Working with refugee people and their families (CPD27)

Develop empowering and therapeutic skills to work in a socially and politically conscious way with refugee people

Working with refugee people and their families

Fee: £470

Duration: 20 hours

Delivery: Online: live teaching

Qualification: CPD certificate

Next start date: 12 January 2026

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This course aims to assist you to enhance your understanding and skills in the context of your own work experience with asylum seeking people and refugees.

Aims and learning objectives

Over the term, this course will offer you the opportunity to:

explore theoretical issues pertaining to the asylum seeking/refugee experience and the dynamics involved in supporting asylum-seeking/refugee people
develop practical skills in working with and supporting asylum-seeking/refugee people
exchange ideas and share experiences and feelings about this work
present and discuss specific work issues for reflection in a supportive learning community

Who is this course for?

This course is for you if you are working (or want to) work with asylum-seeking or refugee people in different capacities. You may be working in any of these roles:

voluntary worker
social worker
manager
mental health worker
teacher
psychologist
community/voluntary sector worker
GP
public sector worker
psychotherapist

This course can act as continuous professional development (CPD) for practicing clinicians.

Course details

There will be ten sessions, each lasting 2 hours. The next course will run on the following dates:

Sessions	Date	Start time	End time
Session 1/10	Monday 12 January 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 2/10	Monday 19 January 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 3/10	Monday 26 January 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 4/10	Monday 2 February 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 5/10	Monday 9 February 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 6/10	Monday 23 February 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 7/10	Monday 2 March 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 8/10	Monday 9 March 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 9/10	Monday 16 March 2026	3pm	5pm
Session 10/10	Monday 23 March 2026	3pm	5pm

There will be no session on Monday 16 February.

This course will be delivered remotely using Zoom and will not be recorded.

You will need a device with a microphone and camera together with a suitably fast internet connection. Although mobile devices and tablets can be used, we recommend the use of laptop or desktop PC for the best experience. Some devices provided by employers may have restrictions in place. Please use the Zoom test link to check your set up before booking (or equivalent for teams).

You will be sent the necessary login link about a week before the course start date. Should you have any concerns about the accessibility of remote delivery please contact the CPD courses team via our online form to discuss how we can best help you.

Drawing on systemic, narrative, psychodynamic and liberation psychology approaches and other theoretical frameworks this course will create a facilitative space for you to examine the complexities of the refugee experience.

You will be able to reflect on multiple levels of context, from the bodily, personal and interpersonal contexts to the family, community, wider cultural and political levels.

This course is based on the idea that everyone working with refugee people should do so in ways that are empowering and use a therapeutic dimension that is socially and politically conscious.

In addition to the module tutors, external lecturers from other institutions participate as guest lecturers.

Library membership

Included in your course fee, you will receive online membership to the Tavistock’s internationally-renowned library for the duration of your course.

Our friendly and knowledgeable library team will help to support you through your specialist CPD course, whatever your level of professional or academic experience. You will have access to an extensive range of eBooks, online journals, all the relevant key databases and our specialist audio-visual collection, plus reference access to all our print books.

Our information skills trainer has made lots of material available on Moodle to help you navigate our comprehensive electronic collections. PCs and photocopiers are available for your use (charges apply for printing and copying), as well as various online resources including audio/video playlists.

Find out more on the Library website: https://tavistockandportman.ac.uk/library/

Testimonials

“The course taught me so much and broadened my view and understanding of ‘refugees’ together with the multitude of facets that this subject entails, about all the interactions, therapeutic principles and approaches. Lots of it was new for me and broadened (and specified) my horizon massively! In a deeply valuable way, it also taught me a great deal about how to navigate relationships and to reflect on my own response toward them.”

Student

“I think what I’d like to say – and that might not be the aim of the course – but in a way it taught me a great deal about how to be ‘more human’.”

Student

“It really was a great treasure and something incredibly valuable to attend to during lockdown – and of course I hope I’ll be able to internalise and apply everything learned and extend it to any future interaction I’ll have in particular with refugees but also inform everything I say, vote for and think about this vast issue.”

Student

Course facilitators

Nsimire Aimee Bisimwa

Highly Specialist Systemic & Family Psychotherapist

Book your place today

You can book a place at any time. You’ll receive confirmation by email, and we will be in touch approximately one week before the course starts with detailed joining instructions.

CPD certificate