Manchester Deal! Another 24 Hours!

Yesterday's promotion created a number of questions from our delegates regarding some particular details of it.

This blog is to answer your questions and clarify the details.

1. 50% discount is valid both for block bookings of all 4 courses and for bookings of the individual modules of the Certificate in Resource Based Therapies course.

For block bookings of all 4 courses go to Resource Based Therapy follow the "Click here to book online" link on the right and choose your Manchester dates.
For bookings of the individual modules (for those who have completed some of the modules with us already) follow the individual links below:

• POSITIVE THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 1)
• MOTIVATIONAL INTERVIEWING & BEYOND (CRBT - MODULE 2)
• BRIEF SOLUTION FOCUSED THERAPY (CRBT - MODULE 3)
• BSFT WITH DIFFICULT & COMPLEX CLIENTS (CRBT - MODULE 4)

Choose Manchester on the right hand side of the page and make your online booking.

2. Although this offer is for online bookings only - we are prepared to extend it to those who wish us to invoice their organisations. In order for you to take advantage of this offer PLEASE make sure that we receive some form of authorisation from your organisation within 24 hours (before midday of 20 July 2011).

We accept as the form of authorization the following:
• Purchase order (please fax it within 24 hours)
• Letter of authorisation from your manager with full invoice address (please fax it within 24 hours)
• E-mail of authorisatoin from your manager (please make sure that this e-mail comes from your manager's e-mail address, contains full invoice address and reaches within 24 hours)

As this offer created some questions that needed further clarification WE EXTEND THIS OFFER FOR FURTHER 24 HOURS - EXPIRING AT MIDDAY 20 JULY 2011.

We hope this e-mail answers all of your questions and look forward to welcoming you at our courses. Please feel free to share this information with your friends and colleagues.

Kind regards

The Skills Development Service Team

Motivation for weight loss

Indiana University researchers report that the confidence and motivation built in a virtual gym can continue on into normal, 'real' life.

This statement comes after participants in a 12-week weight loss programme - one real, and one online - lost similar amounts of weight. Both groups lost 10 pounds on average but when the groups were surveyed on whether their overall behaviour had changed, those using the virtual gym appeared to have made more changes towards healthy eating and physical activity, suggesting that they might fare better in the future, compared to the 'real' group.

Dr Johnson (one of the study researchers) said that "[the virtual gym] has the potential to reach people who normally wouldn't go to a gym or join a programme because of limitations, such as time or discomfort with a fitness centre environment"

This study is particularly interesting as it seems that the motivation and encouragment people received from the virtual group was as effective, if not more effictive, than those attending the real-life groups. The main point to draw from this study could be that there is strong evidence for a role in virtual support for weight loss that can be further researched and encouraged. Motivation, whether online or real life, seems to be successful at encouraging weight loss.

For information on SDS courses such as 'Motivational Interviewing' and 'Solution Focused Therapy' please visit our website: www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk

Paul Grantham on Brief Solution Focused Therapy

CERTIFICATE IN RESOURCE BASED THERAPIES - FAQ

As you know in the autumn we are running our first 4 days course “CERTIFICATE IN RESOURCE BASED THERAPIES” approved by BPS Learning Centre for CPD. http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=76

The course generates a lot of interest as it is a fresh and innovative approach to complex cases that builds on training courses that you have already attended with us in the past. We asked Paul Grantham to answer some of the questions about this course that frequently raised in your e-mails. That what he said:

Q1: SDS has just introduced a new training course – A Certificate in Resource Based Therapies. What is this course about and how is it different to everything you’ve been doing before?

PG: We thought it was time to bring together different strands from the training we have been providing over the last couple of years and develop a new course around them. The course is modular and based on three separate evidence based therapeutic approaches – Positive Psychology, Brief Solution Focused Therapy and Motivational Interviewing. The course is run over a four day period which can be worked through as a whole block or in a modular manner. The certificated course has also just been approved by The British Psychological Society Learning Centre and is accompanied by an optional assessed examination.

