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Training with Talking Therapies UK


At Talking Therapies UK, we are passionate about equipping professionals with the knowledge, confidence, and compassion to support mental health across diverse settings. With decades of combined experience in clinical practice, public health leadership, and service transformation, our training programmes are rooted in evidence-based approaches and real-world application.

We specialise in delivering high-impact, trauma-informed mental health training tailored to the needs of health, education, social care, and voluntary sector teams. From safeguarding and suicide prevention to emotional resilience and therapeutic communication, our courses are designed to empower practitioners at every level—whether you’re frontline staff, a strategic commissioner, or part of a multi-agency partnership.

Our facilitators bring many years clinical expertise , and a deep understanding of the social determinants of mental health. We prioritise co-production, reflective practice, and inclusive learning environments that foster curiosity, empathy, and professional growth.

Whether you’re looking to upskill your workforce, embed mental health into your organisational culture, or meet statutory training requirements, we offer flexible delivery formats including in-person workshops, webinars, and bespoke consultancy.

Together, we can build psychologically safe, responsive systems that promote wellbeing, reduce inequalities, and improve outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. Let’s shape the future of mental health—one conversation, one training, one transformation at a time..

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Talking Therapies UK
Trauma-Informed Practice & EMDR Awareness · Advanced

Complex PTSD and Specialist Trauma Populations

Developmental trauma, complex presentations and special contexts

This advanced training module provides an in-depth exploration of Complex PTSD and the nuanced presentations often arising from developmental trauma. Moving beyond standard PTSD, the curriculum delves into the DSM-5-TR and ICD-11 criteria, specifically focusing on the profound disturbances in self-organisation that characterise CPTSD. Learners will examine how early relational trauma disrupts the development of affect regulation, self-concept, and interpersonal functioning, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the neurobiological and psychological mechanisms underpinning these complex presentations. A central component of this course is the detailed examination of the phased approach to treatment, a critical framework for managing the heightened risks associated with complex trauma. Participants will study the stabilisation phase, which establishes safety and containment, and the subsequent trauma processing stages, ensuring they are equipped to handle the intense emotional and physiological arousal that can arise during therapy. This section emphasises the importance of pacing and the use of evidence-based interventions tailored to the unique needs of clients with complex histories. The course further extends its scope to specialist populations, offering specialised insights into the trauma experiences of military personnel, medical professionals, and first responders. By analysing the specific stressors inherent in these high-stakes environments, including moral injury and exposure to critical incidents, clinicians will learn to adapt their therapeutic approach to resonate with these specific cultural and occupational contexts. This module addresses the unique challenges of treating individuals whose professional roles involve high levels of responsibility and exposure to human suffering. Additionally, the training addresses the intersection of trauma with relational dynamics and identity. Clinicians will explore how complex trauma impacts attachment styles, parenting capabilities, and a client's sense of self, providing the tools necessary to support clients in rebuilding healthy relationships and integrating a coherent identity. The curriculum also covers the critical clinical skills required to manage dissociation and other complex symptom clusters, alongside essential guidance on maintaining therapist sustainability and preventing burnout when working with highly distressed clients.
▶ See inside the digital classroom1 minute 36 seconds · how a course is laid out, how each lesson is taught, and how the tutor helps
Before you start

This is an Advanced course in the trauma-focused CBT pathway. It assumes that you already work with the approach at Practitioner level and want complexity, process and supervision-level thinking rather than the method itself, which is what Trauma-Focused CBT in Practice teaches. What it adds is complex presentations, comorbidity, ruptures and impasses, the research and process literature, and the judgement needed to supervise or lead the work; it revisits the foundations only as far as it needs to before building on them, so it does not repeat the course below.

A caution. Taking an Advanced course without the foundational understanding will make it harder to follow and to complete, and you will get less from it. If you are new to this approach, begin at Foundation; if you hold the foundations but have not yet used the approach with clients, begin with Trauma-Focused CBT in Practice. Choose the level that matches your existing experience and knowledge.

The trauma-focused CBT pathway. The NICE-recommended treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder, taught as a protocol: understanding trauma and PTSD, trauma-focused CBT in practice, then complex PTSD and specialist populations.

14 study hours14 CPD hours certified12 months of accessAI tutor in every lessonCertificate on completion (pass mark 70%)

What you will be able to do

✓Adapt trauma-focused work for complex PTSD: phasing, titration and relational repair
✓Treat multiple-event and developmental trauma without endless stabilisation
✓Work with dissociation, including flashback management and grounding protocols, at specialist level
✓Address perpetrator-related presentations, moral injury and traumatic bereavement
✓Adapt practice for refugees, veterans, emergency workers and abuse survivors
✓Sustain yourself in high-exposure work: vicarious trauma as an occupational hazard to manage

What you will study

Module 1: Foundations and Neurobiology of Complex PTSD
This module explores the core theory, neurobiological foundations, structural dissociation, and self-organisation disturbances inherent in complex PTSD.
  • Understanding complex PTSD CPTSD in ICD-11
  • The phased approach Phase one: safety and stabilisation
  • Self‑organisation disturbances in complex PTSD: affect dysregulation, negative self‑concept and relational impairment The three DSO domains — affect dysregulation, negative self‑concept, relational disturbance — are core to the ICD‑11 CPTSD diagnosis and guide treatment sequencing.
  • Structural Dissociation in Complex PTSD: Theory, Assessment, and Therapeutic Integration Structural dissociation describes the fragmentation of personality into an Apparently Normal Part and one or more Emotional Parts, underpinning many CPTSD symptoms.
  • Neurobiological Foundations of Complex PTSD and Their Clinical Implications Neuro‑imaging consistently shows amygdala hyper‑reactivity and pre‑frontal hypo‑activation in CPTSD, underpinning affect dysregulation and intrusive symptoms.
Module 2: Phase-Based Clinical Interventions for Complex PTSD
This module covers phased therapeutic approaches, including attachment, somatic integration, memory processing, consolidation, and co-occurring substance use.
  • Attachment, Mentalisation and Relational Healing in Complex PTSD Attachment patterns formed in early relationships shape internal working models that influence CPTSD relational dynamics.
  • Somatic and Sensorimotor Interventions within the Phased Model for Complex PTSD Somatic and sensorimotor interventions target the body‑based memory of trauma, complementing cognitive and affective work.
  • Memory Processing and Narrative Integration in Phase Two of the Complex PTSD Phased Model Memory processing in CPTSD requires integration of fragmented sensory and narrative elements rather than exposure to a single index trauma.
  • Phase Three: Consolidation, Reconnection and Post‑Traumatic Growth in Complex PTSD Phase three focuses on reconnection, consolidation of gains, and fostering post‑traumatic growth.
  • Complex PTSD and Co‑occurring Substance Use Disorders: Integrated Assessment and Phase‑Specific Interventions Complex PTSD frequently co‑occurs with substance use disorders, creating a synergistic amplification of distress.
Module 3: Specialist Populations and High-Status Trauma Dynamics
This module examines trauma in specific groups, addressing moral injury, institutional betrayal, clinician sustainability, and the paradox of help-seeking.
  • Trauma in specific populations Combat and military trauma
  • Relationships, parenting and clinician sustainability Rebuilding intimacy and relationships
  • Moral Injury and Institutional Betrayal in Military, Medical and First‑Responder Populations Moral injury is distinct from PTSD, centring on shame, guilt, and betrayal of core moral values.
  • Professional Identity Collapse and the Integration of the Wounded Healer Professional identity collapse is a fragment