Specialist Training and CPD for Counsellors & Psychotherapists
The majority of our training is now online - but it's still small size, interactive, informative & engaging! This is not just boring "sit and listen"... we encourage questions and we provide thought-provoking activities.
We are trauma specialist therapists & supervisors so that's the main focus but we also cover related topics such as attachment & the wounds of parental relationships.
The quote below is from our newest course WORKING WITH NESTING DOLLS & OTHER OBJECTS
Upcoming courses - Spring 2024
13th May - Working with relationships - Using Couple's skills for individual clients Or, how to work on relationships when only one client is in the room! We'll look at how to meet your partner's needs or get your own needs met, understanding communication difficulties, the impact of early relationships & trauma... and find ways to make changes.
20th May - Working with Nesting Dolls or other objects In this popular workshop we'll demonstrate through practical demo & instruction how to use objects in our therapy work, consider the benefits and any contraindications to using them. Using nesting dolls, shells, stones, in fact any type of object seems to aid our clients in getting in contact with their difficulties at a much deeper point than talking alone. It often leads to greater insight and self awareness.
3rd June - Working with trauma - What about us? How often do we think about the impact of therapy work on us? Particularly if we work with trauma frequently, it's so important to face the topics of compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious trauma. They don't disappear if we just ignore them! Protecting ourselves, and others, maybe our supervisees, is a really important facet of being an effective practitioner.
See course listing page for more details on all of our courses.
TO BOOK any course please complete booking form. You can pay by bank transfer or by debit/credit card.
If you have any queries please do email us - link at top or right of page.
Why come to one our training workshops?
We know that these days there’s an awful lot of choice of CPD events – some of which are free to access – so why do a workshop with us?
We believe what we offer is very different to other online training. We offer:
But don’t just take our word for it – this is what some of our delegates have said:
“Honest approach of trainers (not behaving as if they know everything). Trainers' openness to the input of participants. Lots of practical resources. Opportunities for interaction with a range of other counsellors due to mixed up breakout groups. This was very well managed by the trainers.”
“I like the relaxed style of learning. I have been engrossed in the content & this is down to Sally & Lynsey. Thank you!”
"The best course I’ve been on. Often zoom course can leave you feeling bored and tired but I was buzzing when I finished!"
"I can honestly say your training is some of the most helpful I’ve been on over the years, each one has given me food for thought and practical ideas”
*** New Pre Trial Therapy Guidelines ***
We waited a long time... but the new guidelines for Pre Trial Therapy were published last year. You can find them on the CPS website.
We completely rewrote our courses on working Pre Trial and have two separate courses to suit your needs. The first is a full day in-depth consideration of the new guidance and the implications for therapy & therapists called 'Pre Trial Therapy In Depth'. We've put on several dates for this crucial training, see course listing. This is suitable for those who work in specialist services or organisations where clients reporting sexual or domestic violence is frequent, or for supervisors and managers who need to understand the complexities of this work and what it means.
The second is our "Safeguarding, Confidentiality & Pre Trial Therapy - what are your legal & ethical obligations?" This course covers a wider scope and is suitable for those working in private practice, non-specialist organisations or anyone who has never had any specific safeguarding or PTT training around what to do if a client discusses sexual or domestic violence in the therapy room.
Please note: There are significant changes in the new PTTG from the original 2020 draft - in some ways more complicated, and in others possibly simpler!
At first glance these are important factors:
We run a full day zoom workshop 'Pre Trial Therapy In Depth' where we will take you step by step through the new provisions and what you need to know going forwards. click here for dates.
Who Are Inspire CPD?
Inspire CPD is an East Midlands based specialist counsellor & psychotherapy training venture run by Lynsey Lowe & Sally French. We've delivered training together since 2018 and from June 2020 we've regularly delivered our specialist workshops online, these have received such excellent feedback that we are continuing to deliver in this format.
We are both psychotherapists, supervisors and trainers based in Nottinghamshire. We both have an extensive background as trainers and working with abuse and sexual violence – Lynsey worked for many years for Rape Crisis Nottingham, and Sally was a sexual offences specialist prosecuting solicitor. Please see our individual pages for more detail about us, our backgrounds, and our therapy and supervision services.
At Inspire:CPD for therapists we provide specialist training CPD workshops for counsellors and psychotherapists in Leicester, Nottingham & Derby, and online via zoom. Our main area of expertise is training on working with adult survivors of childhood abuse and trauma. However, as a result of our work in this area we've developed extensive knowledge and skills around many related topics. These include but are not limited to;
Our main focus is now working online with counsellors & therapists across the UK. We can deliver "in the room" training within the midlands: Nottingham and Nottinghamshire as well as Derby / Derbyshire, Lincoln / Lincolnshire and Leicester / Leicestershire.
New Trauma series of 4 online workshops
Sadly, if you work as a therapist, you will inevitably work with traumatised people. Whether that be 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 during their working lives. Therefore, it is important that you understand trauma, the impact on individuals and an understanding of how to work safely & effectively with traumatised clients. Lynsey and Sally both specialise in this field of work, and we wanted to put together a series of new workshops to cover this important area which is sometimes missing from initial therapy training but so important once we’re practicing as qualified therapists.
