THIS COURSE IS FULLY BOOKED

The Irish Association of Social Workers (IASW) and Social Care Ireland (SCI) have joined with the MA in Social Work Programme at the School of Political Science and Sociology, NUI Galway to offer a module in Non Violent Resistance in Practice. This advanced level course will appeal to social workers and social care practitioners who have no previous training or CPD activities in this area as well as those who have completed the two-day training course on NVR.

The course has been funded by the HSCP Office, HSE. As such, places are available to social workers in the publicly funded healthcare service. Tusla staff and those working in Tusla funded services are not eligible to apply. 

The module consists of primarily online teaching on Mondays in November between 10am to 4pm as well as independent study. We hope that the final day can take place in person in one central location. Participants can earn ECTS on completion of the course[1]. The course is free and requires a deposit of €100. The deposit is refundable on completion of 80% of the course.

Dates

Monday, 1^st November

Monday, 8^th November

Monday, 15^th November

Monday, 22^nd November

Monday, 29^th November

This course has been funded by the HSCP Office, HSE. As such, places are available to social workers and social care workers working in the publicly funded healthcare service.

Non Violent Resistance in Practice - Course Description – what is this course about?

Do you know or have you met with someone who feels powerless and afraid as a parent/ carer and feels like they are always walking on eggshells around their child? Child to parent violence/abuse (CPVA) is a form of family violence that involves males/ females under the age of 18 years old who repeatedly use abusive/ controlling (and in some cases violent) behaviour towards parents/carers. The Non Violence Resistance (NVR) Intervention Model responds to the needs of practitioners in a wide range of settings and families for a non-blaming, structured & evidence-influenced response to the problem of abuse and/ or violence in family relationships.

Learning outcomes – why take part in this course?

On completion of this course, you will have the skills and knowledge to:

• Demonstrate increased confidence and skill in assessing and responding effectively to child to parent violence and abuse & coercive control, using a variety of formats ( eg. One to one or couple parent work)
• Understand the key concepts and skills of the Non Violent Resistance Intervention model
• Make connections between NVR concepts and skills and your own or to other areas of practice with children and families.
• Demonstrate an ability to critique and reflect on research and practice concerning abusive, violent and controlling behaviour within families.
• Consider the use of NVR in other practice areas ( such as for online/ remote practice, severe anxiety, school refusal, in work with groups).
• Identify the challenges and the potential for resolution of these challenges in applying NVR principles to practice ( for example, what happens if the child refuses to co-operate? What if there is a relapse? What if there is a need for specialist interventions?).

Indicative Content – what will we learn during this course?

1. What is CPVA? Who experiences it, where and when? Messages from research and practice about CPVA, coercive control and what how can I respond well?
2. What are the key concepts of Non Violent Resistance and how can I use them in my work ( for example, Identifying exceptions to problems and patterns of escalation; increasing parental presence; the Family Announcement; the Support Network; Solution Focused Practice)
3. Working with motivation and resistance NVR in practice ( e.g. how to resist, persist and find support and strength)
4. Practitioner self care & support for intervention with abuse/ violence ( e.g. what do I need for NVR to work well and to look out for self-care?).

Assessment

Participants will be required to share a short 6-minute presentation based on their work and their learning during the course and to complete a written reflection assignment.

Pre-requisites

• Applicants who are social workers must have a CORU accredited professional social work qualification (level 8 or level 9) or equivalent.
• Applicants will need to provide evidence of support from their employer to release them from work duties on the dates below so that they can participate in the course.
• Applicants will also need to have secure and reliable access to the internet and to a computer/ laptop, as most of this course will take place online.

For more information, please contact cpdofficer@iasw.ie

[1] ECTS allows credits taken at a higher education institution (HEI) to be counted towards a further qualification subject to terms and conditions of the HEI.