Formulating Using the Meaning of the Child Interview

This 2 day online course will teach participants how to use the MotC to think with their clients about the difficulties they encounter and come up with solutions.  This course is online self-directed (from videos / no live teaching) – previous MotC training is required.

It will look at how to take MotC classifications and use them to understand parents and parent-child relationships in ways that inform intervention planning.  Report writing and feedback to parents will also be covered.

Attendance at Part 1 and Part 2 or previous full MotC training is required.  You do not need to be a reliable coder, however this course can lead to accreditation as an experienced coder upon submission of a coding report, confirmation of peer support/cpd arrangements, and a year of coding for others.

Course Tutors:  Dr Ben Grey and Juliet Kesteven

Teaching is online through provision of course materials and videos taken from live teaching.  Participants can move forward at their own pace and there is no end date.

Cost £250 including materials

The approach of the MotC is not about providing a ‘diagnosis’ of generalised pathology but rather building an in depth understanding of resources and difficulties in the context in which they occur, from which to think about support, intervention, and in some cases, risk. This 2-day course will focus on using information gained from the MotC to think about families and how to help them. It will not teach or recommend a specific therapeutic approach but rather support practitioners in whatever service or context they work in to use the MotC to make sense of parent-child relationships in ways that allow them to make the best use of whatever tools, powers or resources at their disposal to improve life for children and their families.

Requires Parts 1 and 2 (Participants do NOT need to be reliable coders of the MotC, however those who are, have been coding for more than a year, and submit a coding report, may be accredited as experienced coders of the MotC).

The MotC can offer help in these forensic and therapeutic settings by bringing to light the positive intentions of parents to offer love and nurture to their children; giving insight into some of the obstacles that the relationship faces (in particular the impact of traumatic experiences); and guiding work with parents to tackle problems in their lives and parenting, rather than blaming them for complex and multi-faceted difficulties (White et al. 2019).  A more systemic and relational understanding of ‘risk’ and ‘mental health’ can help contribute to the broadest possible understanding of the challenges faced by all those concerned with the welfare of a particular child or adults, without glossing over the need for effective action where it is warranted.  Smith et al.’s 2018 study of the Norfolk PIMAP project shows how this kind of formulation-based approach using the MotC can achieve significant reductions in children coming into care and the need for child protective services with children at high risk of removal, whilst also helping make better decisions around risk (see also McPherson et al. 2018).