Training, workshops, and virtual support options

Safe Hands and Thinking Minds offers an extensive range of face-to-face and online training, consultation, and workshop packages designed to support and enhance the Team around the Child and the Team around the Worker; as well as wider whole system changes, such as around the journey of an organisation becoming more adversity/culturally/trauma-informed, & trauma-responsive. The trainings are committed to professional development and providing attendees with best practice models which meet and exceed national minimum standards. Whilst also being nurturing, rich, engaging, creative, regulating, interactive, and relational.

Trainings and workshops are delivered by highly qualified specialist Clinical Psychologists, and draw on a range of interdisciplinary frameworks, evidence-base practice, theoretical perspectives, and clinical expertise. Trainings and workshops place an emphasis on integrating multiple theories, with direct-working tools, and reflective practice.

All trainings and workshops utilise an array of learning and teaching styles, including small group discussions, experiential hands-on learning, multimedia methods, and lecture delivery. Handouts and additional learning resources are also provided.

We are more commonly doing virtual trainings via zoom and have found these extremely successful and have had very positive feedback so are planning to continue to do the majority of our training virtually. Please see our online tab.

However, face-to-face trainings and workshops are available depending. They generally take place in the attendee’s work place, or a venue of their choice, and will be tailored to the individual/group needs. The time length or the amount of training series offered will depend on the individual request and learning objectives.

Online webinars, podcasts, and modules can also be created and facilitated. Please see our online tab.

Trainings and workshops can also be offered as part of a team away or team development day.

Packages can vary from a one day foundational training through to a several year whole organisation focus on creating a paradigm and cultural shift such as becoming more adversity/ culturally/ trauma-informed and trauma-responsive. Longer courses allow for more depth, embedding, reflecting, and layering. Other organisations have commissioned a year long course for example in direct work tools, with a day a month covering a range of the courses and including supervision and reflective practice. Please see an evaluation report from one of my longer courses to give a flavour of the richness from attendees- candle summary paper pdf-compressed

Feedback that captures some of the richness from a course over 6 months alongside thinking spaces- how did the experience shape you low res and describe the program in a word low res

For face-to-face and online workshops, Dr Treisman tends to book up a year plus in advance- so please enquire as soon as possible to secure desired dates. When contacting if you have a sense of which month/ days/ amount of days this will support to secure dates asap. It is also helpful if you can narrow down where possible which courses you are interested in, the number of people, whether virtual or face to face and if face-to-face where you are based, how many days etc.)

Dr Treisman also sees training as a starting platform and planting seeds; to support this there can be additional support packages purchased to embed and infuse training such as through consultancy, reflective practice, and document review.

Attendees span across a range of diverse contexts. Previous audiences have included:

  • Social workers and social work managers
  • Family Support Workers and Youth Workers
  • Foster carers
  • Kinship carers
  • Special Guardians
  • Adoptive parents
  • Educational professionals including virtual schools, teaching assistants, and designated teachers.
  • Therapeutic communities and residential homes
  • Independent reviewing officers
  • Adoption and fostering panel advisors
  • Children’s guardians
  • Mental health and physical health professionals including dentistry, midwifery, doctors, nurses, and many more.
  • Early years practitioners
  • Contact/ family time and assessment centres
  • Police, fire fighters, and other emergency professionals
  • Legal professionals
  • Journalists

A selection of the types of trainings which can be provided are detailed below. However, please contact us to discuss your individual requests, as we also offer bespoke and tailor made packages.

Detailed summaries and objectives for each of the proposed training packages can be provided upon request. We also have samples of longer programmes such as 10-20 day ones.

Online and virtual options- In response to the pandemic, Dr Treisman also offers a range of virtual and online services. These include consultations (individual, team or organisational), delivering workshops and training, facilitating reflective practice spaces, offering Question and Answer interactive sessions, and creating bespoke video materials.

Dr Treisman also has some online modules available to purchase, see the online module tab on this website; and several more are in the process of being created. Dr Treisman does take commissions to create bespoke ones specifically for your organisation or team.

