Managing Distressed Students: a half-day, online training event

When faced with a distressed student, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed or take on too much. This half-day online session is relevant to all student-facing colleagues. It will help you feel confident about responding to a distressed student in a boundaried, role-appropriate and effective way.

The session will consider the nature of distress and the way in which a student might present. This will be followed by exploring a range of practical skills you need to best respond to a distressed student – whether in-person or in the context of remote working and study. We will then focus on how to respond to a student who presents at a higher level of risk – such as a student who mentions suicide.

Who is this session for?

​This session is relevant to anyone who works with students in higher education and who might find themselves responding to a student in distress.

This includes:

• Academics – such as personal tutors, module leaders, and lecturers
• Professional services practitioners – such as disability advisers, welfare advisers, finance advisers, or international student advisers
• Colleagues working in a university enquiry service, a faculty or service front desk team, or a university helpdesk
• Accommodation staff
• Colleagues managing student conduct cases
• Managers of student-facing teams who may need to support their team members to respond effectively to a distressed student
• Security officers
• Students' union advisers

While this training is aimed at higher education, colleagues in further education or other similar settings will also find the content very relevant. This session is mainly aimed at staff who are not clinically trained or in a specialist mental health support role; it is focused instead on providing the majority of university staff with a clear, practical understanding of how to respond to a distressed student.

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Learning outcomes

By the end of this event, participants will:

• Be familiar with the nature of distress and the way in which a student might present,
• Understand practical ways in which they can build a collaborative relationship with a distressed student, and respond confidently and effectively to their distress,
• Know how to set and maintain the boundaries of their role, and look after their own wellbeing during these interactions with students,
• Feel confident in knowing how to respond to a student who is presenting at a high level of risk - for example, a student who mentions suicide.

Fees

Single delegate - £70 + VAT (£84 incl. VAT)

Early bird discount (15%) available for bookings made by 20th March 2024 - £59.50 + VAT (£71.40 incl. VAT)

You can either pay by debit/credit card or request an invoice. To pay via invoice, click on “Pay by invoice or bank transfer” when you get to the debit/credit card details page; we will then get in touch with you to arrange an invoice.

For any colleague unable to secure funding from their HEI/employer to attend this session and unable to afford the standard cost themselves personally, we hold a couple of places at each session which we can offer at a significantly reduced cost. To find out more about how to request one of these places, subject to availability, visit www.plinthhouse.com/self-funded-reduced-tickets

Looking for training for your whole team or cohort? Does the date of this course not work for you? Find out more about our Ready-to-run version of this course.