Assessment & Formulation - 27 May, 10 & 12 June 2021 (2x Thursday evenings + Saturday Skills Practice)

Who should attend?

This course is suitable for counsellors, therapists, mental health workers (including graduates), health & care professionals, substance misuse workers and anyone who considers their role encompasses counselling skills and those who assesses people's needs and makes referrals/signposts.

Workshop overview

"My core training as a therapist 20 years ago did not include this essential aspect of the work. Trainee therapists are in fact, not allowed to do the initial assessment of clients as this is deemed too complex for trainees, and they are left to assess only their own capacity to work with a previously assessed client throughout their training. At Hope we fully concur with this principle, as when training, the trainee needs to attend to so many other aspects of learning. However this leaves trainees to pick up this skill post qualifying and often without support." - Deborah Laxton, Lead Tutor

In this short course we explore the skills and stance of assessment that are distinct from therapy. Evidence based practice indicates how effective a good assessment can be in using time in therapy efficiently, particularly when the clients themselves are not sure what they want or where the root of their issues lie. With these skills the amount of sessions needed to complete therapy reduces enormously. In this tried and tested method you will be able to see how to collect the right information on which to base a decision, how not to get bogged down in the story and think about how best to support the client in the time available. This might mean that the most ethical course of action would be to refer on or only attempt a clearly identified portion of the work and when to refer to other services. It avoids critical information coming up part way through the work and sets a clear understanding between the client and the practitioner of the scope of the work. 

Formulation is the conceptualisation of the client, including; their history and current context , triggers, symptoms, risks, previous strategies for coping and struggles so that the best way forward for the individual can be ascertained from the beginning . What has happened to cause the issue? What maintains the issue for the client and how can we collaborate with the client address this in the most ethical way?   

The workshop focuses on practical clinical skills, through role-play. The workshop facilitator will role-play interventions with clients, leading workshop participants through the stages of assessment, to produce a CBT formulation for the ‘client’. 

Dates:

Thursday 27th May 2021 6:30pm – 9:30pm 

Thursday 10th June 2021 6:30pm – 9:30pm 

Saturday 12th June 2021 9:00am – 5:00pm

Format

Fully online (via Zoom) - Taught sessions, large and small group work, skills practice. This is a standalone CPD workshop but also part 1 of 5 CBT modules. Students will be registered with OCNWMR and awarded with a level 3 OCNWMR unit (2 credits) on successful completion of the workshop and additional short assignment.

Cost

The workshop costs £185 and includes Tuition and registration fees with Open College Network West Midlands.

Important Note

These CBT workshops do not qualify you to be a CBT practitioner – rather they will help you integrate CBT into your approach to helping  – some people will be incorporating them into their current practice as qualified counsellors, some as teachers, coaches or pastoral or wellbeing  workers or trainee counsellors.

To advertise yourself a ‘CBT practitioner’, as a minimum, you would have to do a full 2 year pure CBT course. You will however, be able to say at the end of these CBT workshops “I use a Cognitive Behavioural Approachin my work” (if you are a Hope student you are probably integrating it with elements of a Person Centred Approach which you have picked up in your training so far). Deb Laxton (the trainer) holds a specific Masters in CBT interventions which qualifies her to be accredited with the BABCP (British Association of Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapists ) and join a register which is different to the BACP (British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists) which our Diploma course is allied to.

Some aspects of the CBT material are covered on the Hope, 2 year Diploma – however, the practice examples will be different and the topic is so large that there is plenty of room to practice and to revisit theory to reinforce learning. There is not nearly enough time on the Diploma to do the specific area of CBT justice. Students considering enrolling on our counselling training will greatly benefit from the additional skills and knowledge these workshops offer.

All, but the suicide training workshop, are at level 3 and the suicide training is at a level 2 this was to encourage more people, even with lower academic ability  to do the assessment elements of this programme (writing and essay and answering questions consolidates learning) due to the great social importance of the training.