Questions and reflection points for organisations enquiring about trauma-informed training (great document to read before enquiring, doing tenders, booking training etc)- Trauma informed queries and requests points to reflect on

Things for organisers/ managers to consider before sending out training invites/ event requests to people to attend- before sending the invite out- trauma informed

Example of training and workshop titles and themes (these are by no means an exhaustive or prescriptive list)- for ease they are separated into intro and understanding trauma/ direct work and therapeutic strategies trainings/ and then organisational focus:

Some options around intro and understanding trauma (just a flavour):

  1. Flagship/ foundational course- Relational and developmental trauma, abuse, and neglect- The impact of childhood trauma, abuse, and neglect including ACE’s/ thinking about the impact of relational and developmental trauma, stress, adversity, and loss on children’s bodies, brains, behaviours, emotions, sensory worlds, and relationships. Please note this is much more interactive and rich over 2 days- so a 2 day package is strongly recommended. However, over 3 allows for much more in depth information and reflection. When done online, this can be done in bitesize modules over a longer period in time. So for example, a morning on different types of trauma, a morning on behaviour is communication etc.
  2. Unaccompanied asylum-seeking, trafficked, and refugee young people- thinking about, reflecting on, understanding and working with unaccompanied asylum-seeking (UASYP), refugee, and trafficked young people. This can be delivered in a series of workshops which cover a range of areas such as working effectively with interpreters, the role of the media, therapeutic options for UASYP, reflecting on the pre, during, and post migration experiences, and considering UASYP’s experience within school etc.
  3. An introduction to organisational and system trauma
  4. An introduction to community and collective trauma
  5. An introduction to single event trauma
  6. An introduction to medical or health trauma
  7. An introduction to intergenerational, inherited, and historical trauma
  8. An introduction to cultural and identity trauma.
  9. Trauma within pregnancy and maternity settings.
  10. Older adult abuse and trauma-informed nursing homes and older adult services. 
  11. The power of language, labels, and storying- this is a powerful and thought provoking day reflecting on the power of the words we use and how we use them- including how we write reports, talk in team meetings, the acronyms we use, etc (also an online module available).
  12. Trauma within educational settings- the impact of trauma and disrupted attachments within learning and educational contexts. This workshop can be delivered as a package, alongside: Practical strategies to making classrooms more attachment and trauma-informed, and/or making whole-wide schools more attachment and trauma sensitive and friendly.
  13. Trauma and the impact on the body, including introducing body-based and sensory approaches.
  14. Trauma and toxic stress, and their possible impact on brain development and functioning. This can be extended to the possible impact on adolescent brain development.
  15. The impact of trauma and disrupted attachment on emotion development and on emotional regulation. This can be paired with a workshop on practical ways of building children’s emotional vocabulary and emotional intelligence; and practical and creative ways for talking about feelings. I also have an online module about this. 
  16.  The impact of trauma and disrupted attachment on multi-levelled safety (Emotional, physical, and felt safety). This can be paired with a workshop on practical ways of working towards multi-levelled safety.
  17. Understanding child development and key developmental milestones; including disrupted development through developmental trauma. This can also be paired with the parenting patchwork cards session.
  18. Parental “mental illness”- the possible impact of parental mental illness on developing children.
  19. Domestic abuse and parenting-the impact of domestic abuse on developing children.
  20. Understanding and/or assessing unresolved loss and trauma- thinking about the impact of past unresolved trauma and loss of birth parents/foster carers/ adoptive parents/ professionals, and how this can be re-triggered when working with, and caring for children who have experienced trauma.
  21. Working with young people who are involved in “gang-related” activity, youth violence, and/or offending behaviours (This holds an attachment and trauma perspective in mind).
  22. Working with complex, complicated, and disenfranchised loss and grief- including working with birth parents whom have had their children removed during care proceedings.

