Inspire CPD For Therapists
Online Counselling CPD from Nottingham, Derby & Leicester
Upcoming CPD Courses
Online Workshops in 2025
Upcoming courses - Winter 2024/2025
NEW COURSE
20th January 2025
'Unlocking the Unconscious'
Therapeutic Writing in Therapy or Supervision
Unlocking the Unconscious
Therapeutic writing & it's place in therapy & supervision
Most of us know the power of writing to unlock previously unconscious thoughts & emotions. We probably did this on our training, and some of still utilise it now to process our client work. How often do you use it with your clients - whether they're in therapy or supervision?
We often suggest writing activities on our different training courses and we wanted to expand upon this.... plus one of us has recently begun a writing course! There will be a lot of variety, we'll use things like metaphor, poetry, directed activities... and much more!
This will be a very experiential course as we'll be using different activities throughout the day to show you their power, and to encourage you to think about how you could use them for yourself, for your clients and in your own supervision. If you are a supervisor you'll find ways to utilise them with your supervisees!
This will be a very experiential course as we'll be using different activities throughout the day to show you their power, and to encourage you to think about how you could use them for yourself, for your clients and in your own supervision. If you are a supervisor you'll find ways to utilise them with your supervisees!
Exploring the Father Wound
Our Mother Wound course has been so popular we thought we would take a look at Fathers too!
Fathers are so often absent in our lives – through divorce/separation, work, or most often simply emotionally absent. We explore the personal impact and ways of working with clients to address their wounds.
This workshop combines some didactic theoretical learning with experiential exercises to help you explore your own relationship with your father, and ways of exploring this with clients.
In particular we will explore:
Understanding Human Needs in Relationships
Want to help your clients communicate their needs better?
Is the focus of your client’s work often their struggle with their romantic or sexual relationships?
Would you like to help them move from criticism to understanding their partner?
Do you feel frustrated that you’re working with one half of the couple?
It is not at all uncommon when we work with individuals that the focus will often be their personal relationships, and the interpersonal dynamic with their partner that we’ve never met. If you’ve not had any couples training, then sometimes it can feel like you’re not sure where to focus? How best to encourage better communication? You can feel a bit out of your depth, or in the dark, uncertain of how to aid the client in making significant & lasting change.
In this workshop we look at some of the ways you can help clients – even when you’re only working with one half of the couple.
We will look at:
This workshop will give you confidence when working with individuals around relationships and introduce you to some of the concepts & theories utilised in couples therapy that you can put to excellent use when just working with a single client. In couples work there is often a focus on attachment through a systemic lens and this is important even when working with individuals.
As with all our courses there will be both experiential elements and direct links to practical ways of working with clients. We will provide practical examples and there will be lots of opportunity for you to explore, ask questions and discuss issues with other therapists.
Exploring the Mother Wound
Mothers seem to occupy a special place in the therapy room. There is seldom a client whose story is not impacted in some way by their relationship with their mother. For so many clients the ‘good enough mother’ was not a concept they experienced - often leading to a profound ‘mother wound’. In this workshop we look at the impact of mothers who are:
We will explore ways of working with clients that can both help to identify the mother wound and take steps towards its healing.
Some Client Feedback
"Thank you for such a fantastic training. One of the best I think for me not only with you but in my whole entire life of counselling. Thank you."
JJ 1.11.21
An Introduction to Working with ADHD
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder, initially associated with childhood but more recently understood to frequently persist into adulthood. Most of us have heard the term ‘ADHD’, whether professionally, in our social circles, or in the media. But what is ADHD, beyond the generalisations, myths, stigmas, and stereotypes?
This CPD will take you on an introductory tour of ADHD. Considering the diagnostic symptoms referred to in the DSM-IV, alongside the wider range of traits reported within both the literature and by those living with ADHD. This is an interactive session in which we will investigate how ADHD may present in the therapy room, along with commonly raised ADHD issues, and ways in which to work with this marginalised group.
Whether working with diagnosed clients, individuals awaiting assessment, ADHD supervisees, or purely having an interest in developing your knowledge of neurodiversity, this CPD will equip you with an understanding of this complex, but fascinating, topic.
Trainer/Facilitator
This training is developed and delivered for Inspire by Danielle La Roche. Danielle has been an integrative psychotherapist for over 17 years, and is also a coach, clinical supervisor, and trainer.
For the past five years, since her own ADHD diagnosis, Danielle has specialised in working with adult ADHD clients (both individually and within relationship therapy). Her recently obtained MA in Applied Positive Psychology also offered her the opportunity to research ADHD alongside the theories of positive psychology.