Q2: Why do you think there is a need for such a course if it is based on variety of therapeutic approaches that already exist? What are the advantages in bringing them together?

PG: The simple answer to this is that there is considerable overlap and shared theoretical underpinnings to the three approaches. Firstly, they are all evidence based, in other words there are good psychological experimental underpinnings to the theories, process and interventions. The need to demonstrate a strong evidence base to any psychotherapeutic approach is not going to go away and it is rightly a key touchstone for any therapy we might be using. However, CBT does not have a monopoly on psychotherapeutic effectiveness and these approaches happily live along side it. Secondly, all three approaches are resource based in assumption, in other words they focus on what the client already has which enables them to thrive, and looks at how to amplify it. Motivational Interviewing draws strongly on Roger's ideas regarding clients' intrinsic motivation and has placed client perceptions of benefits and negative consequences at the centre of its approach. Brief Solution, of course , lives by the mantra of "There's nothing wrong with you that what's right with you, couldn't fix" and Positive Psychology's focus on Strengths via the VIA again focuses on clients’ existing resources. Thirdly, as a result of the above, all three are outcome, thriving and future focused rather than causal, deficit and past focused. And this is still a relatively rare common feature in most psychotherapeutic approaches. Finally, all three utilise brief and practical interventions to facilitate change.

…

Q6: On the practical side of things – four day courses might be quite expensive – are there ways to budget for this course without spending much straightaway?

PG: This course is modular. Hence although you can sign up for all four modules at once (and there is a fee reduction if you do this), you can sign up for individual modules as well. This allows delegates to spread the cost according to their budget. This, combined with the typically low fees that SDS charges in comparison with many other training providers makes this one of the most financially accessible psychotherapy courses currently available.

TO READ THE WHOLE INTERVIEW GO TO: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/images/appl_form/RBT%20Interview%20May%202010.pdf

If you are not sure what modules of the course you have already done – please feel free to contact me directly – I will check it in our records and let you know what modules you need to take up in order to complete the full course. You can contact me directly via our enquiry page: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/contact.html

Start your comment with “RBT Course Enquiry for JB” and I will reply to you ASAP.

A COUPLE OF REMINDERS:

Our seminar “ANGER THERAPY: HATRED, HOSTILITY & BITTERNESS” is running currently around the UK with great success. If you missed your opportunity to attend it now - it will run ONE DAY in London in September. The early bird discount of £24 is still available for that particular date. Book now to make sure that you receive a discount and reserve your place (some venues are almost fully booked now).

Don’t forget – you can enter a monthly draw with a top price of a free place on our one day courses by registering on http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/contact.html . The winner of the May draw was Amanda Evans, with two runners-up who received their prizes.

If you register on www.psychotherapydvds.com you can participate in a monthly draw with a free psychotherapy DVD as your prize. Don’t forget to CONFIRM YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS when register on this site. Otherwise your registration is not complete and you cannot enter the draw.

It only takes seconds to register!

________________________________________________________________

Best wishes

Julia Budnik

ALL NEW Brief Solution Focused Therapy Feedback

"Clear content, excellent speaker and very useful for my work, in terms of usable interventions. Clarified my understanding of the approach."
A.M., Counsellor

"Really enjoyed the day, felt I learnt a lot but also leaving reflecting on questions so I feel encouraged to do some further reading. The course will help with increasing knowledge around counselling and with my future career."
S.W., Treatment Manager, Probation Service

"Very refreshing course, excellent speaker. Practical tips + advice given which was helpful. I feel I can apply this approach to my client group (Asperger's)"
R.S., Speech & Language Therapist

"I found the content of the course very interesting & something I had no prior knowledge about. I feel I have gained something I can use in practice."
L.H., Children Centre Worker

"I really enjoyed the day and the topic was very helpful, giving me lots of pointers to help families."
J.W., Family Support Worker

"Always enjoy Paul Grantham's training."
G.P., Counsellor

"Very pleased with the course, will be of use."
T.O., OT

"Really good trainer, very knowledgeable. Thank you."
P.R., Psychologist

"Paul is always confident in his knowledge and teaching - EXCELLENT!"
R.W., Social Worker

One more day on this topic is available in London on 29 April 2010.

