Social Work

The case load of social workers is filled with people who have drugs and alcohol problems but too often the needs of these clients is seen as a specialist interest rather than a core part of practice. This means that in most professional qualifications substance use issues are marginalised, as trainers we frequently hear that the whole topic is covered in an afternoon. This is disastrous for clients as it means they they deal with people who have significant power over them and yet who are informed only by what has been picked up by either personal experience or the latest fads in the media.
These courses help to deal with this gap and fit well into core training programmes run by departments.
This course will provide the basic knowledge and skills required to identify how to respond to a client with an alcohol problem
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.

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.
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.
This three day course looks at the core concepts in Motivational Interviewing and gives participants a chance to develop their skills.
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.