This course is suitable for any therapist or supervisor, whether qualified, or in training who is interested in learning about ADHD. It is particularly beneficial for therapists working with:
Pre Trial Therapy Guidance
New Guidance was published by CPS
We waited a long time for this revision of the Pre Trial Therapy guidance and it was finally published in 2022. It's safe to say in many areas of the country the Police & CPS are still getting to grips with it... and many therapists are unaware of its existence!
In this new and completely rewritten workshop we will consider what the impact is for therapy and therapists. As well as covering all the important and fundamental principles we will allow plenty of time for you to ask questions and we'll use case studies to bring it to life.
After attending delegates will be able to:
Safe & Effective Trauma Therapy Essentials
Discounts available for booking all 4 trauma courses at the same time, and if you're a therapy student
This is course 1 in a series of 4 looking at Trauma. Each of the courses can be taken as a standalone but form part of this series on the essentials of trauma work. This first workshop is particularly helpful for therapists new to trauma work, whether in training, or because you haven't worked in this area.
Sadly, if you work as a therapist you will inevitably work with traumatised people. Whether that be individuals who experienced childhood abuse and/or neglect, others who’ve experienced domestic or sexual violence in adulthood or maybe members of the armed forces, or others like police or ambulance workers who suffer trauma in the course of their working lives.
It may have been taught on your initial therapy training, but often not in great depth or with an understanding of the frequency within which it appears in the therapy room. If you trained 10 or more years ago then it may not even have been covered at all as this is a fast developing area of research and understanding within the fields of mental health and neuroscience.
This course is aimed at students/newly qualified therapists or any therapist who didn’t adequately cover trauma in their training. It will look at the impact and mechanisms of trauma, and will include up to date theory and neuroscience. As with all our courses it will also take a practical approach of how to work in this field.
To work safely and effectively with trauma you will need to know about, and understand, how to work with:
In this new course we’ll guide you through
Working with Suicidality
One person dies by suicide every 40 seconds somewhere in the world. By the nature of our work every therapist can expect to experience at least one suicidal client. Clients who have suicidal thoughts and managing the risk of that are two things that therapists can find most challenging in their work. The fear of judgement should a client die by suicide can invade the therapeutic space, interfering with the relationship. Wherever you are working it can feel scary and lonely to carry the weight of suicidal clients. Therapists may feel compelled to break confidentiality rather than risk censure. So how do we manage the balance? In this workshop we will look at this subject from both an experiential and practical perspective. In particular we will look at the cutting edge IMV model of suicide and how that assists us in having a much clearer idea of who may be most at risk.
In this workshop we will we will:
Working with Grief & Loss
Grief and loss are always common themes in client work. Many clients will be feeling intense emotions about their situation and not even recognise these stem from grief or the loss of their assumptive world. For others, the source of their grief will be as obvious as it is diverse – for example loss of loved ones, loss of livelihoods and jobs, loss of human contact, and loss of freedoms.
Being able to identify and name life experiences as losses worthy of grief can be an important part of healing. Yet all too often we only identify death as being worthy of grief. And in our hectic world any loss can get quickly pushed aside as we force ourselves to 'get on with it’ - or ‘get over it'. But what if we can’t?
In this newly updated workshop, we will cover:
Introduction to Working with Sex Addiction
Achieving Safety & Stabilisation in Phase 1 Trauma Therapy
Course 2 in our new Trauma series
Safe trauma therapy needs to be paced and the trauma left unexplored until the client has sufficient skills to feel more in control of trauma symptoms. This enables clients to manage primary symptoms such as hyper-arousal, flashbacks and dissociation and learn vital skills to reduce negative coping strategies such as self-harm and self-medication. However, this is often easier said than done as clients can find this incredibly hard.
Research (Herman 1992, Rothschild 2010) has shown that safe and effective trauma therapy is best conducted in 3 stages and that this can be successfully adapted whatever the therapist’s primary modality. This course looks at the first stage of phased trauma treatment where the primary aims are to establish safety and stabilisation.
This is course 2 in our new series of 4 workshops looking at the essentials of Trauma work. It is a revised version of a course we delivered previously.
There is no one method that works for all clients so in our practical workshop the learning (including experiential activities) will include
Some Client Feedback
"I found it really interesting, inspirational and informative. Hope to be able to join you on another course soon"
SB 22.11.21
The Unwanted Legacy - Generational Trauma
We know from our training that the roots of our adult selves go right back to our first experiences, as well as being influenced by our genetic inheritance from our parents. But what if both of these ‘nature and nurture’ influences were even more nuanced?
Scientists in the emerging field of epigenetics have discovered the mechanism that allows lived experience and acquired knowledge to be passed down the generations. This means that an individual’s life experience doesn’t die with them but endures in genetic form.
