No Time for Goodbye – Understanding the Impact and Providing Support to Children and Young People Following a Death by Suicide – Two Day Course – 11th and 20th November 2024
Understanding the Impact and Providing Support to Children and Young People Following a Death by Suicide
Date:
Day one – Monday 11th November
Day two – Wednesday 20th November
(attendees must be able to attend both dates **Please do not book this course if you are unable to attend both dates. In event of last minute cancellation, please nomiate a colleague to attend both dates on your behalf)
Location: The Lights, Andover, SP10 1AH (Conference Room)
Time: 10am – 4.30pm on each day of the course. The Conference Room will be open and available from 9.30am. Please arrive by 9.45am at the latest to make sure we are ready for a 10am start.
Venue Information: The Lights is situated a 2 minute walk from the main town centre or a 10 minute walk from Andover Rail station.
Parking:
There are 4 public parking areas close to The Lights:
The Chantry Centre Car Park (locked after 11pm)
Marlborough Street free parking after 4pm and on Sundays
West Street free parking after 4pm and on Sundays
Anton House pay and display. Free after 6pm weekdays and as pay & display during the day, and at weekends.
Visitors may drive to the front entrance to drop off disabled passengers. Disabled parking can be found in West Street car park.
Refreshments: Tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided at 9.45am and at 2.15pm. Lunch will not be provided. There will be a break for lunch and you may wish to bring a packed lunch with you, or buy your lunch on-site at The Atrium Café Bar, within The Lights.
Course Outline:
- The language around death by suicide
- Addressing stigma
- “Brave Face”
- Emotions & behaviours, recognition and support
- Coping strategies
- Risk
- Bereavement & neurodiversity
- Explaining inquest to children & young people (CYP)
- Grief cycle and CYP
- Impact and self-care
A resource pack will be provided to each participant to take away (one per school/organisation) following the completion of the workshop.
If the course is fully booked, you will be added to a wait list in case of cancellation.
Please note that spaces are limited so booking is essential. Walk-ins will not be accepted. If your preferred date is full, alternative dates may still be available.
Why Listening Ear?
Supporting people after bereavement is at the heart of our organisation’s history and purpose. Listening Ear was founded in 1993 by a group of volunteers who trained in reflective listening so that they could better support bereaved adults within the local community. Ten years later, a local child was first-on-scene at a family suicide and the group recognised that there was no therapeutic support for bereaved children and young people.
After further training, Listening Ear established Butterflies, a dedicated activity-based therapy service for children and young people who had experienced bereavement and loss, which is delivered across the North West today. Our Counselling service has full service accreditation under the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy and operates within its Ethical Framework.
Listening Ear’s Suicide Bereavement Postvention Service, ‘Amparo’ is delivered nationwide and is accessible by 30% of the English population. Amparo provides practical and emotional support for people bereaved and affected by suicide. Our local service across Hampshire, Southampton, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth has supported over 400 adults and 100 children and young people across the region, with 90% of beneficiaries seeing improvements to their mental health and wellbeing following support.
Children we have supported following bereavement said:
“I feel more comfortable speaking about how I feel, I now have my activities I can do if I feel down.”
“Family life has been more peaceful and better in general.”
“I am not worried about little things and they don’t become big. I just feel happier.”
“I have been talking about my dad more to the family. Coming here has helped me to talk about him a lot more.”
“I’ve been using my emotions journal. I have some more calm strategies at home. They help me be calmer.”
In 2019, we launched our Professional Training Arm, Mindset. We deliver high-quality mental health training and awareness courses to a wide range of professionals and workplaces, including; private sector staff, local businesses, local authorities, teachers, foster carers, social workers, GPs, NHS Trusts, police departments and more.
In the last 3 years alone, we have supported over 2,000 adults, children and young people affected by bereavement with BACP-accredited counselling and emotional support services. This means we have the practical experience and knowledge required to share best practice and what works with other professionals.
In 2023 we delivered this training to 70 professionals (over 5 days) in the South East and course evaluations included:
· 89% of respondents rated the training 5 Excellent and 11% chose a score of 4.
· 87% of respondents scored the training ‘5 Tremendous Difference or 4’ in relation to the extent they expected the training to make a difference to the way they did their job.
· 100% said that they would recommend this training to a colleague or other professional.
Feedback on the training provided included:
· ‘I think the training was of an exceptional high standard and as an in house trainer I have also taken ideas away about my delivery of that’.
· ‘No improvements required! It was delivered at the right level and both Tracy and the kind gent supporting her did a brilliant job. When Tracy put the information across in examples, it really brought home what these children and YP are going through and their thought processes and how to support them’.
· ‘The only thing I would ask for is more of this!!!’
· ‘I think this training was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed it and the way it was presented. A great mix of facts and knowledge. As well as real life scenarios so we could relate the facts to reality’.
About Your Trainers
Tracy Allen-Lea is the Head of Clinical Services for Listening Ear and has worked therapeutically with children and young people for over fifteen years. Tracy is responsible for risk and incident management for all services and is a nominated safeguarding and child protection lead within the organisation. As the Head of Listening Ear’s training arm, Mindset, Tracy designs and leads on all group work, workshops and courses within the organisation and has recently written a new Diploma in Children and Young People’s Counselling, accredited by the CPCAB. Tracy is a qualified Counsellor and first joined Listening Ear as a volunteer in 2004, amassing twenty years of unrivalled experience across frontline delivery, management and Senior Management levels. Tracy uses an engaging and interactive format for training courses including case scenarios, group exercises, discussion work, slide presentations, video clips and creative activities.
Jenny Talbot is Listening Ear’s local Projects & Partnerships Lead for Amparo across Southampton, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. Jenny has specialised in the field of suicide bereavement for over 3 years, excelling in a variety of roles, including delivering one-to-one support with beneficiaries both as a Suicide Liaison Worker and as a qualified Counsellor. Jenny has also worked at a strategic level, implementing suicide bereavement services within the sector and managing projects, from driving awareness-raising initiatives, creating partnerships to tackle stigma and leading on promotional campaigns. Jenny has extensive experience coordinating and delivering on-site community response plans in group settings following suicide bereavement, including working with children, young people, teachers, pastoral staff, police and wider services within schools and colleges.
Ready to book?
This course is most suited to professionals working with and supporting Children & Young People in an educational, safeguarding and/or pastoral capacity. Feedback from previous attendees has shown that this course is best suited to school staff, safeguarding leads, community nurses, youth workers or those working in similar roles, who have not previously attended this training. The course may not be as beneficial to those employing psychotherapy techniques with children and young people (such as those working in CAMHS or other similar services).