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Who is Annick?

 

When we’re challenged, we fall back on old patterns: we avoid, we control, we please. As people, as teams and as leaders. But what we avoid, we cannot change. That is what Annick’s work is about: seeing those patterns, and going through them rather than around them.

 

Background

Annick has worked with people in difficult situations for more than 25 years, 15 of them in behavioural science. She started out as a social worker with families facing complex challenges, where bringing about change and having difficult conversations were part of her everyday work. During that time she also spent several years in education, as a teacher a student counsellor, and was part of the team responsible for pedagogical policy.

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She then founded a training institute with four group practices and led it for almost ten years. There she trained and supervised thousands of psychologists and therapists across several European countries. This included a four-year postgraduate programme on sustainable change, developed with a research group at Ghent University. At the time, it was the most rigorous training in sustainable behaviour change available anywhere in the world. She co-authored three professional books on sustainable behaviour change, including a chapter on teamwork in The ACT Matrix (New Harbinger, 2014).

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Organisations also regularly brought Annick in as an executive coach, facilitator and mentor on leadership, toxicity, psychological flexibility and Behavioural Team Dynamics™.

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• Certified trainer in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (University of Washington)

• 15 years of training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• Guest lecturer at KU Leuven, VUB, UHasselt and the University of Warsaw

• Highly Commended, London Speaker Awards 2025 and 2026 (Thought Leadership category in 2026)

 

The honest part

And yet, as a leader, Annick was very bad at applying herself what she taught others so passionately. That honesty is at the heart of her work. Being competent doesn’t mean you never struggle. It means you learn from the moments that challenge you.

 

Today

Annick speaks internationally and works with leaders and leadership teams through executive coaching, programmes and the Leadership Lab. Her approach is grounded, direct and human. She combines science with stories, and humour with honest confrontation. She lives in Belgium, works internationally and speaks Dutch and English.