Open Dialogue has the potential to make a positive change to your life, as well as to make a significant impact on the future care of those suffering mental dis-ease. The programme will stretch you and encourage you to change how you communicate with others as well as yourself – your own inner dialogue! I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with any interest in the care of others. At every professional level it will make an impact should you allow this process to change you.  

Rex Barker, Former CEO of NHS Trust

  The Foundation Course in Open Dialogue was an experiential training experience which surpassed my expectations. Embedded alongside learning about the theory and foundations of the Open Dialogue approach for working with people in crises, I found hugely valuable, the opportunity, through practice and role play, to experience dialogical communication, where all voices are heard and valued and to develop a stance where reflective listening and responding creates opportunity for new understanding in situations which have become stuck. The trainers, through their knowledge, experience and thorough modelling of a dialogical approach, were outstanding. My own experience was enhanced by the opportunity to train with a diverse group of participants who brought different expertise, experience and an engagement with the process that demonstrated the transformative nature of working in this manner and one that could contribute to a paradigm shift in mental health services. As a consultant psychiatrist, this training has contributed to reflection on my own practice and communication as well as within the service I work within. Thank you for this experience.  

Claire Moffat, Consultant Psychiatrist, NHS

 The Open Dialogue foundation training with Open Dialogue UK, undertaken in 2019 by clinicians in the Barnsley Early Intervention in Psychosis team, has been hugely valuable for our service. It offered a fresh, relational way of working that helped us slow down, listen more deeply, and stay genuinely present with the people we support and members of their network. The emphasis on dialogical practice strengthened our confidence in working with uncertainty and encouraged more collaborative, network‑based conversations in our everyday clinical work.

We were particularly impressed by Nick Putman and his training team, whose warmth, clarity, and depth of experience created a safe and engaging learning environment. Their ability to model dialogical practice throughout the training made the principles of Open Dialogue feel both accessible and authentic. Their facilitation style encouraged genuine reflection, curiosity, and connection across our team.

One of the most meaningful developments since the training is that we now run our family supervision using the principles of Open Dialogue. This has created a more reflective, transparent and relational supervisory space, allowing multiple perspectives to be heard and supporting clinicians to think together in a more open way.

What stood out most was how the training created space for reflection, connection, and shared learning across the team. It influenced not only how we approach complex situations, but also how we work together. The principles of openness, transparency and polyphony have become part of our team language and culture.

Overall, the training was an important and meaningful step in developing a more compassionate, relationally‑focused service, and we continue to see the benefits in our practice, supervision structures, and in the experiences of our service users and their networks.

Jon Linstead, psychotherapist, Early Intervention Team, SWYT

 I have appreciated how thoughtfully – even exquisitely – tuned the sequence of the training is, giving me the direct experience of doing the work with a dialogical perspective. As the training proceeds, the experience takes on a progressively more systemic perspective, so that we gradually attain the feeling of being able to bring this radically (and yet basic) shift in perspective to our work, on whatever scale or whatever systemic level we might be able to apply it. The readings are all profound and work together with the in-class exercises to produce a powerful shift in orientation that encompasses both work and private life, if one is open to it.

Kermit Cole, Couple & Family Therapist

 Open Dialogue has been a revelatory experience for me, challenging my previous working practice, and enhancing my approach to working with clients. I am very keen to continue ingraining this into the way that I work, and the way in which my team works also. I am also working with a team of others who have completed this training, to facilitate network meetings for clients in our services, who would benefit from the approach. The course has blown my expectations apart, and I have received more from this training than I ever could have expected to. I am so grateful for tor the opportunity to have taken part in it, and to have built connections with such a wonderful, diverse group of people. I would do it all again in a heartbeat!

Danny Doyle, Scheme Manager, Response Organisation

 I just finalised the 2019-2020 Open Dialogue Foundation Training in London. Hope is the word that expresses what I feel. In 2017 I attended the OD Congress in Tornio, where I met Nick, and I had the feeling, almost the certainty, that it was the way forward – that OD could change the paradigm of mental health care. Now, I have no doubt. The training was a great experience – the structure, readings, presentations, and role-play exercises, perfect! We were from very different backgrounds, and in spite of that, through our sharing, we bonded at a very deep level, My gratitude to Nick and his wonderful team, Anni and Petra, for their kindness, thoughtfulness, and guidance!

