Children, young people and families practice programme
The Children, Young People and Families Practice Programme is a specialist, practice-led CPD programme for qualified counsellors, psychotherapists and therapeutically trained mental health practitioners who want to develop safer, more confident CYP practice.
This programme offers:
- six face-to-face teaching days, delivered monthly
- an integrated 60-hour placement pathway in a specialist CYP therapeutic service
- safeguarding-anchored, experiential training
- practical preparation for real-world CYP work
- a focus on children, young people, families, neurodivergence and wider systems
- training that is not tied to one therapeutic model
- a small cohort designed for a high-quality learning experience
Core therapeutic training gives practitioners an essential foundation, but it does not always prepare them for the specific realities of working with children, young people and families.
CYP work asks something particular of practitioners. It involves safeguarding responsibility, developmental understanding, neurodivergence-aware practice, family and carer contact, engagement challenges, creative flexibility, professional liaison and confidence in managing uncertainty.
The Children, Young People and Families Practice Programme has been created for qualified practitioners who want to meet those demands with greater clarity, confidence and readiness.
This is an advanced, practice-led training programme for qualified counsellors, psychotherapists and therapeutically trained mental health practitioners. It is face-to-face, experiential and safeguarding-anchored, and is designed to help participants translate therapeutic knowledge into practical, usable CYP work.
The programme is not tied to one therapeutic model. It is built around the shared realities of CYP practice, making it relevant to practitioners from a range of therapeutic backgrounds.
Across six monthly Saturdays, participants will explore the foundations of safe CYP practice, therapeutic engagement with children and young people, developmentally appropriate ways of working, creative and sensory approaches, neurodivergence-aware practice, family and carer contact, safeguarding decision-making, professional boundaries and the wider systems around the child or young person.
A major point of distinction is the integrated 60-hour placement pathway. Delivered in partnership with Insight Youth as the primary placement setting, subject to suitability, safeguarding requirements, placement capacity and successful onboarding, the placement gives participants the opportunity to connect teaching directly with supported experience in a live specialist CYP therapeutic service.
This is training designed to be used, not just understood.
Programme dates
- Saturday 19 September 2026
- Saturday 24 October 2026
- Saturday 21 November 2026
- Saturday 12 December 2026
- Saturday 23 January 2027
- Saturday 27 February 2027
The programme is suitable for qualified practitioners who want to develop safer, more confident and more effective therapeutic work with children, young people and families.
For full details and enquiries, visit Aim for Excellence