Open College Network has this month given our training provided to refugee communities an accreditation at entry level 3. This training is provided by our Active Lives, Healthy Minds Project to our refugee community partners. The main objective of the project is to prevent admission to acute mental health services by providing community based mental health and well being support services to members of refugee communities. To this end the training provides basic counselling skills to volunteers providing, mental health outreach workers working in their respective communities.
The course comprised of 12 sessions that build the skills of participants and capacity of their organisation, titles include:
- Developing a Personal and Professional Development Plan
- Dimensions and core conditions of the helping relationship
- Collaborative working relationships
- The helping process
- Understanding the Internal Frame of Reference
- Starting and structuring a Session
- Facilitating problem solving
- Enhancing mind skills
- Conducting mid sessions
- Terminating help
- Understanding trauma
- Ethical Issues and Dilemmas
The training is free to partner organisations working with refugees. If your Centre is interested in getting volunteers trained please email Selam Kidane at selam@rota.org.uk and we will send you full details on the training and other support services that might be available as part of the project.
We would like to take this opportunity to thank, our partner organisations for all their help in developing this training. In particular we thank Evelyn Oldfield Unit for partnering with us on accrediting the course.