Team of Life Facilitator Training Package

Learn how to deliver a unique resilience programme based on Narrative Therapy

The TEAM approach to resilience

Builds resilience and capacity by activating childen and young people's support systems.

We offer training for the children's workforce to deliver our unique resilience programme. The Team of Life can also be used for resilience building with adults and team building with staff groups. Our Team of Life Facilitator Training Package also includes access to session plans and resources.

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Training Options

Choose between our Online Course, Face-to-face Training or Live Online Training. All options include access to the guidance, downloadable resources and online delivery area to support delivery of the our Team of Life Resilience Programme

What's Included?

Online On Demand Course - study at your own pace; approximately 7 hours of study time which is available 24/7 for 90 days
Team of Life Resilience Programme - access to step-by-step facilitators' guidance, session plans and resources enabling you to deliver our programme. The programme is 6 x 1-hour sessions that can be adapted for groups of different sizes. Some of the core activities can also be adapted for 1-1 and family work
Introduction to Narrative Therapy - the approach underpinning Team of Life provides a philosophy and methodology for conversations that places children's stories, knowledge, and skills at the centre
Downloadable resources: everything you need to deliver Team of Life including session plans and printable handouts
Online Delivery Support - Slides narrated by young people and video content to support delivery, engaging children and young people and making reducing preparation time
Team of Life Facilitator Community - online private community, enabling you to connect with us as well as share practice experience with fellow facilitators

Downloadable Resources Included

Session plans and printable handouts for a cost effective sustainable approach

All the materials you need to support delivery of the programme are included. You will be free to download, print and re-use these resources as often as you wish.

Training Outcomes

Understand more about Narrative Therapy and the Team of Life Approach
Develop skills for narrative conversations that can be used with children, families and adults
Run our Team of Life Programmes within your setting
Build resilience and reduce social isolation among your client group
Deliver this cross-cultural approach that can be adapted to a range of client groups including BAME and those disadvantaged due to socio-economic status

Option 1 - On Demand Online Training

£140 per delegate - contact us for bulk orders or to pay via your organisation

Study at your own pace; 7 hours of study time available 24/7 over 90 days.

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Option 2 - Face to Face Training

1 day face to face face workshop

Training Enquiries

Buckinghamshire MHST second training cohort

Option 3 - Live Online Training

Two half days online workshop

Training Enquiries

Our Partners and Customers

We have trained practitioners from services and organisations from a range of sectors including the NHS, Education and Third Sector. Some of our partners and customers include:

Cheshire & Wirral NHS Foundation Trust; Wirral Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service, Wirral Mental Health Support Team
Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust; Clinical Health Psychology Team, Liverpool Mental Health Support Team, Sefton Mental Health Support Team
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust; Buckinghamshire Mental Health Support Team
West London NHS Trust; Hounslow Mental Health Support Team
St Helens Educational Psychology Service
Cheshire West and Chester Educational Psychology Service
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust; Grenfell NHS Health and Well-being Service, Adult Mental Health Services
West Sussex County Council; Thought-Full: Mental Health Support Teams in Schools
Hendon Football Club; Silver Jubilee Park Community Hub

Testimonials

Andrew Hastings - Secondary Behaviour Improvement Teacher, TESSA, St Helens Borough Council

"I am now looking forwards to promoting Team of Life to all 9 high schools in St Helens. I will be using the course across schools for those who are at risk of being permanently excluded. I work closely with referred families and i genuinely believe that narrative therapy may build bonds between school, students and parents."

Sabahat Malik – Senior Practitioner, Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

“I have delivered the Team of Life programme as an EMHP to primary school and secondary school pupils. The engagement, progress and positive impact was quick and very much noticeable after the first few sessions. I had great pleasure in delivering Team of Life and loved seeing the fruitful impact it had on children and young people who were in need of the support. The impacts of Team of Life are lasting and truly changing lives. Most of all, the CYPs absolutely loved it and took away valuable, everyday life skills.”

