Home » Courses » Short Courses and Workshops » Counsellors and Psychotherapists as Mental Health Practitioners: A Mental Health Familiarisation online series
This dynamic 4-part series of online workshops has been designed to support trainee and qualified Counsellors and Psychotherapists to develop a critical appreciation of our professional roles within the wider system of mental health care. They will also support those seeking to fulfil the UKCP’s Mental Health Familiarisation Placement requirements.
Whilst our core training and practice provide us with the theory and skills required to engage clients in the therapeutic endeavour, an appreciation of ourselves as mental health practitioners working within the systems of mental health care provision is all-too often missed. So, as we tend to our clients in private practice and service clinics, we can often feel set apart and unfamiliar with the experiences of our clients as mental health ‘patients’ and from our mental health colleagues with whom we are effectively working with. This can mean we often feel deskilled in providing the informed, collaborative care essential to so many of our clients.
This series of workshops has been designed to support counsellors, psychotherapists and trainees to develop a critical appreciation of themselves as mental health practitioners. Participants will be familiarised with the language, systems, stakeholders and processes of mental health care as it is currently delivered within the UK today and will be invited to critically engage with the philosophical and socio-political principles that underpin this. We have brought together a range of experts to deliver this programme including Psychotherapists and Psychologists with significant experience of delivering therapeutic care within mental health services.
Each online workshop has been designed to meet the four criteria for the Mental Health Familiarisation Placement (MHFP) required to gain registration as a Psychotherapist with the UKCP. You can view the UKCP Mental Health Familiarisation requirements here. The UKCP stipulate that prospective Psychotherapists should be able to demonstrate their learning and experience of the following four areas of mental health, which map on to our online workshops as follows:
Workshop 1: Counsellors and psychotherapists in the wider system of mental health care with Geoff Hopping – Friday 14th November 2025 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)
Workshop 2: A socially responsible understanding of mental health with Ngozi Cadmus – Friday 12th December 2025 10:00 – 17:00 (6 hours and 1 hour break)
Workshop 3: Diagnosing and treating mental ‘ill-health’ with Giovanni Felice Pace – Saturday 17th January 2026 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)
Workshop 4: Models of assessment: how the mental health care system understands clients with ‘mental illness’ with Dr Rachel Hopping – Friday 6th March 09.30-16.30 (6 hours and 1 hour break)
Delivery: Live and interactive via Zoom. Sessions will not be recorded.
Cost: £110 per workshop. A discount of 10% will be applied to group bookings of all four workshops for a total of £396. Link Centre Members please book via admin@thelinkcentre.co.uk
Participant numbers: Spaces are limited to 40 participants.
Recognition: A Link Centre Certificate of Attendance for the number of hours completed.
Pre-Course Requirements: Participants should be qualified or trainee Counsellors or Psychotherapists.
This one-day workshop aims to provide an overview of the wider system of mental health care provision and the role of counsellors and psychotherapists within it. This training has been designed to meet the aims of the ‘Working within the Wider Systems of Care’ component of the UKCP’s requirements for a Mental Health Familiarisation Placement.
A Socially Responsible Understanding of Mental Health one-day workshop aims to provide an essential overview on mental health, mental illness and mental health care from a social rather than individual context.
This 6-hour workshop will support counsellors and psychotherapists to gain a more comprehensive understanding of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, as well as a critical appreciation of the socio-political, historical and cultural assumptions that underpin these current frameworks. As a result practitioners will be able to effectively understand mental health difficulties as they emerge in our practices, whilst maintaining a client-centred, collaborative and safe approach to managing this.
This one-day workshop has been designed to develop participants knowledge and awareness of a range of assessments and to support the development of the skills required for recognising mental health difficulties and accessing appropriate treatment for our clients.
Counsellors and psychotherapists in the wider system of mental health care 14th November 2025
BOOK THIS COURSEA socially responsible understanding of mental health 12th December 2025
BOOK THIS COURSEDiagnosing and treating mental ‘ill-health’ 17th January 2026
BOOK THIS COURSEModels of assessment: how the mental health care system understands clients with ‘mental illness’ 6th March 2026
BOOK THIS COURSEIndividual workshops are charged upon booking. Options to make a group booking will be sent once an individual workshop has been booked.
£110 per workshop. A discount of 10% will be applied to group bookings of all four workshops for a total of £396. Link Centre Members please book via admin@thelinkcentre.co.uk
50% refund will be given for cancellations with more than 7 days’ notice.
Online Event (Zoom) - workshops will not be recorded
This one-day workshop aims to provide an overview of the wider system of mental health care provision and the role of counsellors and psychotherapists within it. This training has been designed to meet the aims of the ‘Working within the Wider Systems of Care’ component of the UKCP’s requirements for a Mental Health Familiarisation Placement.
A Socially Responsible Understanding of Mental Health one-day workshop aims to provide an essential overview on mental health, mental illness and mental health care from a social rather than individual context.
This 6-hour workshop will support counsellors and psychotherapists to gain a more comprehensive understanding of psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, as well as a critical appreciation of the socio-political, historical and cultural assumptions that underpin these current frameworks. As a result practitioners will be able to effectively understand mental health difficulties as they emerge in our practices, whilst maintaining a client-centred, collaborative and safe approach to managing this.
This one-day workshop has been designed to develop participants knowledge and awareness of a range of assessments and to support the development of the skills required for recognising mental health difficulties and accessing appropriate treatment for our clients.
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