Some options around intro to some direct work and therapeutic ideas (just a flavour):

  1. A Therapeutic Treasure box: Creative and expressive tools, techniques, and direct-working activities to support children and adolescents who have experienced relational and developmental trauma. (This course can range from an intro of 1 day in a particular area through to a much more in depth 15 days, and is based on the bestselling book by Dr Treisman. Unless in exceptional situations, this is offered following attendance of the above course on the theory of relational and developmental trauma). The longer courses allow for for more layering and enriched exploration. Contact us to discuss options for the longer courses. 
  2. Question and Answer sessions on the direct work tools and resources– very interactive session to practice some of the tools such as the cards, the therapeutic treasure box and the children’s workbooks.
  3. Creative and expressive ways of working with children has have experienced a bereavement, death, loss- responses to grief. Using tools from Ollie the Octopus. This can be a day session but ideally a 2 day sessions allows for much more richness.
  4. Cleo the Croc- For children who have been hurt and who show this pain through “anger” and pushing relationships away- particularly useful in . fostering, adoption, and residential context. This is a whole package designed around teaching the skills, tools, and resources from the best selling Cleo the Croc story and workbook. I also do question and answer sessions around this workbook for those who have it.
  5. Binnie the Baboon- A resource focused on anxiety, stress, worry, and fear. This is a whole package designed around teaching the skills, tools, and resources from the best selling Binnie the Baboon story and workbook. I also do question and answer sessions around this workbook for those who have it.
  6. Neon the ninja- nightmares and sleep difficulties– This is a whole package designed around teaching the skills, tools, and resources from Binnie the Baboon story and workbook. I also do question and answer sessions around this workbook for those who have it.
  7. Sleep difficulties within an adult context. 
  8. Presley the Pug- emotional regulation, relaxation, mindfulness, and the safe place exercise.This is a whole package designed around teaching the skills, tools, and resources from the best selling Presley the Pug story and workbook. I also do question and answer sessions around this workbook for those who have it. (There is also an online module on this).
  9. Gilly the Giraffe– a course going through the bestselling workbook around tools and resources for supporting children with their self-esteem, belief, and confidence. Strengths focused. I also do question and answer sessions around this workbook for those who have it (also an online module available).
  10. Working with interpreters in therapy or in direct work.
  11. The power of language, labels, and storying- this is a powerful and thought provoking day reflecting on the power of the words we use and how we use them- including how we write reports, talk in team meetings, the acronyms we use, etc (also an online module available).
  12. Strengths-based approaches, hope, and protective factors- This discusses ways to celebrate, notice, and embrace children’s resiliencies, skills, and positive qualities. This workshop also offers practical ways to boost children’s self-esteem and build resilience. This workshop has also been successfully applied to professionals and parents to support them in recognising their own strengths and resiliencies.
  13. Therapeutic re-parenting and/or strategies to improve caregiver-child relationships- This workshop focuses on understanding the importance of therapeutic re-parenting hurt children, and offers ways of re-parenting in a therapeutic way. This workshop draws on a range of approaches to support the building and strengthening of the parent-child/ professional-child relationships, including Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy, Theraplay, Narrative therapy, Sensory interventions, and Brain-based parenting. This can be tailored for social workers and supervising social workers around assessing for therapeutic re-parents and strengthening therapeutic re-parenting; or for therapeutic re-parents (e.g. Adoptive parents, foster carers, residential workers, and teachers) around using therapeutic re-parenting techniques.
  14. Endings, goodbyes, moving on, and transitions- thinking about placement, school, and therapy endings and beginnings. This includes considering why endings may be difficult, what they may represent, and reflects on how we can support reparative endings/transitions.
  15. Start of a “placement”/ building  relationships– This workshop provides practical ideas of getting to know a young person/ helping a child adjust to a new home.
  16. Making “contact”/ family time more trauma-informed and relational for social care practitioners and “contact” supervisors. 
  17. Making care plans and reports more trauma informed and relational.
  18. Direct working to address specific difficulties and behavioural concerns (Both the theory base and practical strategies are offered)- for example, the workshop may be around (each one is a day or two if meaningful) e.g. Working with “anger/aggression/ outbursts”/ low mood/ low self-esteem and low self-worth/ nightmares/poor sleep/ bed-wetting/ anxiety/ separation anxiety / executive function difficulties such as poor concentration and attention/ emotional regulation difficulties.
  19. Direct working skills with engaging with children and adolescents. This offers a range of creative and expressive tools and strategies for communicating sensitively and effectively with children. This can be tailored to a specific age groups such as under 5s or adolescents. Workshops can also focus on a particular medium such as on using masks, clay, or puppets.
  20. Engaging children and adults when working virtually or online.
  21. Supporting children who bottle-up, clam up, or retreat.
  22. An introduction for professionals on carrying out complex, robust, and thorough child-based and/or parenting assessments.
  23. A workshop into using the treasure decks of cards e.g Either the regulating and grounding cards, the sentence completion and feelings ones, or the parenting patchwork cards. 
  24. Report-writing skills for professionals.
  25. An introduction to carrying out therapeutic life story work.
  26. An introduction to using the Tree of Life technique from Narrative Therapy with parents, professionals, or children.
  27. Creative ways of using puppets/ genograms/ Russian and muslin Dolls/ masks (each separate).

