Certificate in Safeguarding

Safeguarding can feel daunting at times . . . !

• Do you feel confident in your safeguarding knowledge?
• Perhaps you covered this topic briefly in your core training, but feel like there are many unanswered questions?
• Would you know how to act if you identified some at significant risk of harm?
• Would you like to know more about how to manage intimate partner violence and domestic abuse in the therapy room?

UKCP states that a therapist should:
“Safeguard children and vulnerable adults, recognising your legal responsibilities concerning their rights and taking appropriate action should you consider any such person is at risk of harm.”

BACP states:
“We share a resposibility with all other members of our professions for the safety and wellbeing of all clients and their protection from exploitation or unsafe practice. We will take action to prevent harm caused by practitioners to any client.”

Equip yourself with our practical toolkit prepared by experts – to help you act appropriately in a range of safeguarding matters.

Aim of the course

1. To gain a secure understanding of what is expected from you ethically as a therapist/counsellor.
2. To break myths surrounding legal frameworks and legal responsibility.
3. To understand how to organise paperwork and structure your documentation to underpin good safeguarding practice.
4. To feel confident in using risk assessment tools to gauge the impact of potential harm.
5. To know who to contact for support and when a referral outside of therapy may be needed.
6. To understand the protocols of working with pre-trial clients.
7. To gain confidence in supporting clients’ disclosure of Intimate partner violence and historical abuse.
8. To sharpen skills in a trauma-informed approach to safeguarding.

Course content

Course Content

Day 1 – The foundations of safeguarding, legal vs ethical frameworks, contracting and documentation, working with suicidality, managing risks to children and families, safeguarding adults at risk, making disclosures and breaking confidentiality, social care protocols, non-leading questioning techniques.

Day 2 – Introductions to Intimate Partner Violence and Domestic Abuse. Legal frameworks and therapists’ responsibility, consent, pre-trial therapy, making disclosures, working with historical disclosures of sexual abuse, individual therapy clients vs. couple therapy clients, and safety planning.

Who should attend?

This training is suitable for qualified or nearly qualified therapists and counsellors and is aimed primarily at those working with adults in private practice. However, as many safeguarding concerns are family-centred, we will also discuss critical issues around safeguarding children who are part of your client’s network too.

Participation on Zoom

Please note that active participation is required for this training in the style of small group tasks and whole group discussions. This is not suitable for a listen-along style of attendance. Input from each group member is actively encouraged. Thanks for your understanding.

How is the training delivered?

You will benefit from a mix of taught sessions, small group work on case studies and larger group discussions. Our aim is to get to the heart of what safeguarding means in therapeutic work, and how to hold a trauma-informed perspective that keeps the client at the centre of your decision-making. There will be lots of opportunities for questions and to get your questions answered.

What will we cover?

We will look in depth at issues around intimate partner violence and sexual violence, leaving participants confident in knowing what to do to best support their clients welfare, carefully balancing the confidentiality and the therapeutic alliance.

Over the 2 days, we will explore best practice for record keeping, who to share information with and when, and consider how your practice setup helps or hinders safeguarding.

This is a unique opportunity to discuss the complex nuances of safeguarding with professionals who have worked in this field for many years.

CPD hours awarded

CPD certificates will be issued to reflect 12 hours of CPD across 2 days of attendance.

2026 dates

We will be scheduling new dates for 2026 shortly.

Please contact us to register your interest.

Course fee

£250 + VAT = £300 payable in full or by instalments. 

The course fee includes all training materials and the CPD certificate.