Laura North, Family Worker Buckinghamshire Mental Health Support Team

"One child said ‘ I feel so much happier than I was’’. A child tackled a problem of bullying – loved his advice, ‘’When you are bullied, it is good to tell an adult because holding on is not good’’. From delivering Team of Life I feel it not only empowers the young people but it lets those working with the young person’s to know more about the great support there is surrounding the children! I am amazed that through the Team of Life you uncover so much about the child’s voice, and that promotes empathy and understanding and builds relationships!"

Jayne Hart, Educational Mental Health Practitioner, Wirral Mental Health Support Team

“I have delivered Team of Life to 4 groups of young people ranging from year 3 to year 6. I find it is a lovely piece of work. I have seen how some young people have flourished and gained confidence to join clubs in and out of school, plus take part in assemblies and school performances. SENCO's have commented that they can see a difference in the young people who have taken part in Team of Life.”

Dr Laura Tozer, Clinical Psychologist, Buckinghamshire Mental Health Support Team

“The Team of Life training provided by Riverbank Psychology was incredibly helpful to our team. The experiential learning enabled the team to fully embrace the Team of Life approach and we all hugely enjoyed the training whilst learning a great deal. The training provided the opportunity for the team to learn about each other, consider who is in our own ‘team of life’ and reflect on our values. I would highly recommend this training to anyone who is looking to run Team of Life.”

Claire Owens, Director, Next Chapter CIC

“The Team of Life provides a common language that most students understand… I consistently witness students experiencing an appreciation and understanding of the value of support networks and how this has a positive impact on their lives. I have been particularly struck by the importance of stories, which comes from a narrative approach and how this can be used for children to tell their story, with a deeper understanding of how their experiences shape their attitude towards the future, finding key positive learning experiences from difficult circumstances.”

Dr Hayley Lugassy, Educational Psychologist, Cheshire East Council

"We are keen to begin implementing this wonderful intervention as soon as possible.”

Stephanie Davey, Trainee Education Mental Health Practitioner

"I loved watching the young people grow in confidence throughout the programme and start to share more about their lives with us.’’

Lucy Rothwell, Education Mental Health Practitioner, Alder Hey Mental Health Support Team

Last week we were trained in the Team of Life, which is a strength focused, narrative approach. We thought about how we could use this approach in schools to help CYP identify support systems, strengthen friendships and increase self-esteem. Thank you @riverbankpsych

Reviews

Excellent course

Nadia Laffey

This course was excellent and provided me with all the knowledge and training to run Team of Life sessions myself. The content was a mixture of videos and te...

This course was excellent and provided me with all the knowledge and training to run Team of Life sessions myself. The content was a mixture of videos and text and provided lots of examples, which made the course come to life. I have run one session so far and the feedback has been great. The young people enjoyed working as teams and coming up with different ideas. It will be beneficial for them. Thank you for providing such an excellent course.

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Narrative Therapy

Caitlin Holland

Really enjoying this course, learnt so much already

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What is Team of Life

Lauren Taylor

Excellent structure and resources with relevant additional readings

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What is Team of Life

Lauren Taylor

Excellent structure and resources with relevant additional readings

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Team of life

Anita Davis

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St Helens Outreach Specialist Taskforce

Andrew Hastings

Thank you for the opportunity to participate on your pilot course. My colleague and I work with the most vulnerable and sometimes hard to reach students in t...

Thank you for the opportunity to participate on your pilot course. My colleague and I work with the most vulnerable and sometimes hard to reach students in the borough. We realise that our students have experienced multiple disadvantages from birth and struggle to communicate with professionals in education. Education is viewed as a non essential in some of their households and educational underachievement is entrenched across generations. Through utilising team of life we endeavour to offer students a safe space where they can discover their voices, their support mechanisms and build a positive relationship with my colleague and I. Thank you once again for enhancing the "toolbox" that we carry when we deal with young people.

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Our Mission, Our Heritage

Our mission is for all children and young people in the UK to have the opportunity to take part in Team of Life; ensuring they have a sense of connected identity and know they are not alone but have a team around them to help.

