An Introduction to Parental Alienation

This training is open to social workers across Adult and Children's Services within the West Midlands Social Work Teaching Partnership. Please see below our Partner organisations. Though not exclusively for Children’s teams, this may be of particular interest to social workers/team managers working in Child and Families, Court Teams, Fostering Teams. Practice Educators supporting students in Children’s Teams, Academics and Teaching Fellows with an interest in this area.

This half-day course will provide an introduction to the topic of Parental Alienation. Parental Alienation is becoming more recognised within Children & Families Social Work, however the research base is still lacking in terms of offering best-practice and solutions for social workers.  

Throughout this course we will explore...

• Definitions, identification and consideration of harm
• The emergence of Parental Alienation as a safeguarding issue
• Sharing of practice experiences and case studies – facilitator and via breakout rooms
• Links to theory and research for practice
• Reflections of professional practice – self-care and decision making
• Tensions for workers when Parental Alienation distorts the “voice of the child”. 

About the trainers: 

Matt Clarke is a registered Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work at Keele University. Matt’s practice experience has been in various front line Children and Families teams, particularly in the Child Protection and Court arena. He has experience of working with parental alienation in practice and the emotional impact this can have upon children and families, as well as the tensions and dilemmas that this issue poses to professionals working in this field.

Carolyn Gair is a registered Social Worker and Lecturer in Social Work at Keele University. Her practice experience is in children and families, specifically in roles working with children who have experienced trauma and loss, and research interests include how professionals can avoid compassion fatigue and burnout. Within this session Carolyn will be focusing on what lessons social workers can learn from research around secondary trauma as well as compassion fatigue within the complex world of parental alienation

The deadline to register your interest in this course course will be 

Friday 22nd December.

Please note, your space will not be confirmed until after this deadline date, when a member of the Programme Team will be in touch to confirm the status of your booking, i.e. if you have secured a space or if you will be placed on the waiting list.

Partner Organisations: 

Birmingham Children's Trust

Birmingham City Council

Birmingham City University

Cheshire East Council

City of Stoke-on-Trent Council

City of Wolverhampton Council

Coventry City Council

Coventry University

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council

Heart of Worcestershire College

Herefordshire Council

Keele University

Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust [MPFT]

Sandwell Children's Trust

Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council

Shropshire Council

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council

Staffordshire County Counil

Staffordshire University

Telford & Wrekin Council

University of Birmingham

University of Warwick

University of Wolverhampton

University of Worcester

Walsall Council

Warwickshire County Council

Worcestershire County Council