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Housing

Workers in hostels and housing organisations often face tough challenges in working with people who have drugs and alcohol problems. Many of their clients have very severe problems that have disrupted their lives to a huge extent. Often, as other services find it hard to cope with these clients, housing workers need to deal with what happens in the meant time - helping prevent relapse and manage the safety of all their residents.

housing and drugs	This course will look at principles of both screening and harm reduction so that interventions and referral can be properly structured. It will also look at the legal frameworks that affect the rights and responsibilities of both workers and clients.
alcohol	This course will provide the basic knowledge and skills required to identify how to respond to a client with an alcohol problem
alcohol and loss	Drinking is a common way of dealing with personal pain and stress. Some clients start drinking because of transitions in their lives and complicated feelings about loss. Many have unresolved loss issues in their lives. This two day course explores some of the issues.
alcohol and older people	The focus tends to be on young people drinking too much. Older people get ignored. This course looks at some of the common issues faced by people who are over 60 who are drinking too much.
alcohol brief interventions	This one-day course examines looks at how workers can screen clients who have an alcohol problem and the kinds of support that are available.
appraisal and supervision	This programme will introduce managers to good practice in appraisal. It can be tailored easily to meet your organisation's need and to fit within your policy context. It is an ideal tool for assisting managers to use DANOS (the Drugs and Alcohol National Occupational Standards) in the appraisal and supervision process.
assertiveness	Key issues underlying many of those presented by a client are assertiveness and lack of self-esteem.  This 2 day course will explore some of the key ideas and techniques involved. It will provide participants with an opportunity to develop their own assertiveness and learn techniques that may be useful to clients.
assessment	This course looks at the core issues involved in the assessment process, - it considers the type of rapport that needs to exist with the client, the kinds of questions that may be asked and strategies to deal with issues that may cause complications.
care plans and relapse prevention	This course will provide the basic knowledge and skills required to identify how to respond to a client with an alcohol problem
cocaine and crack	Cocaine and Crack use has presented a number of challenges for drug services. Many were set up to deal with injecting opiate users who were often prescribed a substitute medication. To work with people who are primarily cocaine users requires substantial changes in what workers may do and how services are planned.
difficult questions and the assessment process	This course looks at the practical skills of shaping questions in a way that gives the client the necessary information they need to decide the information they want to share in a way that feels secure for them. It looks at the context of the questions being asked and provides an opportunity to consider practical strategies to address barriers. Some of the questions may be unpleasant to answer and embarrassing to ask. Common situations that workers may have problems include: • Finding out about the client's sexual history • Asking the client to define their ethnicity • Getting someone to state their sexuality
domestic violence and substance use	This course looks at this complex interrelationship between problematic substance use and domestic violence in order to explore practical ways of working with clients to maximise safety.
dual diagnosis issues	This course aims to provide core information on how drugs, alcohol and mental health issues interrelate. The interface between mental health, drugs and alcohol is highly complex and not necessarily well understood
core drugs knowledge	Drugs and substance misuse problems are a major source of anxiety at every level in society. Sometimes this panic can make it very hard to respond appropriately to the needs of the individual client. This course seeks to enable workers to explore their own attitudes and to look at how they can provide an appropriate service to individuals they may meet.
diversity	This course will cover the legal, ethical and practical elements of equal opportunities, and will enable participants to recognise and implement best practice in inclusive and anti-discriminatory practice.
engagement and rapport	This course considers new research on how the therapeutic relationship with the client can be the primary resource that clients may use to help change their behaviour. This has major implications for how we engage and establish rapport with the people we see. This one day course looks at the implications of the new research and considers how it can be applied in day to day work
drugs and young people	This course seeks to enable workers to explore their own attitudes and to look at how they can provide an appropriate service to young people they may meet. It will provide key knowledge and skills required to identify how to respond to a client with a drugs problem
the effective drugs and alcohol worker	Covering 4 DANOS units, this 5 day course aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to working with clients who have drugs and alcohol problems.
handling aggression	This course aims to ensure that drug services staff are aware of why aggressive behaviour occurs, how to deal with it when it does occur, and how their own practice and the policies and procedures of their agency may impact negatively upon clients' behaviour and how to address this.
handling intoxication	This course aims to give frontline workers the skills required to handle clients under the influence of drink or drugs in a manner that ensures the safety of everyone concerned. It will also enable managers to detail the necessary components of an effective policy
harm reduction and risk	This two-day course examines the concept of risk when working with clients. It has two main elements. On the first day, it looks at the kinds of risks that a client's patterns of drug use may present to them and the people around them. This forms a basis for introducing harm reduction information that can be offered to clients and how the client can be supported to change their behaviour. On the second day, we will look at managing risk factors presented by the client. It will look at principles of safe working and risk assessing premises and activities that the worker carries out. By doing this in a transparent way the client will learn skills on how to manage their own risk and plan to keep themselves safe.
listening skills	All effective work with a client begins with listening. This is sometimes difficult as workers are often pressurised or tempted to try and find solutions too quickly. This course is about giving a client time to express themselves and to try and find solutions themselves with the worker giving them time, attention and empathy.
motivational interviewing	This three day course looks at the core concepts in Motivational Interviewing and gives participants a chance to develop their skills.
preparation for management	This course looks at the expectations on managers and is designed for people who are thinking of moving into their role. It looks at the natures of the roles with a particular emphasis on ways of supporting workers to develop within their roles and take charge of their own professional development
overdose	This course will enable workers to support clients to reduce risks of overdose
reflective practice	A short course that will help workers to develop the core skills of reflective practice needed to keep them fresh and working in a safe way.
safeguarding children	On completion of this course, participants will be much clearer about their responsibilities in drug and alcohol services, and will have a full understanding of how they should work with young people and children to accurately assess the risk they face. The course will cover both the practical support needs of young people, and the legal obligations inherent to working within the Child Protection framework, including those surrounding disclosure.
service user involvement	This course will consider models of good practice from across the health and social care system to enable participants to identify approaches that may work in their locality and organisations. It will also help services and organizations meet QUADS standard 16: involving and empowering services user.
training the trainers	This four-day course will enable trainers to be confident in designing, delivering and evaluating drugs and alcoholtraining events. It will help them to use the standards to inform the content and delivery of training and maximize the possibilities of competence based learning.
understanding group work	This course will provide a practical and theoretical basis for facilitators who are new to group work.
working on the front line	This two-day course looks at the essence of what is expected of workers and equips them with the key tools to handle difficult situations, pass prospective clients on to people who can help and use available sources of support.