The training programme will consist of 20 training days per year over a period of three years, and will be divided into 4 blocks of 5 days per year, spread over the year. The training will be a mixture of theory/practice days, which will consist of short presentations, discussions about the literature on the reading list, and reflective conversations, experiential learning and roleplays, supervision days with live and videotaped sessions, family of origin seminars where trainees will explore their own family background, and required reading. The breakdown of the number of days for each of these components of the training is as follows:
- Theory days: 27 days
- Supervision days: 21 days
- Family of origin days: 12 days
In addition to this there will be 3 days of work in peer groups per year, 5 days per year allocated for essay writing, and around 400 pages of reading per training block. It is a requirement that trainees will have 300 hours of clinical experience of using the approach by the end of the training – clinical work will take place in the second and third years of the training. Details of the assessment process and additional resources that will be made available to trainees can be found on the right of this page.
Reading material will include articles and books on the Open Dialogue approach, as well as on approaches that have had a significant influence on the development of Open Dialogue (i.e. Gregory Bateson, Systemic Family Therapy, Network Therapy, Tom Anderson, Collaborative Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Social Constructionism, Bahktin and other dialogical approaches).
Details of who will be considered for the training can be found below.
Applications for the training will be considered in the following order of priority:
- Mental health teams from one or two NHS Trusts interested in taking part in a pilot project
- Other NHS mental health teams (or individuals who have the opportunity to practice with colleagues (see below).
- Independent therapists/practitioners interested in working at a centre for dialogic practice in London. This includes people who identify as peers and who have made a significant contribution to the development of peer work and other progressive approaches to mental health
- International teams working in public services
- Other mental health professionals working in teams
To apply for this training you need to have been working for at least two years as a mental health professional, and also need to have the opportunity to work with a colleague and meet with families/networks within one year of starting the programme (your colleague does not need to also be on the training, though we do welcome teams to the training).
We are particularly interested to hear from NHS Trusts that would like to take part in a pilot project to evaluate the implementation of the Open Dialogue approach. This research will be undertaken in collaboration with Jaakko Seikkula.
There will be a members area for trainees on the Open Dialogue UK website, which will include a forum for shared learning and for communication between training blocks.
This members area will also include resources for learning such as reading lists, articles, videos, etc. Books relating to the training will be offered at discount prices.
Support for development within your organisation
Nick Putman is available on a part-time basis to support the development of the Open Dialogue approach in your organisation/service, including working with teams on a clinical basis. Nick is a certified Open Dialogue practitioner, having completed the Open Dialogue training programme with Mary Olson, Jaakko Seikkula, Markku Sutela et al. in the USA. In addition to this Nick has visited the Open Dialogue Service in Western Lapland on a number of occasions to study the approach and the structure of the psychiatric service there, and has been running seminars on the approach for the past two years. Nick has also spent time with the Parachute Project in New York City, which draws heavily on the Open Dialogue approach, studying their community-based services and training programme. For more information about Nick please see his biography below.
