Our Courses
The Clinic runs the most the comprehensive range of courses about professional boundaries in the UK. There are courses for the public, for professionals, and for professionals who need to enhance their practice and reduce their risks following professional conduct processes.
We also run intensive courses for people wishing to improve their practice in working with victims of professional abuse, as practitioners, regulators, counsellors, or in any other relevant role.
Counselling survivors of professional abuse - 3 Days
This course is for anyone wishing to specialise in counselling survivors of professional boundary violations. Successful completion enables students to be assessed for entry to the Clinic's register of therapists and to receive referrals. The course consists of 3 days of seminars plus reading and distance learning. Completion is dependent on successful written assignments, presentation and continuous assessment. The courses main objective is to provide the skills and knowledge necessary to start working effectively with survivors of abuse by professionals.
Taught by the Clinic's lead faculty the course covers -
• Common pitfalls in the treatment of professional abuse
• Boundary theory and ethics – primer
• Behavioural and emotional effects of professional abuse on the client – research and other evidence
• Trust
• Adverse Idealising transference
• Practitioner feelings toward the previous practitioner
• Dealing with clients desire for action
• Abuse stories – myths and realities
• Giving evidence
• Professional responsibilities
• Language and re-enactment, holding the boundary
• Boundary challenges and psychopathology
• Who are the victims?
• Who are the perpetrators?
Introduction to Professional Boundaries - Open (1 Day)
For anyone working in a professional capacity with the public. These open courses provide a grounding in boundary theory, allow time for case study discussion, a range of interacticve exercises and the development of a forward plan. The standard fee is £270, and £170 reduced price. We also have arangements with some professional associations where we can offer places at further reductions. Click here for future courses and booking options.
Professional Boundaries: Bespoke Training (1-2 days)
Many of our training clients ask us to develop and deliver bespoke training for their staff. We offer a range of training sessions that can be selected from in order to produce a training day tailored to your specific organisational needs. Whilst there are some core components which we suggest should be used, we are able to ensure that case examples, scenarios and terminology are appropriate for each particular setting. We can run these courses at our central London training rooms or at a venue of your choosing.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your specific requirements. Once we have a good understanding of your needs we will develop a proposal containing a suggested content schedule. In general bespoke training delivers better value for money, typically coming in at around£80 per person (25 people). We have a scale of charges and can usually find ways in to the training for even the smallest groups. Please contact us for a discussion about your needs and available budgets.
Licenced training (1 day, no maximum)
Whether you have 20 staff or 2000 you may prefer to run your boundaries training in-house. For organisations whose budget constraints do not allow for sending all staff on external courses, the Clinic has developed a licence arrangement.
Named individuals within an organisation act as licensees and are able to run training courses internally. There is an annual charge for this and included in the package is training for licensees, materials updates, and access to ongoing support. There are options available for a wide range of organisation sizes. Please contact us to discuss your needs and the available packages.
Professional Boundaries - Theory & Practice (6 days)
This course is aimed at an inter-professional audience whose work incorporates face to face client work, including mental health, nursing, counselling, clergy, social care, complementary therapies.
It will enable participants to have an increased understanding of the spectrum of professional boundaries and have an awareness of the effects of boundary crossings and violations. Students will be able to think more critically about appropriate professional-client boundaries and to gain insight into early indicators of boundary violations. Participants will be able to reflect on their own professional practice in relation to boundary maintenance and identify any areas which require better understanding.
The module will include critically assessing relevant clips from film and TV. Students will be expected to be able to have the opportunity to apply their learning in a practice setting in order to complete the assessment.
By the end of the course it is expected that students will be able to:
1. Demonstrate understanding of the effects of professional abuse
2. Critically evaluate the differences between boundary crossing and boundary violations
3. Discuss ethical issues associated with boundaries
4. Be able to describe established perpetrator typologies
5. Critically discuss professional boundaries and abuse of clients.
6. Understand how safe boundaries with clients are established and maintained
7. Be able to describe the differences between personal and professional relationships
The course will be assessed and will involve a small number of practice based assignments and CPD certificates provided.
The first course is expected to run from January 2011 - please do contact us for a discussion and to register your interest. The cost will be £750.
Maintaining Proper Boundaries (3 days)
Summary
This course is a group based programme which aims to help people in the caring professions improve their awareness of, and skills for, establishing and maintaining professional boundaries. It is based on similar courses in the USA.
You can download a flyer here.
Who is the program for?
The course is for health or care practitioners who have a particular need to improve their professional boundaries with patients or clients. It may be helpful to professionals who have concerns about boundary keeping, or are in the early stages of disciplinary or conduct hearings or other professional processes. Boundary issues may include sexual boundary issues or other boundary matters, such as other forms of improper relationships with patients, dual relationships, excessive self-disclosure etc.
When would a referral to this program be appropriate?
Human resources departments can use the program as a preventative measure or as part of employee development plans. Practitioners can self-refer. Regulatory panels can refer participants as part of suspension or conditions of practice orders. Medical defence or professional organisations can refer people at any stage of proceedings.
Course Aims
The course aims to provide an educational and reflective space for participants to examine the roots of their problematic behaviour and to have assistance in making personal and professional changes. The course goals are:
· To increase responsibility and awareness of all aspects of professional boundaries
· To increase awareness and understanding of personal risk factors
· To identify cognitive distortions
· To put in place a personal boundaries plan. The completion of this ‘intent to change’ plan, which is a series of measurable commitments around behaviour, is a core component and runs from beginning to end of the course
Course Objectives
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
· Differentiate between boundary crossings and boundary violations
· Understand personal history and antecedents to boundary transgressions
· Consider needs for further professional assistance and personal development
· Understand the effect of boundary crossings on others
· Learn techniques for establishing and maintaining boundaries
· Improve understanding of professional ethics
Venue and Pricing
The courses are run at one of a range of central London venues. The standard price for the full course is £1,400. Sometimes the Clinic is able to organise payment options – please get in touch for details. Participants who have attended other courses at the Clinic are eligible for reduced fees.
Faculty
Dr Gwen Adshead FRCPsych
Jonathan Coe, MD, Clinic for Boundaries Studies
Candida Large, Psychotherapist
Contact
Jonathan Coe
Managing Director
Clinic for Boundaries Studies
0203 468 4194
3rd Floor
24-32 Stephenson Way London NW1 2HD
Or through info@professionalboundaries.org.uk