Helping professionals understand, assess and support parents/carers in blocked care

This one-day course for professionals working with adoptive parents, SGO carers or foster carers who may be at risk of or currently experiencing blocked care. It is designed to provide an understanding of the theory and research behind the brain science of blocked care, as well as strategies for assessing blocked care and supporting parents/carers.

What does the course cover?

  • What do we mean by blocked care?
  • Definition
  • Description
  • Types of blocked care
  • The brain science behind blocked care
  • Research findings about blocked care in adoption/SGO/foster families

  • How blocked care and blocked trust influence each other in a vicious cycle
    • what the child brings to the ‘whirlwind’
    • what the parent brings to the ‘whirlwind’
    • the effect on the child (and the family

  • When does blocked care become emotional abuse?
    • Small group discussion
    • Whole group feedback

  • Assessing adopters/applicants for blocked care
  • Beware ‘the tyranny of the timescales’ and the quest for a quick fix

  • Supporting adopters/applicants in blocked care – a trauma informed approach
    • acknowledging the power imbalance
    • considering your own value system
    • recognising your own ‘blocked care’
    • cascading compassion

  • Interventions that can support parents/carers in blocked care
  • Other practical strategies and applications for supporting parents/carers in blocked care

Exercises, activities, video clips and discussions are used throughout the course to enhance the teaching and content.

Training is delivered by a highly qualified clinical psychologist and/or therapist with many years’ experience working with trauma and attachment.

Course details:

Level: Advanced

Days: One

Session length: 6.5 hours

Cost: £1500 + VAT

Maximum participants: 12 (please contact us if you require a larger group)

Location: This course can be delivered virtually (Zoom) or at our specialist training facility in Stoke-on-Trent. If you would prefer us to deliver the course at your facility, additional travel and accommodation costs will be incurred.

Dates: Please contact us to book this course for your team. Alternatively, please view our upcoming events.

Consultation package: ongoing support for your team

This one-day course can be followed by regular (monthly or bi-monthly) consultations with the staff team, facilitated by a Gateway Psychology clinician, to assist in application of the ideas and principles of the programme. However, this is not costed for within the one-day training fee and would need to be negotiated separately.

What professionals think about our CPD courses

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valued the expertise of our psychologists

“Informative and helpful course. Engaging and educational, with practical tips to apply to real life situations.”

“Very informative. Great to learn about things that relate to daily struggles and having strategies to try to support the children.”

“Very very interesting, informative, useful and engaging. Couldn’t have gone any better. Taking a lot from it. Best training I’ve been on. Thank you!!! :)”

“The best CPD training, will definitely recommend.”

“Powerpoint and discussions all directly linked to what we hoped to achieve. Engaging from start to finish. Thank you.”

“Having light bulb moments and being able to think of specific children and now understand how to help more and support them.”

Upcoming CPD courses

Preverbal Trauma Training for Professionals (Apr 2025)

8 April 2025 @ 09:30 - 16:30

Understanding Blocked Care Training for Professionals (Jul 2025)

8 July 2025 @ 09:30 - 16:30

Understanding Dissociation for Professionals (Sep 2025)

16 September 2025 @ 09:30 - 16:30

FAQs

There are a variety of ways to access our training services. If you wish to book on to a session as an individual, please view our upcoming events. You will find more details on how to apply on the specific event page.

If you want to book a dedicated training course for your team, please get in contact with us for a quote. It would be helpful for us to know if you would prefer us to deliver your training programme face-to-face or virtually, and your expected numbers.

For our live, interactive courses, each participant will need a laptop or tablet device, webcam, microphone and an internet connection. Mobile phones can be used, but they do not offer the best possible experience for the participant.

We typically host our live virtual courses on Zoom.

Please contact our team to discuss your requirements. We will discuss feasibility with you, and provide an outline of costs.

Yes, we offer a range of options to help provide ongoing support to your team.

Please get in touch with us to talk about your consultation requirements, such as frequency, your goals and the type of families your organisation works with (or the difficulties they typically experience). We will work with you to create a bespoke consultation package that works for your needs.

Cost is dependent on the type of course you are accessing, in addition to the length and number of clinicians presenting. Please take a look at the individual course pages for more information.

Bespoke courses may involve a higher cost, as development time will need to be included. We will work with you to find a pricing structure that works for your needs.