Professional Training Courses

Our mind-mindedness research is already being used to inform the practice of professionals working with mothers suffering from a range of severe mental illnesses, and adoptive parents whose children have been referred with behaviour problems. Mind-mindedness research has also fed into the NSPCC’s All Babies Count programme which aims to provide guidance for all new parents.‌

Our Professional Training Courses are run by Professor Elizabeth Meins. They are open to midwives, health visitors, clinical psychologists, childcare professionals, social workers, and any other professionals working with children. Training will normally be held at the University of York, but courses can be conducted elsewhere if an organisation has a sufficient number of people who would like to be trained.

Our one-day course: "Mind-mindedness in Practice" will inform attendees about mind-mindedness and its role in predicting child and family outcome. We have produced a short animated film and associated booklet, and these materials will be used to introduce attendees to the concept of mind-mindedness. Copies of these materials will be given to every person attending the Professional Training Course for their own use. A range of practical activities will be covered to enable attendees to learn how to identify mind-mindedness from parents’ descriptions of their children and from observing parent–child interaction. We will also look at use of the video-feedback intervention.

We also run a two-day course: "Mind-mindedness in Research", aimed at academics who are interested in using our mind-mindedness assessments in their own research. This incorporates the "Mind-Mindedness in Practice" content but also gives ample opportunity for extensive practical experience of coding, with feedback and group discussions.

If an organisation involved in clinical practice has a number of potential delegates, courses can be tailored to specific professional needs. These generally take the form of a one-day initial course with a follow-up half-day session six to eight weeks later. The initial training day will be as above, plus attendees will also be given ideas on how to increase levels of mind-mindedness in parents with whom they work. By the end of the day, attendees will have formulated a plan for using the training in their professional practice. During the follow-up session participants will feedback to the group on how the training was incorporated into their practice and discuss ideas with fellow practitioners.

Next course: Mind-mindedness in Research and Practice - dates tba

Some feedback from previous courses:

"Thoroughly enjoyed mind mindedness training today. Very informative and thought provoking."
"I thoroughly enjoyed the training and am already applying elements of it to my practice."
"The training process was well organised, the opportunity to practice the coding made the system accessible and clear and the whole discussion of MM gave me valuable information and directions for future research."

If you would like us to arrange a Professional Training Course for your organisation, or if you are interested in attending a future course, please contact elizabeth.meins@york.ac.uk.