Training

THE COURSES

 

 

Advanced Techniques in Risk Assessment and Management: Understanding organised crime, modern slavery and human trafficking, grievance-fuelled violence and violent extremism 

CAROLINE LOGAN & LISA DAVIES 

(three days)

Many practitioners have knowledge and experience applying risk assessment guidance in their workplaces – for example, the HCR-20 V3 or RSVP V2 in forensic mental health and prison services and court proceedings.  However, the needs of the clients to be assessed are evolving; they are more complex now than ever, presenting risks in multiple areas linked to multiple problems and challenges of various kinds, past, current, and enduring.  The expertise of practitioners must also evolve and deepen.  

This training opportunity is three days in duration.  Each day builds on what has come before, including what participants bring to the course through their experience and current practice. 

Day 1 will focus on the structured professional judgement (SPJ) approach to risk assessment and management. We will examine key parts of the risk evaluation process, namely clarifying the terms of reference for a request for support in harm prevention planning, preparing preliminary hypotheses, information gathering and consultation skills, risk formulation, and communication, in addition to triage and case prioritisation. In addition, we will examine the direct links between these tasks and risk management planning and implementation, focusing on the role of risk formulation. We will use a case study to explore the application of the SPJ approach to assessing concerns about sexual violence risk using the RSVP V2 and violence risk using the HCR-20 V3.   

Day 2 will be led by Ms Davies and will include a day of highly specialised training in risk assessment and management in relation to organised crime, modern slavery, and human trafficking. This day will demonstrate how the use of the HCR-20 V3 and RSVP V2 may be combined with the guidance offered in the Multi-Level Guidelines V2 and other relevant risk decision-support aids to create a combined framework for the evaluation and risk management process.  The case study introduced on day 1 will be developed throughout this day, building directly on the material covered on Day 1.  

Day 3 will be led by Dr. Logan and will include a day of highly specialised training in risk assessment and management in relation to violent extremism and grievance fuelled violence, including workplace violence, demonstrating how the use of the HCR-20 V3 may be combined with the guidance offered in the MLG V2, and other relevant decision-support aids, including those developed specifically to address ideologically motivated violence. The case study introduced on day 1 will be further developed throughout this day, building directly on the material covered on Days 1 and 2.  

This training is for qualified practitioners with at least some experience in risk assessment and management who wish to develop those skills further in the areas outlined above.  The impetus for this course is the publication of the second edition of Managing Clinical Risk: A Guide to Effective Practice, edited by Caroline Logan and Lorraine Johnstone, to which Lisa Davies contributed substantially.  

 

 

Personality problems and risk: The link and their relevance to violence in a family context

This course includes training in the application of Module I of the DSM-5 AMPD, the Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS)

CAROLINE LOGAN

(two days)

Assessing parental personality and personality problems can be critical in family court proceedings. Therefore, practitioners offering expert witness evaluations and testimony in this setting must understand personality, its problematic presentations and severity, and the possible links between personality problems and risk in a family context. They must also understand how personality problems may co-occur with other conditions and be nuanced yet clear in the language they use in their case and risk formulations. 

Day 1 of this course will begin by discussing personality and how and why personality problems can become an issue in some people. The severity of personality problems will be examined in detail, and training will be provided on the Level of Personality Functioning Scale (LPFS), which measures the severity of personality problems and is Module I of the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorder. Relevant case studies will be used to illustrate key points and assessment practices in addition to informative ways of communicating findings. 

Day 2 will see the continuation of LPFS training followed by an examination of the nature of personality problems and their link to risk in a family setting. The discussion will focus on the nature of pathological narcissism – or narcissistic personality disorder – and its relationship to psychopathy. We will also focus on the problems linked to borderline personality disorder.

This training is for qualified practitioners with at least some experience in personality disorder assessment who wish to develop those skills further as outlined above.  While this course emphasises family violence, it will be relevant for practitioners working in forensic settings with clients whose personality problems are linked to any form of violence. 

 

Insider Risk: Assessing, Understanding and Managing Risk in the Workplace 

CAROLINE LOGAN 

(one day)

This intensive one-day workshop will explore in depth the range of activities that pose a threat in the workplace, in addition to their investigation, formulation and management. The nature of those threats may include actual, attempted or threatened violence towards a colleague, the unauthorised disclosure of information to a third party, sabotage, the facilitation of third-party access, threats to employees and the workplace from outside sources, and various forms of corruption. This interactive workshop will begin with a review of the forms of threat experienced by organisations and their putative causes. How workplaces may detect and become aware of those threats will be considered, leading to a discussion of options for their fuller investigation. Formulation will be explored as a means of both encapsulating an understanding of the threat posed and communicating it to others. The workshop will conclude with an exploration of options for the management of such threats by individual practitioners and workplace threat assessment teams. The approach taken to the exploration of workplace threats of this nature will be the structured professional judgment approach, which has the most to offer practitioners in terms of applying the evidence base in this area to practice.   

 

Understanding and managing the risk of suicidal and self-harmful behaviour

LISA DAVIES & CAROLINE LOGAN

(one day)

This intensive one-day course will examine the applications of the structured professional judgement approach to understanding and managing the risk of suicidal and self-harmful behaviour. The day will begin with a review of the behaviour, its various motives and forms, and the guidance available to assist practitioners in understanding risk in the individual case. The value of risk formulation will be emphasised, and risk management planning options and strategies will be proposed. People at risk of suicidal and self-harmful behaviour often experience a range of problems (e.g., a history of trauma, mental health problems, personality difficulties) and present risks in other areas (e.g., harming others through fire-setting, violence to caregivers who try to prevent self-directed harm, violence more generally). The day will finish with a review of methods for incorporating the bigger picture into your assessments and formulations, and ultimately, your harm prevention plans.  The impetus for this course is the publication of the second edition of Managing Clinical Risk: A Guide to Effective Practice, edited by Caroline Logan and Lorraine Johnstone, to which Lisa Davies contributed substantially.  

 

Understanding and managing violence risk in an institutional setting

CAROLINE LOGAN & LISA DAVIES

(one day)

In this intensive one-day course, a case study will be used to explore the reasons for violence in an institutional setting – hospital, prison – and its possible causes, contributing and maintaining factors. We will spend time looking at both individual factors for violence in contained settings, and the various ways in which the environment itself can inadvertently enhance the potential for violence to occur.  Instruments and frameworks for conceptualising institutional violence will be introduced during the morning session. In the afternoon, strategies for understanding and managing violence risk will be examined, and options will be offered for their evaluation in practice.