Each is a one-day course on zoom. They can be taken as a course of four, or each is valuable as a standalone workshop.
Discounts:
If you book 3 or more trauma workshops, we will give you a £25 discount.
If you book all 4 trauma workshops, we will discount you £40
See course listing for more workshop details or to book see our booking form
Still hesitant about online training?
We moved to zoom delivery during the pandemic and it's been quite a revelation. Whether via zoom or in the room all our courses offer informative, interactive & inspirational training at a great price. We've 99.9% positive feedback on our zoom courses. We know how to make it work! We keep it interactive and engaging .... you're never just sitting and listening.
If you'd be interested in some training "in the room" in Nottingham/shire then do let us know. At present we remain largely on zoom as most people find it convenient for a variety of reasons. However, we are keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in a return to some of our courses being in the room.
Isn't it great to get such fabulous feedback!
"How do you get such lovely therapists on your workshops? The breakout rooms were so warm & refreshing!" Motherwound, May 2022
"The best course I’ve been on. Often zoom course can leave you feeling bored and tired but I was buzzing when I finished!" Anon, 9/6/21
Feedback from JJ from 1.11.21 - "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."
"As usual the delivery of both trainers is great. Both warm, friendly and relaxed which I love. Comfort from own home is also great. The format of breakout discussion is also great. I will be back again in the future. Thank you so much." Anonymous, 27/4/21
"Thoroughly enjoyed the day and can't wait to take my learning out to apply to my work." PB, 28/4/21
"It was a difficult and emotive subject but you both held the space really well. There was plenty of information and food for thought and the breakout rooms and activities really helped cement those." JG, 13/3/21
"I can honestly say your training is some of the most helpful I’ve been on over the years, each one has given me food for thought and practical ideas – it has reinforced and reminded me of some of my training course in the dim and distant past and given me renewed confidence!" LM, 2/11/20
"Thank you so much for an informative and fun day on the dissociation course. I was absolutely amazed by your dedication, organisation, friendliness and warmth. I have never experienced a training experience like it!"
"I feel I now really understand my obligations to survivors and what I need to do when a client has reported an offence to the police. I no longer feel scared about Pre-trial Therapy and the Protocol."
How to book
If you would like to book onto one of our courses please complete the online booking form on the bookings page.
General information: timings, accessibility
Our workshops generally run 9.30 to 3.30 on zoom. (In the room we may do a slightly longer day.) We generally have 3 breaks - a 30 minute break at lunchtime (around 1 pm) and two 15 minute breaks - one in the morning & one in the afternoon. We try and split them equally through the time we're online.
We have been trying out having two breaks rather than three on some workshops; 45 minutes for lunch at around 12 and an afternoon break of 15 minutes around 2.15 pm.
We outline the break times at the start of each day.
If you have any specific needs around breaks or other accessibility concerns/issues then please do feel free to contact us.
What are the values of Inspire CPD?
We want to provide CPD workshops for counsellors and psychotherapists which are:
How did Inspire CPD come into being?
We are both enthusiastic attenders of CPD workshops, much of it around specialist trauma psychotherapy training, but were aware that so little of it is available in the East Midlands, meaning that therapists usually have to travel long distances and/or stay overnight which can make events too expensive. Often the courses we attended had over 50 delegates - so they didn't feel very personal or offer much opportunity for questions or discussion with the trainers.
We are also very aware how often issues to do with child abuse, trauma and sexual violence crop up in almost every setting. Student counsellors just starting in placement were telling us this and that they often didn't feel confident about how to work with survivors. Most of them had no specialist training on working with trauma, or of what even the Pre-Trial Therapy Protocol is.
So, these two factors made us decide to collaborate and form our own training venture where we could ideally meet both of those needs.
What specialist Counselling & Psychotherapy CPD Courses does Inspire CPD run?
We've been delivering specialist counsellor & therapist courses since 2017 and online training from 2020 and have a wide range of workshops we can deliver, plus we always try to introduce one or two new ones each year. Recent courses include:
For a full list & dates please click on the link to visit our course listing page.
Who do Inspire CPD deliver training to?
We deliver our specialist online training to counsellors and psychotherapists - both experienced and in training. However we will also deliver training for organisations at a suitable venue of your choice or online via zoom.
Since 2020 we have been delivering workshops on Zoom and we are very confident that this is a viable alternative - we've 99.9% positive response rate! This means we can deliver training to any area of the country.
We have delivered specialist training in Nottingham, Derby & Leicester (our child abuse survivor workshops) for the Leicester Counselling Service among others. We've delivered our specialist Legal Responsibilities training - including Pre-Trial Therapy for Rutland House Counselling & Psychotherapy (RHCP) Nottingham Women's Centre and Notts Sexual Violence Support Services.
We can also create bespoke training packages upon request.
Where in the East Midlands do Inspire deliver specialist training?
We deliver independently organised training usually from a convenient Nottingham location. This is currently Edwinstowe in North Nottingham (NG21 9PR). The venue has good transport links and free car parking.
However we will also deliver training across the East Midlands if there is a suitable venue of your choice. We are happy to travel to Leicestershire, Derbyshire & Lincolnshire.
As mentioned above we now also deliver remotely via Zoom so can deliver to any area of the country.
