In times of pressure, your skills for relationship health and resilience become more important than ever. Start an I Matter® Relationship Health Learning Journey
Build understanding and practical skills so you can respond more effectively at home, at work and everyday life
Designed to support prevention and early intervention through small steps projects.
👉 Start Your I Matter Learning Journey
New Here: What is I Matter?
Why this matters now?
We are living in a time of high pressure and uncertainty. Many adults and young people feel overwhelmed.
Relationship challenges often sit at the heart of stress, mental health difficulties, behaviour challenges, and burnout.
Yet most people have never been explicitly taught how relationships work.
I Matter brings together research and practice into a simple, practical learning approach.
So the question is:
What can you do right now to respond more effectively and support yourself and others in your home and work and community roles?
A shared learning approach for professionals, parents and individuals
🟦 What is I Matter?
I Matter offers a relationship health education learning system that helps motivated adults build understanding they can apply in real-life situations.
It has been designed for use by professionals, families and individuals, across schools, and primary care and community settings as a foundation to support more joined up thinking and more prevention and early intervention.
It is not a clinical treatment or therapy service.
It is a structured learning process for building relationship health understanding and skills.
The I Matter Small Steps Approach - Starting with Your Learning
Most meaningful change happens in small, practical steps.
The I Matter approach supports people to:
- get clear on their priorities
- start thinking about relationship health
- learn the I Matter Framework
- apply it in real situations
- reflect on what works
- build confidence through practice
I Matter is not a passive course. It is a learning system designed to support active reflection and application across a community.
We progress microprojects as faced with very high needs when we can't do everything, we can try to do something. We call this 'Lighting a Candle'.
How do people start?
We run two pathways - a self funded route and a funded route via partner organisations
All learning begins with the Online Introduction, after which you can choose the pathway that fits your role and needs
Professionals and
Practitioners
Professionals and practitioners can join through self-funded learning or via a microproject in a participating organisation.
Option to progress own microproject
Parents-Carers
Individuals
Parents and carers can join through self-funded learning or via a trusted professional running a microproject in a participating organisation. Additional options via directory.
Self-funded and funded options
Organisations and
Communities
Organisations can develop means to support staff or families through practical, affordable learning pathways and small pilot microprojects.
Start small and build capacity
You can review study support options here
Professionals begin with progressing their own learning first, with option to then progress a microproject first helping just 1 family access I Matter learning with an agreed light touch level of study support eg some informal conversations. Certification can be based on working with 3 families.
🟦 What the I Matter Learning Journey helps people do
I Matter helps people:
- understand relationship patterns affecting wellbeing
- make sense of stress, behaviour, and communication
- respond more calmly and confidently in difficult situations
- improve connection and compassion in adult-adult and adult-child relationships
- build shared language and understanding across home, school, and work
- start conversations with others and problem solve more easily
🟨 Relationship Health and I Matter® Informed - is an evidence-based foundation
The I Matter Framework draws on established research in diverse fields including:
- child development
- mental health
- communication and conflict research
- family and community systems understanding
It translates this research evidence into a practical, integrated, accessible learning system for everyday use across settings
How I Matter fits with existing support
I Matter does not seek to replace existing high-quality interventions.
Instead, it provides an umbrella and foundation for understanding relationship health.
The purpose is to help connect existing approaches through shared language, practical learning, and a prevention-focused model that can make sense to the wider public.
Not Another Referral Pathway
I Matter is not designed to create unlimited referrals or waiting lists.
It is designed to:
- support motivated adults who choose to learn
- build practitioner confidence
- test small local approaches
- create prevention and early help capacity over time
For Organisations
I Matter offers a practical, affordable way to:
- invest in prevention
- grow workforce capability
- support a small number of families well
- avoid unsustainable demand models
- generate learning before scaling
Ways to Get Started
I Matter helps people make sense of how to improve relationship health in everyday life.
With greater understanding, people can respond more calmly, think more clearly, and support others more effectively — even in challenging situations.
Start small. Learn deeply. Build capability that lasts.
STEADY PATH
Explore Entry
Learning
Start exploring ideas and insights around relationship health in your own roles. Explore at your own pace
+ Free resources
+ Free Ebooks
+ YouTube channel
+ Introductions
+ Workshops
+ or Learn about the Wheel
FAST TRACK
Progress Your
I Matter Journey
For professionals, parents and leaders ready to commit to learning and making changes in their own settings
+ Progress via self-funded learning
+ Progress via funded microproject options
+ Option for practitioner training
+ Varied roles to explore
Check Locality Hub
Check Independent Practitioners
VIA ORGANISATIONS
Support a Journey for Staff or Families
For schools, GP practices, and organisations building internal capability for RH informed practice.
+ Support a motivated practitioner
+ Enable microproject practice locally
+ Build real-world insight
+ Or donate to Microproject fund
I Matter is an active development project - are you Interested in contributing?
Help shape the next stage of the I Matter Learning Journey.
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I Matter Training
The Kendal Integrated Care Community has adopted the I Matter Framework as a foundation for our thinking about how to work together in our community to help those who are struggling. Professionals and non-professionals are learning together. It feels good.
Dr Amy Lee , GP Safeguarding Lead Kendal Integrated Care Community
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I Matter Training
The I Matter approach of considering the adults needs alongside those of the children is such a useful way to look at things and has turned the dynamics on its head for me. I have realised my stress levels are having a huge impact on all of us as a family and learning to change this is starting to make a difference.
Parent , parent of teenager with challenges
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I Matter Training
EVERY teacher and parent would benefit from this programme. Parent carers are a group of people I would like to get this to. This would be a fantastic opportunity to bring a very isolated group of people together to improve the situation they are in.
Carer support professional , Children and adults of all ages
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I Matter Training
I am a HLTA but also a parent and foster carer. I work with primary aged children, have 3 teenagers, and foster toddlers! This programme has been so valuable for each and every relationship I encounter on a daily basis.
Higher Level Teaching Assistant and Foster Carer , Trained for work and home purposes
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I Matter Training
This programme has had a big impact on my own well-being which has meant that I have been more able to cope better with the expected and unexpected aspects of life in a calmer rational manner!!
School Leader , Key Stage 4 Leader and Parent
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I Matter Training
The first videos and questions really got me thinking. I realised how isolated I had let myself become and that this was not helping me or my child. I took action the next day and phoned a friend. I also made another follow-up appointment to speak with my GP.
Anonymous , Parent
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I Matter Training
The first time I worked through the videos and questions I didn't really understand what they were all about. By the third time I really understood what was being asked. At first we were really stuck. However It has been exciting to see the progress.
Parent , Parent of child with explosive behaviour
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I Matter Training
This training has been so much more than I expected it to be. I have learned so many things that have changed my understanding of myself and of my child. I have worked with many services before this but this has really made the difference. Now I know why I Matter
Anonymous , Parent of child with additional needs
53 Stramongate
Kendal
La94BH
United Kingdom
