Mark Willis on WillisPalmer’s exciting new social work training service
High quality training for professionals working in the children and families arena is hard to find. Over the past twelve years WillisPalmer has been delivering programs to its own ISWs and psychologists but recently we decided we should make it available to a broader audience.
Therefore we have just launched WillisPalmer, a resource for professionals working in this complex area. The training programs are available to anyone with an interest in areas such as child sexual exploitation, attachment, human trafficking or adoption. It is suitable for social workers, legal professionals and generic child care workers.
Our first program, taking place on 5th October in London is Attachment Theory – the first in a three-modular program which explores the concept devised by John Bowlby.
Attachment theory is one of the most important theoretical perspectives for professionals to understand as it offers practitioners a framework for both assessing parenting capacity and formulating interventions. This importance has been reflected in the findings and recommendations of a number of government reports including those of Eileen Munro (2011) and Sir Martin Narey (2014).
The first of two programs taking place in November and December explores attachment in the context of observation - so that professionals observing parents or other carers with children can develop their thinking and be able to recognise what individual interactions represent within a validated framework of understanding.
The third attachment module focuses upon alternative care – especially relevant when undertaking assessments with special guardians or foster parents. All three modules are presented by Terence Simmons, an expert in attachment and a hugely experienced ISW.
On October 12th experienced forensic social worker Craig Barlow delivers a one-day program on child sexual exploitation.
The term Child Sexual Exploitation has become a major part of the professional safeguarding discourse and yet many practitioners feel confused, under-confident and ill-informed about the phenomenon. This one-day workshop explores the issues and seeks to dispel some of the myths and assumptions and build professional confidence in confronting and combating this form of child sexual abuse.
In December Craig turns his attention to early and forced marriage and its links to domestic servitude and sexual exploitation. As an expert in this field Craig works as an advisor in criminal investigations and prosecutions of cases of organised networked abuse, human trafficking and slavery.
In November we are offering places on our PAMS 4.0 training course. Delivered by Rosanna Aten-Shearwood an experienced PAMS trainer and ISW, the course will equip social workers and other lead professionals to undertake a PAMS evaluation when working with vulnerable parents including those with learning disabilities.
In January 2017 we are delivering a one-day program ‘Helping children to make sense of Adoption’. This course will explore why children need information about their past, the adoption triangle, adaptive grieving and offer practical advice and ideas on encouraging children to engage in adoption conversations.
Since 2004 WillisPalmer has developed a great reputation as a quality training provider. We are delighted to make our programs available to anyone currently working with children and their families with an interest in learning and development in this ever-changing field of practice.
