Children, Young People & Families Practice Programme
An advanced, practice-led training programme for qualified counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health practitioners who want to work more safely, confidently and effectively with children, young people and families.
Face-to-face | Experiential | Safeguarding-anchored | Built for real-world practice
Why we created this programme
Many qualified counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health practitioners complete core training with strong theoretical foundations, yet still feel underprepared for the real-world demands of working with children, young people and families.
Safeguarding complexity, developmental differences, neurodivergence, family systems and engagement challenges can make early practice in this area feel high-stakes. Drawing on substantial combined experience in counselling, psychotherapy, safeguarding, service leadership and training, we created this programme to help bridge that gap.
Rather than adapting a generic training model, we have developed a specialist programme shaped by the realities of practice and designed to support practitioners to work more safely, confidently and effectively with children, young people and families. This is a distinctive training offer, developed from real practice experience and built to prepare practitioners for the realities of the work.
The team behind this programme
Sarah McFadyen, BABCP No. 130417
Course Lead
Co-Founder | AIM for Excellence
Sarah is an experienced, accredited CBT psychotherapist and qualified lecturer with substantial expertise in professional training and course design. She has taught on, and helped shape, COSCA and BACP-approved training programmes, alongside delivering specialist teaching across therapeutic settings. As Course Lead, she brings particular strength in translating training into applied practice and ensuring that the programme is delivered with clarity, rigour and high professional standards.
Ross Irvine, MBACP No. 401654
Trainer
Co-Founder | AIM for Excellence
Ross is a therapist, service leader and trainer with substantial experience across children, young people, families and wider support systems. As Head of Psychological Services at Insight Youth, he brings extensive experience in therapeutic practice with children, young people and families, alongside expertise in safeguarding, service development, neurodivergence and the design of psychologically informed services. His background in youth work, multidisciplinary collaboration and leadership across a range of settings gives him a broad, practice-based understanding of the realities facing practitioners in this field.
Lee Armitage, MBACP No. 401746
Trainer
Co-Founder | AIM for Excellence
Lee is a senior practitioner with substantial experience in therapeutic work with children and young people, with particular strengths in safeguarding, work with younger children and the mentoring of placement practitioners. She brings a strong commitment to safe practice, professional standards and the careful translation of therapeutic work into real-world settings. Her experience in supporting practitioners, maintaining quality and upholding ethical rigour is a key part of the strength behind this programme.
What makes this programme distinctive
Built from practice
This programme has been shaped by substantial combined experience in counselling, psychotherapy, safeguarding, training and work with children, young people and families.
Beyond one model
Designed for practitioners from a range of therapeutic backgrounds, the programme is not rooted in one theoretical house but in the practical realities of therapeutic work with children, young people and families.
Integrated immersive placement
This programme includes an incorporated placement within a live specialist setting, connecting learning directly to the realities of therapeutic work with children, young people and families.
Created for qualified practitioners
It is designed for counsellors, psychotherapists and mental health practitioners who want to deepen their confidence, competence and readiness for therapeutic work with children, young people and families.
Working with complexity
The programme reflects the realities of practice, including developmental needs, neurodivergence, family systems, engagement challenges and safeguarding decision-making.
Practice-based learning
Teaching, discussion and experiential elements are structured to help participants translate knowledge into practice with greater clarity and confidence.
How the programme is delivered
This programme is delivered through a strongly practice-based model that combines teaching, discussion and substantial experiential learning. It is designed not only to deepen understanding, but to help participants develop the practical tools, skills and confidence needed to engage effectively with children, young people and families.
Participants will not simply hear about approaches in theory. Throughout the programme, they will be encouraged to get stuck in, try things out, reflect on their experience and build techniques they can actually use in practice. The emphasis is on applied learning, so that participants leave with more than ideas alone — they leave with strategies, tools and greater readiness for the realities of the work.
This is training designed to be used, not just understood.
Programme structure & key information
The programme runs across six Saturdays, delivered monthly from September to February, and combines theory, discussion and applied experiential learning throughout. Alongside the teaching days, participants will complete an integrated 60-hour placement, helping them build confidence, competence and readiness for real-world practice with children, young people and families.
| Programme dates
Day 1 - Saturday 19 September 2026
Day 2 - Saturday 24 October 2026
Day 3 - Saturday 21 November 2026
Day 4 - Saturday 12 December 2026
Day 5 - Saturday 23 January 2027
Day 6 - Saturday 27 February 2027
Day 1 — Foundations and safe start
A strong opening focus on safeguarding, readiness, professional responsibilities and the core foundations for safe and effective practice with children, young people and families, with practical learning embedded from the outset.
Days 2 to 5 — Core teaching and learning phase
The central part of the programme blends theory, discussion and experiential learning throughout, helping participants develop both depth of understanding and the tools, techniques and confidence to use that learning in practice.
Day 6 — Integration, reflection and professional identity
A closing day focused on consolidation, reflection and integration, while maintaining the practical and applied emphasis that runs across the programme.
| What you’ll learn
This programme is designed to help participants build confidence, competence and practical skills in work with children, young people and families.
How to structure and adapt sessions for children and young people
Greater confidence in safeguarding awareness, decision-making and professional responsibilities
Developmentally informed and neurodivergence-aware ways of working
Practical tools, activities and resources to support engagement
Confidence in working with younger children, teenagers and younger adults
Greater clarity in parent and carer interactions
More confidence in liaising with schools and other professionals around the child or young person
Practical approaches to challenge, disengagement, rupture and more difficult moments in the work
A stronger sense of how therapeutic work with children and young people can look and feel in practice
Progressive confidence-building through supported placement experience in a specialist CYP setting
| Placement
The programme includes an integrated 60-hour placement, delivered in partnership with Insight Youth as the primary placement setting. This gives participants experience within a leading specialist therapeutic service for children and young people, alongside purpose-designed environments that immerse them in the breadth, depth and possibilities of CYP therapeutic work.
Our placement model is progressive and supportive. Client allocations are carefully matched to each participant’s stage of development, allowing confidence and clinical skills to build gradually over time, with opportunities to work with increasing complexity as competence grows.
Dedicated mentoring and support are provided throughout the placement, helping participants consolidate learning, develop confidence and feel well held as they grow into the work.
| Entry requirements
The programme is intended for qualified counsellors and psychotherapists, and other therapeutically trained mental health practitioners, who have completed recognised core therapeutic training and are looking to develop their practice with children, young people and families.
Applicants are expected to have completed training broadly consistent with professional entry-level counselling or psychotherapy practice, such as SCoPEd Column A or above, where relevant.
This programme is designed as continuing professional development. It is not a core counselling or psychotherapy qualification and does not confer professional registration.
| Cohort size
Places are intentionally limited in order to support a small, high-quality cohort and a more immersive learning experience. Early enquiry is encouraged.
| Course fee
£1,200 for the founding cohort.
This fee includes all teaching days, course materials, integrated placement support, and a starter resource box to help participants begin building their own practical toolkit for therapeutic work with children, young people and families. This will include a range of useful resources for applied practice, including simple creative, sensory and play-based materials.
We recognise that funding training can be a significant commitment. In some cases, external financial support or flexible payment arrangements may be possible, and applicants are welcome to contact us to discuss this in confidence.