Some options around trauma informed system and organisational aspects (just a flavour):

  1. Adversity/Culturally/Trauma-informed and trauma-responsive organisations- Supporting organisations to learn about the principles, models, and components of being adversity, culturally, & trauma-informed, infused and responsive- drawing on best practice models & on Dr Treisman’s Winston Churchill Fellowship Work, and on my trauma-informed organizations book. Please note this can be tailored to a specific setting such as trauma informed school, residential home, dentist, church, local authority etc. This training can be a brief intro but is much better anchored and understood if it comes after the initial individual trauma training as it is hard to discuss organisational aspects without first having the foundational concepts. This can be a whole series- some organisations do this as a longer course- contact for more info.
  2. An introduction to the values of trauma informed approaches– this can be either at an organisational level or a practice level- for example, going through safety, collaboration, strengths etc- ideally a 2 day but can be a 1 day intro.
  3.  Staff or carer wellbeing and regulation- “Self-care”, vicarious trauma, secondary trauma, and compassionate fatigue– Thinking about self-care, work stress, vicarious trauma, and burnout. This can be adapted for different audiences including parents and carers.
  4. The impact of trauma on organisations and teams- working within traumatised organisations. (This can be extended to away days activities).
  5. Trauma-informed team meetings & supervision/ reflective practice (also an online module available).
  6. Trauma-informed assessments(also an online module available).
  7. Trauma-informed physical environments, spaces, and buildings (also an online module available).
  8. Trauma-informed leadership and management.
  9. Trauma informed ways of supporting people through re-structures, changes, and redundancies for HR departments and leaders (also an online module available).
  10. Doing organisational baseline assessments as to how “trauma informed they are”
  11. Culturally humility and responsiveness. This can be tailored to think about this from an individual, team, or organisational level.
  12. Organisational responses to when a staff has experienced a bereavement or a trauma. 
  13. The power of language, labels, and storying- this is a powerful and thought provoking day reflecting on the power of the words we use and how we use them- including how we write reports, talk in team meetings, the acronyms we use, etc (also an online module available).
  14. Strengths-based approaches, hope, and protective factors- This discusses ways to celebrate, notice, and embrace children’s resiliencies, skills, and positive qualities. This workshop also offers practical ways to boost children’s self-esteem and build resilience. This workshop has also been successfully applied to professionals and parents to support them in recognising their own strengths and resiliencies.
  15. Endings, goodbyes, moving on, and transitions- thinking about placement, school, and therapy endings and beginnings. This includes considering why endings may be difficult, what they may represent, and reflects on how we can support reparative endings/transitions.
  16. Start of a “placement”/ building  relationships– This workshop provides practical ideas of getting to know a young person/ helping a child adjust to a new home.
  17. Making “contact”/ family time more trauma-informed and relational for social care practitioners and “contact” supervisors. 
  18. Making care plans and reports more trauma informed and relational.
  19. Engaging children and adults when working virtually or online.
  20. An introduction for professionals on carrying out complex, robust, and thorough child-based and/or parenting assessments.
  21. Cultural humility in parenting assessments within social care.

 

Conferences and events

Dr Treisman frequently presents at local, national, online, and international conferences and events (See the Events Tab for a selection of these). Please contact us to discuss conference speaking engagement enquiries. Please note Dr Treisman books up over a year in advance, so please contact us as soon as possible to secure a desired date.