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17th November – 16.30
Such a long time since our last update. Things were starting to look favourable in June, and 5 months later . . . which way is it all going!
Our core Counselling and Psychotherapy courses commenced in October on an online platform and we were planning to resume face to face training at Plumpton in January 2021. There are many things for us to consider though including the ethical implications of doing what we can to do no harm and to keep people safe.
As a tutor team we are very keen to get back to face to face as soon as possible as we are all really missing the ‘in the room’ contact with students but we must also consider the ethical implications of doing what we can to do no harm and to keep people safe. At the same time we are aware that numbers are still increasing although it looks as if the R number is reducing slightly which is a positive. We imagine that people will do lots of socialising at Christmas and that may then send numbers up again. The whole situation is incredibly frustrating and its really challenging for us to plan ahead.
Our online workshops are continuing to be a lifeline for us, and for many of our participants. We have introduced a new range of online workshops for 2021 including working with bereavement, creativity, eating disorders, and educational ta, alongside our popular working with trauma, couples counselling, working with groups, interpersonal neurobiology, counselling skills and introduction to transactional analysis.
One day we will all meet again face to face!
22nd June – 17.30
Slowly, slowly the next level of easing up is announced: we hope things continue to move in the right direction, and hope that we are able to resume our training in October. We await future government announcements.
Our 2 hour onlineTA talks continue and we have introduced further online courses (Trauma and Interpersonal Neurobiology) and more are being planned as I write. Our planned face to face courses upto 13th September have been moved online (Counselling Skills, TA101) and we have postponed the Certificate in Couples Counselling until we are able to run this face to face.
We have some online open evening events planned and a fast paced fund-raising event for Nicola’s Bionic Legs.
Keep upto date with all our news in our weekly newsletter.
21st May 2020 – 11.30
As things start to ease up in terms of restrictions, the date of resuming our normal face to face training is still no clearer.
In the short term we have moved our TA101 on 13th/14th June to an online version and have also introduced new online courses (continuing to use Zoom), with many more to come. If you have booked onto the next Couples Counselling Course, which starts in July, and the July TA101, we will contact you mid June with the latest information.
4th May 2020 – 11.30
The Counselling Skills course in May/June has been moved to an online platform and has now been widened and will now cater for those wanting Basic / Intermediate / Advanced Skills.
Our “you select what you pay”online talks have become increasingly popular and on occasions places have sold out!
We have been pro-active in bringing together TA practitioners and students across the whole world and are embracing meeting up with our international TA community.
14th April 2020 – 14.00
We are currently looking at the provision of our Counselling Skills course in May / June and will be providing an update very soon.
3rd April 2020 – 16.00
Our online training is moving successfully forward and we will be transferring 3 more of our courses to an online format: Working with Groups (April), TA202 (May), TA101 (May). If you have booked onto these courses we will have already been in contact with you or we will be contacting you very shortly.
Our weekly TA talks on a Monday, Tuesday and Thursday continue to be very well attended and it is lovely for us all to meet up in this online world.
30th March 2020 – 13.30
As you are aware, we cannot offer any face to face courses at present and we are unsure how long this situation will last.
We have been running our core training and other courses online using Zoom and although there are a few technical glitches at the start of the day whilst getting everyone up and running, it is working well. Whilst it is not the same as face to face, we are all in a position where we are being forced to work online and students are finding this is helping them get used to the technology and learn and engage in a different way. A student from our Advanced TA training course gave this feedback from the training module this weekend.
“A huge thanks for the efforts you have put into providing a safe and engaging online learning environment for us this weekend. It appeared seamless and very slick and you demonstrated beautifully how this current environment demands change, and that such change is possible at breakneck speed! I have learnt so much about working online this weekend which I can take to supporting my clients.” Amy
We are running some low cost (choose ticket level) TA Tuesday Talks, in order that we can stay connected – Tune in on Tuesday 30th when the topic is Psychobiological Hungers. In addition, Leilani and Mark are taking part in a number of Onlinevents CPD talks (donation) with the next event being Mark talking on Dealing with Trauma using TA on Thursday 2nd April at 6pm. Leilani had 209 attendees at her talk this morning on Anxiety and TA.
19th March 2020 – 11.15
Further to the government announcement yesterday regarding the closure of schools and colleges, Plumpton College, the location of our training courses, will be closing down the college premises for face to face tuition from 5pm on Friday 20th March, until further notice. We are delivering our core training modules using the Online platform Zoom and current students (Diploma in Supervision and Diploma in TA Counselling/Psychotherapy courses) should have received full details from us.
We are currently looking at delivering our April workshops using Zoom and will be contacting those who have booked onto those workshops as soon as we can.
16th March 2020 – 19.15
We find ourselves in unchartered territory with the corona virus outbreak and the latest government announcements. We are working hard to deliver some of our training using an online platform. This allows face to face contact with the rest of the group and the tutor, sight of powerpoints, break-out rooms for smaller discussion groups, group and individual chat.
We are firstly working on the training courses running during the remainder of March.
13th March 2020
We are closely monitoring government advice regarding the current health situation and the impact this may have on our training provision.
At the moment, our courses are going ahead. However, in line with government advice, if you have had the recent onset of a new continuous cough and/or a high temperature and are booked onto an upcoming course, please let us know and please don’t come to the Link Centre. Please look after yourself and keep safe.
Although a lot of the following will already be familiar, just to reiterate the advice on the website on 13th March from Public Health England:-
The advice for anyone in any setting is to follow these main guidelines.
Our courses are based at Plumpton College and Plumpton College have issued a statement on their website. https://www.plumpton.ac.uk/our-college/news/coronavirus-update-2020-4713/ A lot of this relates specifically to their students, but it talks about the responsibility of us all to follow good hygiene practice and to follow government and NHS advice. They also talk about their increased cleaning activity in high traffic and contact areas.
Behind the scenes we are planning for various potential outcomes and whilst at the moment it is business as usual, taking the necessary precautions, things can change very quickly.
We will update you as soon as we can if you have booked onto one of our courses. If you are planning on coming to the Wellbeing Evenings, please check our website before you set out and don’t come if you are ill as per above advice.
The Link Centre
Sussex Rural Business Centre
Plumpton College
Ditchling Road
Plumpton
Sussex
BN7 3AE
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