Training Workshops
I love helping people understand themselves better. Whether you want to learn how to respond rather than react in your personal life, or to develop your awareness of self and other in your profession, these workshops will help. If you are a counsellor, they will also give you fresh insight into your client work, drawing on recent research.
Training has been part of my working life for over twenty years. I began as Training Manager for a literacy charity, teaching staff and volunteers how to support children with learning difficulties. Since then I have run sessions on many topics, and organised training days for a Christian charity. I currently lecture at Waverley Abbey College in Farnham, teaching on the degree course for trainee counsellors.
To book a workshop, register your interest, or sign up for occasional emails about my training and resources, please get in touch.
I run two kinds of workshops
Sessions are relaxed and interactive, with plenty of time to pause, ponder and ask questions. Click on the titles below for more details.
Training for Counsellors
For trainee and qualified counsellors - all experience levels welcome. Also ideal for counselling agencies.
Workshops for Everyone
No prior knowledge needed - just come curious. I take ideas from counselling and psychology and bring them to life.
- Trauma: More Relevant to Everyday Life Than We Realise
- Relationships: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - Aiming for the Good
- Shame: What It Is and What It Isn’t
Coming up
I will be running the Shame workshop on Saturday 19 June 2027, as part of the Life Issues Series. There is a small charge, and booking is handled by Godalming Baptist Church. Details of the new series will be on their website.
‘Being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health; safe connections are fundamental to meaningful and satisfying lives.’
van der Kolk, 2014:79
How does trauma hold you down?
‘On behalf of PCS, I would like to say a big thank you for the excellent training day you ran. It was informative, interesting, challenging, thought provoking, and really enjoyable. I thought you engaged with your audience at many levels, and the day flew by (always a good sign). We have already received positive feedback from attendees.’
Operations Manager, Petersfield Counselling Service
I have delivered this training for:
Cedar Tree Counselling, Basingstoke (March 2025)
Petersfield Counselling Service (May 2025)
Crossways Counselling, Haslemere (September 2026)
Training for Counsellors
This training is for trainee and qualified counsellors, whatever your level of experience. I am happy to come to your counselling agency to deliver it, or to run it for a group of eight or more individuals. Alternatively, register your interest through the Contact page, and I will let you know when I have enough participants.
There is one workshop here at the moment, with more planned for the new year. All of my training for counsellors combines relevant research with rich discussion, time in small groups and space for your questions.
Trauma and Felt-Safety
This workshop is based on my own dissertation research into felt-safety. It is delivered in person and lasts 3-5 hours depending on the availability of the group, adapting content as required. The training counts towards your CPD.
As well as touching on trauma and the body’s response to being traumatised, we will look at how to develop a sense of felt-safety in the counselling room. Neurobiological research has a great deal to say about how to monitor the signals of (un)safety that your client is giving out. Tracking these largely non-verbal signals is vital for reversing the effects of trauma.
During the workshop we will explore:
- what trauma and emotional neglect are
- a non-pathologising view of trauma: ‘what happened to me’ rather than a client’s identity
- the creative genius of a traumatised brain and its ingenious ways of coping, shown through a visual analogy
- why people become stuck in ‘trauma time’, as if the past were still happening now
- neuroception, polyvagal theory and the window of tolerance
- how to notice signs of unsafety in a client’s words and behaviour
- practical ways to help a client, and yourself, back into the ‘green zone’
- how the counsellor shapes felt-safety, from preparation and boundaries to facial expression and tone of voice
- practical tips to help clients process and integrate their trauma narratives, working carefully with implicit memories, where ‘slow is fast’
Workshops for Everyone
These workshops are open to anyone, whatever your professional background, life experience or beliefs. I use real examples, so you can see how the ideas connect with your own life. Each one is held in person, lasts a morning, and stands alone, so you can come to one or to all of them.
If there is a workshop you would like to attend, let me know through the Contact page. When enough people are interested, I’ll run it again. Or why not get together your own group, and I’ll facilitate the workshop for you?
Trauma: More Relevant to Everyday Life Than We Realise
Do you notice yourself or others reacting to seemingly small things in ways that seem out of proportion? Do you find yourself struggling with certain topics of conversation, wanting to escape, or noticing that you keep zoning out? Do you ever get halfway through a sentence and your mind goes blank, or have a to-do list but find yourself overwhelmed and procrastinating?
We are familiar with trauma resulting from an accident, abuse or illness, but trauma encompasses much more. In this workshop we learn what trauma actually is, where it comes from, how it affects our nervous systems, and how it is surprisingly relevant to most of our lives.
Participants described the session as warm, clear, relatable and easy to listen to, and several said it more than met their expectations.
Surely there is light at the end of the tunnel?
‘A wonderful mix of theory, application and self-revelation.’
‘Excellent explanation of effects of trauma and how to manage responses to triggers. Presented in a very creative way.’
‘Very helpful for understanding how to deal with the effects of past trauma on our present lives.’
‘Didn’t know what to expect but was very pleased I [came].’
Feedback from Life Issues participants
July 2025
Who has been the bulldozer in your life?
‘I kept awake, which is not always the case when I go to talks/presentations.’
‘Made me realise how far I have come.’
‘I will look for future sessions with Libby.’
Feedback from Life Issues participants
June 2026
Relationships: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Have you ever wondered why you relate to others the way you do?
Do you like to share everything and live entwined lives, and feel confused by those who want their own space? Or do you enjoy being independent, and find other people’s needs suffocating? Do you feel emotions intensely and sometimes feel misunderstood or ‘too sensitive’? Or do you get accused of being detached, as if you have a heart of stone? Do you find yourself drawn to the ‘wrong’ kinds of people?
This workshop explores attachment theory, and how our childhoods, including relational trauma, shape how we navigate life with others now. Personally, I wish I had known some of this sooner, but learning it is incredibly hopeful: as we understand ourselves and others better, we give ourselves the best chance to grow in how we relate.
People found this one engaging, funny, clear and thought-provoking, with lots of opportunities for questions.
Shame: What It Is and What It Isn’t
Most of us have an inner critic: a sharp, condemning voice that orders us around, silences us, or criticises our behaviour relentlessly. Or maybe you find yourself put down and criticised by others, an external critic you can’t help but listen to. Where do these critical voices come from? What are they trying to achieve? And how does slowing down to understand them help us?
Shame is often misunderstood in our culture, or ignored entirely. By its very nature it wants to stay hidden, so we often lack the language for this complex emotion. In this workshop we explore what shame is and what it isn’t, where it has its roots and what keeps it going, and how we can begin to overcome its impact on our lives.
Shame will be the next workshop in my series at Life Issues, Godalming Baptist Church. These workshops are normally well attended, so sign up early.
What negative labels are you ready to shed?