Book early to avoid disappointment.

SDS News

Here are the latest SDS news updates for you:

1. We had lots of interesting and thought-provoking replies to our last Delegate Debate: Award Winning Neurologist Challenges Our Therapy Practice. You can read all comments at: http://sdsmedia.blogspot.com/

2. We are running ALL NEW Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT) Seminars around the UK in March. It is a brand new seminar that was created following your high demand for more practical knowledge on BSFT. Paul Grantham is leading these seminars, you can read his big interview about his professional and personal take on BSFT at: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/images/appl_form/course_73.pdf .
Places for this seminar are still available and you can have £10 off if booking online or with credit card over the phone.

3. Our 3 day Introductory CBT courses (approved by the BPS Learning Centre) proved to be very popular with events fully booked in London, Birmingham and Manchester. We are running more courses in London in 2010 – they are available for booking on our site: http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69 . We are planning to run additional CBT courses in Bristol, Manchester, Birmingham and York – they will be advertised on our website shortly – please stay tuned.

4. We have our first delegates who have successfully completed CBT online assessment following their course and received their Certificates of Assessed Academic Competence. Lisa Jayne Walker kindly shared her experiences of the course and assessment with us – you can read her interview at http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/images/appl_form/CPD%20Interview%20with%20Lisa.pdf .

5. Our highly demanded seminars on Anger Therapy are running in June. Be among the first to book and receive a massive £24 “Early Bird Discount”: pay only £75 + vat (regular price £99+vat). See http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=61 for details.

Looking forward to seeing you on our courses and always interested in your feedback.

SDS Debate: Award Winning Neurologist Challenges Our Therapy Practice

Here's a question for you: What do your clients spend most of their time talking about when they are with you?
• About how worthless they feel?
• About their negative core beliefs and how to challenge them?
• About their damaged histories and how these might be overcome?
• Or what they have been doing over the last week, month?

Marc Jeannerod may not be a name you're familiar with, but he is an internationally recognised expert in cognitive neuroscience and experimental psychology. His research has highlighted a significant process that is both theoretically interesting and contains very challenging implications for our practice.

Firstly, he has found that at a neurological level, the brain operates in exactly the same way when “simulating an action or behaviour as it does when actually doing it." In other words the same areas of the brain are used in exactly the same way when we talk about or visualise an activity or action as those that are used when we actually do that action.

Secondly, we have known elsewhere for a while that repeatedly using the same areas of our brain reinforces such connections and makes them MORE LIKELY to be used in the future.

Putting the two together suggests that what our clients spend their time visualising or thinking about increases the likelihood of them doing those things in the future. Basically, if our clients spend their time with us talking about their inactivity or inability (even when thinking about how to overcome it) INCREASES the likelihood of them continuing with their inactivity or inability.

The implications for us are more than just trying to make our clients "more positive". Firstly and most importantly, it has major implications for the agendas and protocols that both we and our clients use. Any time spent NOT talking about "successful" activity (as defined by the client) is at best a wasted opportunity and at worst – reinforcing the problem. Even if we only spend 50% of our time with clients talking about the problem, this is 50% of time spent on reinforcing the problem. Secondly, talking about "overcoming the problem" is little better – unless it focuses on what the client wants to be doing instead. Focusing on how to overcome a problem is not the same as focusing (e.g. visualising) on actually overcoming the problem.
For those of you who are wondering where ‘listening to the client's worries in order to engage them’ comes in, the answer is in the question. Attending to the client’s inaction, confusion, or distress is a necessary activity to engage the client initially, but should never be a central tenet of helping because despite best intentions it ultimately leads the client back to the place where they do not want to be.