Claudia Esteve, Founder and Director, JAEC Foundation

 I found the foundation training hugely inspiring and formative for my personal and professional journey. I believe the training is very well thought in every detail. The theory is very robust and taught in a very comprehensible way. The training is balanced with role plays and exercises that I find essential and extremely useful and very emotionally touching. 

Vincenzo Giordano, Speciality Doctor in Psychiatry

 I highly recommend the Open Dialogue Foundation Training at Open Dialogue UK. We had a wonderful group of trainers, highly experienced and each bringing their own individuality to the work. It is such a luxury to have them all embodying Open Dialogue. This training is a gem in providing a space to explore in depth how to establish dialogic relationships. My cohort was an incredibly rich and international group with people of all ages, gender and backgrounds. And Open Dialogue is the first setting where I have truly not experienced the ‘them and us’ division and everyone gets a chance to get heard. A wonderfully practical training that, mostly through role plays and exercises, allows for a shift towards Dialogic practice. Don’t miss out.

Ana Maria Corredor, Carer Clinical Governance Representative

 The hands-on approach of this training was invaluable. The multitude of roleplays and exercises added a depth to this course that you cannot experience solely by looking at Open Dialogue through a theoretical lens. I have become a more competent health worker through this training and am much more confident in my work. This has also bled into my personal life, resulting in more meaningful interactions in general.

Emile Van Bellingen, Peer Worker, Sint-Hiëronymus

 This is amongst the best training I have completed to date. The Open Dialogue approach is rooted within a relational approach and the exercises throughout helped us to build on our existing skills over time, while the breaks between training blocks helped us to embed our understanding and practice. The trainers were amazing and shared valuable learning and insights with us in a supportive space. The training was challenging on occasions, pushing us out of our comfort zones at times, but I think it was this that enabled us to truly learn and develop ourselves as Open Dialogue facilitators / network members.

I took part in the Open Dialogue Foundation Training 2019-2020. The course is really well structured to include both theoretical and experiential learning and is led by very experienced international trainers. Participants came from all over the world and brought great richness from their professional and personal experience. We had the additional challenge of the Covid 19 pandemic arriving mid-way through the course, so all credit to the trainers for supporting us to successfully navigate from face-to-face to remote learning. The course has profoundly influenced my way of being with people in the world and my practice as a family therapist working in the NHS. I would highly recommend it as a unique and deeply moving learning experience.  

Jane Wilson, Systemic & Family Psychotherapist & Supervisor, South London & Maudsley NHS Trust

 The Open Dialogue UK Foundation Training is the most relevant professional development training I have undertaken. I have appreciated the patient guidance of our four highly skilled trainers who have structured the program in such a way as to create the conditions in which the Open Dialogue approach can be directly experienced – a powerfully effective way of learning. I highly recommend training in Open Dialogue to others who are seeking a therapeutic approach that has been extensively researched and demonstrated consistently better outcomes in mental healthcare over the past 30 years.  

Kerry Allanson, Mental Health Nurse

My experience learning and practicing Open Dialogue was truly meaningful and profound. There was plenty of space to share, reflect, and trust the process by practicing with the group, which really helped me understand how this approach works. Furthermore, this intensive course was run by a reliable, and well-organized coordination team. They created a safe space for me to heal and grow personally, while empowering me as a mental health professional to quickly develop and use these new skills. Even though we shared many deep stories and strong emotions, laughter and play were not missing!  

Kakia Kalantzidou, Play Therapist, Greece

 Thank you for collaborating with our Trust to deliver the bespoke Open Dialogue foundation training in Lincolnshire.  I appreciated the support and advice you provided at the inception of the project. This enabled us to recruit suitable trainees and do the necessary groundwork for successful learning.  The training programme brought a high level of engagement. The trainees valued being able to work as a relatively small group rather than in a large-scale batch. Feedback from the participants was overwhelmingly positive. They welcomed the expertise of trainers who were immersed in dialogical work. This really was a training programme like no other, cultivating change at a deeper level.  A few trainees had voiced apprehension about relational world work. However, the trainers were understanding and worked with the trainees to navigate this. The trainees subsequently reported that the relational world had enriched their development.

You kept me updated on the progress of trainees and were responsive to communication. I welcomed being invited to reflect with the trainers and trainees to consider how this approach might best be delivered within community mental health services.  I do hope that we are able to continue to work with you as we continue our dialogical journey. 

