourable for our immune system to work at full tilt.

The ministrations of doctors (witch or NHS), exotic potions (homeopathic or antibiotic), or the caring presence of relatives and friends can all create this benign illusion. Yet policymakers hate the idea of any solution which involves unconscious processes. If you suggested that the NHS invest more in elaborate drugs packaging, they’d have conniptions.

Too little is spent researching the placebo effect in proportion to its importance. Why is this?

In this talk, Ogilvy Vice Chairman Rory Sutherland will explore how we can hack the amazing power of placebos for changing behaviour; both on a personal, and societal level.

Rory Sutherland
Rory Sutherland

Placebos and Behaviour Change

Rory is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy in the UK, and the co-founder of a behavioral science practice within the agency. He works with a consulting practice of psychology graduates who look for ‘unseen opportunities’ in consumer behaviour – these are the very small contextual changes which can have enormous effects on the decisions people make – for instance tripling the sales rate of a call centre by adding just a few sentences to the script.

Before founding Ogilvy’s behavioral science practice, Rory was a copywriter and creative director at Ogilvy for over 20 years, having joined as a graduate trainee in 1988. He has variously been President of the IPA, Chair of the Judges for the Direct Jury at Cannes, and has spoken at TED Global. He writes regular columns for the Spectator, Market Leader and Impact, and also occasional pieces for Wired. He is the author of two books: The Wiki Man, available on Amazon at prices between £1.96 and £2,345.54, depending on whether the algorithm is having a bad day, and Alchemy, The surprising Power of Ideas which don’t make Sense, which was published in the UK and US in March 2019.

Rory is married to a vicar and has twin daughters of 17. He lives in the former home of Napoleon III – unfortunately in the attic. He is a trustee of the Benjamin Franklin House in London and of Rochester Cathedral.

Reading Recommendations:

  • Sutherland, R (2019) Alchemy, 1st edn., London: WH Allen.
  • Rory Sutherland (2019) Alchemy, 1st edn., London: WH Allen.
  • Miller, G (2010) Spent, London: Penguin.
  • Miller, G (2001) The Mating Mind, London: Vintage.
  • Taleb, N (2007) Fooled By Randomness, London: Penguin.
  • Beinhocker, E (2007) The Origins of Wealth, London: Random House.
  • Ariely, D (2009) Predictably Irrational, New York: Harper.
  • Kay, J (2011) Obliquity: Why our goals are best achieved indirectly, London: Profile Books.

What TWU students are saying

attendee testimonals

I have attended 7 weekend University days and now I do not want to miss one because they have all been fantastic and worth dragging myself away from my lie in on a Sunday for. Each of the sessions I have attended have had excellent speakers talking about fascinating areas of Psychology. Having previously studied psychology I really enjoy delving back into the world of attending lectures and absorbing information again without the stress of exams or essays. But even if you have no psychology background I recommend coming to these events, especially if you see a topic you like you will not regret it! Niall not only organises these amazing event days but also now we have access to podcasts and he takes the time to organise a social after the event to meet fellow psychology enthusiasts as well as provide clear and easy instructions on how to get there, a certificate to say you attended the event and even lunch place suggestions which are little added extras which make the whole experience great. I am very glad to have the weekend university in my life and thank Niall and the team for making this happen.
Hannah Alice Howell
Event Attendee
The Weekend University is amazing! They recently hosted the Holistic Change Summit where such great minds were brought together to discuss a wide variety of topics relevant to change, growth and living a meaningful life. The facilitator, Niall, asked excellent questions which really gave the speaker the chance to discuss ideas that many of us wonder about. It was brilliant and I loved it.
Kiden Shae
Summit Attendee
Extremely stimulating events! It brings together great professionals who share their experience in their respective fields to pass their knowledge in a way accessible to the general public and other professionals alike. It is a great way to bring motivated people in the same place! Also, Niall is extremely thoughtful, considerate and driven person. His personal approach and professionalism in making those events happen does not go unnoticed!
Nikolay Petrov
Event Attendee
The most fantastic resource. Have been to a few of The Weekend University days - an incredible initiative bringing all that knowledge down from its Ivory Tower to an accessible and inviting platform - 10/10
Charlie Fooks
Event Attendee
Absolutely excellent day with The Weekend University last Saturday on Attachment and Psychotherapy. Superb speaker who was totally engaging, really useful practical insights, and great organisation. Thank you!
Helen Jane
Event Attendee
I attended an Existential Coaching seminar out of curiosity and ended up being supermotivated and serious to get more into this subject! The event was really went organised, the venue was central and easy to find and the organisers and facilitator were amazing. Totally recomend!
Fiora Maya Touliatou
Seminar Attendee
My first time at the Weekend University on their day of Wellbeing a fantastic event. Excellent venue, thought provoking speakers, interesting topics, really well organised, communication, support material a 5 star rating.
Viryapushpa Nolan
Event Attendee
I attended 'A Day on Sleep and Dreams’ and it was fantastic - excellent speakers and thought provoking content. The Weekend University has been a great discovery and I will defiantly be attending more lectures. The event was really well organised by Niall - informative emails, follow ups etc. I recommend that everyone takes the opportunity to go, you won’t be disappointed!
Hannah Durhager
Event Attendee
This event is nourishment for my mind! The kind of subjects usually reserved for academics is now open to us all and the information is delivered in a way that anyone can understand. The audience was filled with interesting people, hungry to learn and engage in fascinating conversations. We had all day to connect, to learn and to share. Just like a delicious cool drink on a very hot day, my mind felt quenched! Thank you, Niall, for creating this. I will be back!
David Saville
Event Attendee

Tickets

Full Day Pass: £38.25

(includes VAT + Booking Fee)

Student/Unwaged: £20.25

(includes VAT + Booking Fee)

Buy tickets

Date and time

26/01/2020

09:30 – 17:00 BST

Venue

University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell Street, London, SE10 9BD

Money back guarantee

The Weekend University guarantees an excellent learning experience. If you are not fully satisfied with the day, you will receive 100% of your money back – with no questions asked. Simply contact us on support@theweekenduniversity.com to arrange your refund.

Membership

Want access to the recordings and event materials for this conference?

Explore our memberships

Date and time

26/01/2020

09:30 – 17:00 BST

Location

University of Greenwich, 10 Stockwell Street, London, SE10 9BD

Join the Early Access List

Get early access to events, and our latest psychology lectures emailed to your inbox.

Subscribe
Click here to see what a day at The Weekend University looks like
Loading...

TWU Guarantee

TWU Guarantee

The Weekend University seeks to guarantee an excellent learning experience.

If you are not fully satisfied with the day, you will receive 100% of your money back – with no questions asked. Simply contact us on support@theweekenduniversity.com to arrange your refund.

Buy tickets

membership

Membership

Want access to the recordings and event materials for this conference?

Explore our memberships

Making Psychology Accessible.

2023 © TWU - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy

  • About
  • Events
  • Blog
  • Affiliates
  • Contact
Facebook Twitter Instagram
Manage Cookie Consent
We use cookies to optimize our website and our service.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
Preferences
{title} {title} {title}