What this means for therapy is that although how our parents treated us – and whether our needs were met is important – that the source of our client’s feelings of pain may also lie within the stories of their parents and grandparents rather than in their own. Fragments of life experience, memories and body sensations can live on as if reaching out from the past to try and find resolution in the present.
In this workshop we will weave together the groundbreaking research with therapeutic exercises, and clinical examples to give you a different way of approaching trauma work. Specifically, we will:
Working with complex PTSD & Dissociation
Course 3 in our new series on working with Trauma.
The impact of childhood abuse or neglect and of living in dysfunctional environments has long lasting effects on our clients. We need to understand the impact of long-term abuse, the role of shame and how dissociation presents in the therapy room to work effectively and safely with this client group.
This course was full of so many little gems - I can't possibly pick out one thing - thank you
In this new workshop we’ll consider:
Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue or Burnout
Course 4 in our new series on working with Trauma.
What if we’re not just tired?
What if it’s our souls that are exhausted?
The kind of tired that sleep won’t remedy.
You see, when the world is in crisis (and it is),
your soul becomes weary with the weight of collective grief….
Donna Ashworth | History Will Remember
This is one of a number of poems by Donna Ashworth on themes around the pandemic, from her book “History Will Remember”. These words really capture some of the exhaustion that many therapists, frontline workers, and those who support others are feeling. We hear it every day in the therapy room and with our supervisees. Many are exhausted.
Plus, it’s not just that our jobs are demanding and tiring because we’re supporting others who are finding life and the world difficult, but we’re expected to do this whilst we also deal with the same issues ourselves. Add into that the ever-growing number of people needing support, working from home and working remotely for 18 months or more and you’ve a recipe for exhaustion!
If you work with trauma, and who doesn’t as a therapist, then you’ll recognise “burnout”, “vicarious trauma”, “compassion fatigue” as key concepts…. You might even be wondering if that’s the path you’re on?
How can we protect ourselves, or the people that we employ or who volunteer, from what are very real challenges when working with trauma, and traumatised individuals? We’re constantly told to practice self-care…but do we walk the walk? And what if we are and it’s still not enough?
In this new course we’ll take a practical look at the difficulties and what we can do to help keep ourselves healthy and functioning, so that we enjoy our work more! It will cover:
Working with Nesting Dolls & other objects
Would you like to work creatively with clients using nesting dolls or other objects?
Do you worry about how to introduce these methods?
Have you used them yourself and found it enlightening but lack confidence to do it with your clients?
If so this workshop will help to give you the confidence you need to expand your therapeutic repertoire in a way that will help clients to explore the different aspects of self, or relationship dynamics.
This course is suitable for anyone who would like to bring more creativity into their therapy or supervision practice. It’s suitable for qualified counsellors, psychotherapists, supervisors, coaches as well as therapists in training.
On this practical AND experiential workshop we will cover:
Adult Attachment & Relationships
Moving on from Bowlby, we look at the latest in adult attachment theory and how it impacts on client, therapist and the therapy as a whole. We will look at the links between trauma and attachment and the latest neuroscience developments. As with all our workshops we'll take a practical look at how we can utilise current knowledge in our work with clients and what it adds to our understanding of how we work with our clients. Inevitably with this course we'll look at our own attachment styles and ways of being in relationship with others.
The Self-Compassion Struggle
In this new workshop we will explore the concept of compassion and provide a practical guide for introducing compassion into your practice. We will:
Compassion is a bit of a buzzword at the moment – and for good reason – because there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that it is really effective in bringing about positive change. So if it's that simple and so effective why aren't we all using this more? We will consider:
We will:
How to Book a Place
To book onto any of our courses please complete the online on the bookings page.
You'll be sent confirmation of your booking once you've made payment.
If you have any specific needs around accessibility, suitability of courses or questions regarding this please do email us.
We look forward to seeing you on one of our courses!
Cancellation Policy
Fees are non-refundable. However, if you cancel 4 weeks or more prior to a course you can transfer your booking to another of our courses. Whilst we fully appreciate that life often happens last minute, we need time to be able to try and sell your space to another delegate, so we cannot simply transfer you to another course. If you cancel late we do offer you the option to re-book another course within the next 12 months at half price.
Running training courses is administratively hard work. We know that for most training organisations if you cancel you simply lose your fee completely, and many also charge a fee for amending bookings. We take the view that our policy is the fairest way of doing things, and whilst we realise not everyone will agree with us we have to have a plan & policy in place, which we hope people will understand and accept.
Get in touch
If you've a question please feel free to get in touch through the contact form. If you want to know something about any of our courses, or if you want to ask about a topic that isn't currently on our list of courses then please feel free to email and ask us.
If you want to attend a course and it's not until next year or is on a date you can't attend, then do let us know as we can add new training events based on demand.
Contact Sally French
Contact Lynsey Lowe