Paul Barrett, Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust, NHS

 I can not speak highly enough of of the Open Dialogue Foundation Training provided by Nick and the team of trainers he brought to Australia. The training was engaging, challenging and inspiring on so many levels – personally and professionally. I am grateful for the privilege of completing this training and excited by the possibilities it presents for Queensland now we have a critical mass of trained practitioners to implement Peer Supported Open Dialogue in practice. Thank you. 

Cherie McGregor, Lived Experience practitioner

 Walking through the Open Dialogue path is an inspiring way of re-thinking and refreshing our professional and life perspectives. The Open Dialogue Foundation Training is a gem in the international mental health panorama that highlights and spreads around a deep sense of respect for others. The solid clinical experience of the trainers, gently offered to the participants, becomes an easy access to better understanding interactions among human beings. To me, the Open Dialogue process is about developing a new open state of mind.

Maria Paola Pacifici, Psychiatrist

 I am sixty-three years old. This is the best thing I have ever done in my life. I cannot recommend it enough. I have learned more than ever before. An utterly invaluable experience.

Zoe Parker, Educationalist, Petersfield Town Council

 I have found the Open Dialogue foundation training to be engaging, thorough and full of opportunity to reflect on one’s own practice and in a broader sense one’s way of being in the world. The reading list satisfies my interest in contextual and theoretical information whilst the role plays and exercises provide the experiential learning that is so vital. I have cherished the opportunity to learn alongside others in this rich environment.

Catherine Lee

 I attended the 2016/17 Foundation training. It was a well thought out course, delivered by very experienced, competent and professional trainers. Whilst they brought a wealth of material and experience it was clear that they were attentive to the process and adapting to the needs of the current situation. It was clear that the trainers had so much to offer. From this they created a structured programme and provided ample written handouts. However it was the experiential aspect of the training that really had an impact on me. Being allowed to practice skills with knowledgable support and guidance was of great value. And the course was backed up by a full useful resource of reading material.

Alan Hendry, Trainer and Coach

 The Open Dialogue Foundation Training includes many practical exercises that are extremely well thought out, and enjoyable to do. The three days spent in small groups talking about our Family of Origin was an unforgettable and healing experience.

Thalia Martin, Counsellor

 Highly recommend this course, it has challenged me however has really given me skills that I didn’t even know I had! It is inspiring, humane and helpful, I do think it is the way forward. The course is run by experienced practitioners that have oodles of wisdom that they are willing to share, that’s an enriching experience. The connectedness with the group is strong and meaningful which leads to greater learning as we feel able to take risks “its ok to make mistakes”. I have thoroughly enjoyed my foundation course and very keen to carry on now with the three year course too, its fascinating and leaves you wanting more! My practice and private life are both improved with this approach and it is the internal work that we do to embody this and something Mia (mentor) said was “it is a way of being” which I whole heartedly agree with and wish to aspire to.

Samantha Best, Mental Health Nurse

 Doing the Open Dialogue foundation training virtually in 2023 was a very rewarding experience. I learnt a lot about Open Dialogue as a model, how it can support people in a mental health crisis in practice and their families and networks too. Open Dialogue also helps to slow down professional responses and make them less reactive and more thoughtful and inclusive of the person’s views and those closest to them.  Open Dialogue is underpinned by values, similar to the ones in social work ie justice, equality and a belief in the rights of people to participate in discussions and decisions about their treatment and recovery. I had been in two minds about doing the course as I work in a Trust where open dialogue isn’t practiced in any formal way.  I’m very pleased I I opted in as the course has given me the confidence to have conversations with colleagues about the merits of this approach and I’ve found there is a lot of interest and curiosity about it and how parts of it might be introduced to different mental health settings. Finally, my peers on the course, many of whom were professionals had a wide range of life experiences including some who been under secondary mental health services.  This contributed significantly to the insights and knowledge I gained on the course.  It made me realise that my own knowledge of mental illness had largely come from working in a professional mental health setting and the limitations and gaps in this.  The course has re invigorated by interest in learning by listening to peoples stories about what helps in mental health recovery and facilitating their voices to speak and be heard.

Jenny Daly, Approved Mental Health Professional, Hammersmith & Fulham