While working towards our mission at home we are also keen to honour the heritage of Team of Life and those who have paved the way for our Team of Life work here in the UK. The Team of Life began in Southern Africa in work that the Dulwich Centre Foundation was doing with former child soldiers. A percentage of proceeds therefore go to support ongoing work by the Dulwich Centre with communities in Africa. In addition our pilot work and the development of the Team of Life Kit was undertaken as part of work within NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services in the UK. A further percentage of proceeds from sales of the Team of Life Kit therefore go to the NHS.

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Commission Training

If you would like to commission Team of Life training for your team please contact us via [email protected] or complete the contact form to discuss your requirements

Training Enquiries

Our Trainers

Co-founder Riverbank Psychology Victoria Eames

Dr Vicky Eames has worked as a clinical psychologist within both NHS adult and child & adolescent mental health services. She is an honorary research fellow at the University of Liverpool. Having worked within the mental health field in the NHS and independently for more than 25 years she is passionate about exploring ways of responding to trauma and developing resilience within community settings. Inspired by the work of David Denborough, Vicky trialled the Team of Life Collective Narrative Practice approach in schools and mental health services on the Wirral, leading to the development of the Team of Life Children's Programme programme and the Team of Life Kit.

Co-founder of Riverbank Psychology Mariangels Ferrer

Having qualified as a psychologist in Spain in 1993, Mariangels has lived and worked in the UK for over 20 years including ten years in NHS inpatient and community paediatric settings. In addition to her qualification as a clinical psychologist, she has completed master's degrees in both Systemic Family Therapy and Narrative Therapy and Community Work. Mariangels offers training and supervision of practitioners in narrative and systemic practice across the UK as part of the teaching faculty of the Institute of Narrative Therapy. She delivers groups in schools in Trafford utilising the 'Tree of Life' and is engaging Genetic Counsellors from different parts of the UK with Narrative ideas through supervision, group intervention and training.

Schools Lead Robin Johnson

Robin Johnson has 25 years teaching, pastoral care and senior leadership experience in schools. He has been a form teacher for most of his teaching career as well as a Head of Year, Head of Department and Assistant Headteacher. He is also a children’s author of a novel called Red Sky at Night in which ginger children save the world from alien invasion.

FAQ's

1. Are there any specific qualifications required to deliver the Team of Life Resilience Programme?become a certified facilitator?

No specific qualifications are required to attend the training and become a facilitator. Any member of the children's workforce can train.
2. Are there any ongoing costs to delivering the programme

Access to the Team of Life Online Platform is valid for one year. Following this a small additional fee (currently £40) is charged in order to have continued access to the platform including the online delivery support, regular updates, refresher training, facilitator community and Q&A. The downloadable resources can be printed for use with young people. There is no additional charge for this.
3. How is training delivered?

Training is delivered through an on demand self-study online course. Live online and Face to face options are also available, please contact us for further information about these.
4. Can I copy or share the Team of Life resources with colleagues?

No, this would be a copyright infringement. The resources are for individual use by the person who has undertaken training. This is important to ensure that people delivering Team of Life have the necessary understanding of the approach. If you would like to purchase training as an organisation please contact us on [email protected]
5. Can I attend training as a team?

Yes! We highly recommend attending training in person as a team as you get added team building benefits due to the experiential nature of the training. Why not take time as a team to think about your shared values, support networks and goals? Contact us for more information.
6. What age are the Team of Life Children’s Programmes aimed at?

The programme is aimed at any age and is suitable from the age of 7 and is 6 sessions long.
7. Is Team of Life just for children?

No, Team of Life is for everyone. You can use the approach with families, individuals, adults and staff groups to help build resilience and teams.
8. Do you have to like sport to take part?

No, our research has found that children enjoy and benefit from taking part in Team of Life whether or not they like sport. Team of Life doesn’t involve any sporting ability. It uses sporting metaphors which provide an easy to grasp universal language that is familiar to people of all ages. Space is provided to share knowledge and experience of sport good and bad.
9. Is Team of Life aimed at boys?

No, our research has shown that girls enjoy and benefit from Team of Life just as much.

Ready to become a Team of Life Facilitator?

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