If this issue interests you and you'd like to explore it further, or even if you fundamentally disagree with it, I'd love to discuss it with you.

You can do this in a number of ways:
• You can reply to this email directly
• You can post your reply on the SDS Blog (http://sdsmedia.blogspot.com)
• Or even better – come along to one of the SDS Seminars "All New Brief Solution Focused Therapy" (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=70). Anyone who has worked us with before will know I love lively, honest, and considered debate.

Looking forward to hearing from you and working with you again.

Take care

Paul

Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Whats going to happen to CBT after IAPT is cut back ?

Well...the writing is on the wall. IAPT looks like its in the frontline for public spending cuts.

The Observer this month says that the The Iapt Expert Reference Group (that oversees the project) has been informed that IAPT is failing to meet its targets in a big way - both in training the number of therapists needed, and in the number of people who have come off of benefits as a result of interventions made. Many staff are being asked to reapply for their jobs and the remaining £100 million allocated will not be ringfenced but will be incorporated into local NHS Trusts' budgets - to be spent as they wish. This will almost inevitably mean that traditional mental health priorities will re-establish themselves and that those perceived as "the worried well" will be left out.

The interesting question is whatb is going to happen to CBT as a result ? There are undoubtedly many who are secretly happy to see what is going to happen. Whenever someone grabs a large share of the pie ( and nearly £200 million is a VERY large share) it creates powerful reactions - jealousies amongst non-CBTers who feel unjustifiably excluded, fear amongst traditional CBTers - of which I must count some in my own profession - who fear poorer qualified (and cheaper) therapists taking their jobs.

However, I have strong suspicions that the CBT project is not dead in the water and will continue and even thrive - except in a slightly different format. Here are my predictions for CBT for the next 10 years.

(1) CBT will continue to thrive because both governments and insurance companies (the main funders and benchmarkers of therapy) want evidence that what they fund works and has a clear time limited structure to it. Whatever some people think about the application of RCTs and experimental paradigms to therapeutic outcomes,they are a continuing and growing part of the Zeitgeist we are a part of, and at present CBT is really the only show in town.

(2) CBT will fit in well to the developing mixed economy in mental health that will grow with increasing speed. There will be more people wanting to see CBT therapists on a private basis and CBT will infiltrate (even further) organisations interested in behaviour change. The Welfare-to-Work and the Criminal Justice sectors being obvious first past the post candidates.

(3) The concept of Accredited CBT Therapist will continue to be an aspirational gold standard for many, but will lose its exclusive cache. Expect to see "Non-Accredited" CBTers fulfilling important roles and a greater variation in the types and length of training on offer.

At SDS, we have long been convinced of the need for shorter intensive CBT course that are recognised (our Introductory 3 day course is Approved by The British Psychological Society) but which do not place the same heavy demands on trainees that BABCP Accreditation requires. If you are interested in such a course, by the way, details can be found at http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=69

Equally expect distance learning methods to gain pace from training DVD packs (www.psychotherapydvds.com) to webcam conferences.

(4) Finally, we will see other forms of psychotherapy coming to the fore again. These will be those that have learnt the importance of published outcome work as a marketing tool and who already have some footholds within the establishment. Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Brief Dynamic Psychotherapy and Interpersonal Psyschotherapy seem obvious candidates. Those that fight a rearguard action against registration and regulation (you know who you are) and who totally dismiss the value of empirical research will disappear even further into the shadows

Whatever happens, its likely that even a partially completed IAPT will leave its mark on the landscape. In my opinion, for the better. Which is reassuring really. I'd hate to think that £75 million was spend and its effects disappear without a trace.

Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist

The Miracle Question (Fragment)

For the full list of training DVDs visit

www.psychotherapydvds.com