We are committed to increasing opportunities for our staff and volunteers across the collective to access a variety of events to develop their skills and knowledge. We do this by providing regular networking meetings, inviting key speakers and hosting various workshops. where colleagues can share, learn and make new contacts to enhance their personal and professional development.
These events are not exclusive! We encourage and value the involvement and contribution of our colleagues from all sectors, who are interested in joining us, either to participate in a workshop or to present their own topic or area of interest at one of our group meetings. Upcoming network meetings are listed on our events page or contact us if you are interested in hosting a CPD workshop off site.
Some of our past popular meetings have included:
This cognitive behavioural approach, developed by Professor Paul Gilbert, integrates the neuroscience of positive emotion, and methods derived from Buddhist psychology. Our workshop considers how to help clients develop a greater compassionate mind to their difficulties, reduce self-blaming and negative thought patterns, help with depression, anxiety, trauma and eating disorder, and where to go for specialist training and more information.
This brief workshop increases participants' awareness and understanding of how psychological distress can manifest as an eating disorder. It aims to increase confidence when working with people who present with a past or current eating issues, and importantly know who and where to make an appropriate referral for more specialised treatments. A previous participant commented:
“Useful information to work with clients, but also importantly having the confidence to know when and where to refer locally.”
This popular workshop is targeted at practitioners who wish to gain a greater awareness of commonly prescribed mental health drugs and groups (SSRIs, SNRIs, mood stabilisers etc), and how these may impact on the ways clients present themselves in therapy. Previous participants have commented:
“I'm amazed at how the presenter not only managed to impart so much useful information, but also made it interesting and relevant to my work.”
“I would regard this as essential introductory training for psychological therapists. I now have the confidence to talk about prescription drugs and know where to find more information if necessary.”
Recent events have made us appreciate how our clients and ourselves can be deeply affected by traumatic events. The First Aid for Trauma workshop aims to give participants an insight into how professional therapists work with clients who have recently experienced unexpected and difficult events. It is not a substitute for training in this field, but provides some basic skills to enable some helpful and useful first steps for practitioners who may find themselves working more frequently with traumatised clients. One participant commented:
“I now feel motivated to take my career a step further and undertake more training to specifically work with clients experiencing trauma.”
Working with clients who have experienced a bereavement is a significant part of a generic counsellor's caseload. Basic training programmes help us understand the theories behind loss and change, but the reality of being with a client who is finding it hard to accept the consequences of bereavement can be difficult for both new and experienced counsellors. This workshop has been designed to review our current practice with bereaved clients and develop some sensitive and effective new skills and techniques.
Upcoming events are listed on our events page. Bookings can be made through www.eventbrite.co.uk website.
The purpose of these events is to learn, share, network and enjoy. We aim to keep costs as low as possible, but do make a small charge to cover the costs of our presenters, refreshments and the production of certificates of attendance.
Photograph: 'Soldiers exercising at the Drill Hall, Bolton circa 1914', courtesy of Bolton Archive Library