About I Matter Training

We are a social enterprise with a social mission!

About I Matter Training

About Our Social Mission

​There is widespread concern about the mental health and well-being of children and young people.
There is also widespread confusion about what to do about it.


Our mission is to help adults feel less stressed and able to have healthier happier relationships with children - especially those who have additional needs - so that children can develop solid confidence in relationships and manage the everyday challenges of life.  

We do this by supporting YOU on an I Matter Journey.  This is a learning process comprised of online study, plus in-depth coaching sessions:  in which you learn to apply the ideas to your own work and home life supported with face to face sessions, group calls and an innovative on line journaling experience all shadowed by a dedicated coach’. Then we help you learn to support others!


 

 

 

 

 

Our Objectives

We aim to provide psycho-education and support for professionals and parents and complex children - that makes a difference to the number of healthy adult-child relationships and the amount of healthy empathy and care in the world

'The parent who is looking for help to support a child who is struggling with relationships, can access it in timely fashion in supportive partnership with their child's school and community'.

'Schools are delivering a developmentally sensitive national curriculum in partnership with parents that prioritises social emotional development and empathy and care development not just literacy and numeracy'

​To achieve this end, our aims are to:
1.   Improve professional understanding of the key role of relationships and social-developmental in children's brain development
2.   Support schools and services in developing the capacity to provide affordable impactful parent education and support that strengthens healthy relationships and empathic understanding of self and other
3.   To build a community focussed approach that supports parents and carers in developing healthier happier relationships over the longer-term
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​We aim to connect with people and help transform relationship confidence

 

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR INFORMATION ABOUT OUR LEGAL AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURES 

 

Dr Cathy Betoin

Dr Cathy Betoin Director of the I Matter Project is a practising clinical psychologist, an experienced teacher and a parent.  

After nearly 30 years of practice with children and adults with complex social emotional needs, Cathy is committed to finding ways to provide psycho-education and meaningful support to professionals and parents-carers, so that understanding increases between home and school and community.    

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT CATHY AS A SPEAKER

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THE KENDAL INTEGRATED CARE COMMUNITY 

The home of the I Matter Framework and the linked training programme is located with the network of the Kendal Integrated Care Community a network of agencies and organisations that are working together to help Kendal and beyond support a happier healthier community for people of all ages.

 

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WE ARE CURRENTLY BUILDING A NETWORK AND DIRECTORY -

The Why?

There is a widely acknowledged crisis in the mental health and wellbeing of our children and young people.  The I Matter Project seeks to address this issue by tackling the confusion around theoretical models and the big gap in current provision for training in child development for professionals and parents, through providing up to date well-evidenced research findings in a format that supports adults in working more effectively together to deliver some back to basics of healthy care.

I Matter Training aims to join up the dots for professionals between well evidenced ideas to illustrate their implications for practice decisions. Though the well-evidenced ideas taught through I Matter courses are back to basics and quite straightforward, they can however be quite challenging to implement particularly in the first stages because of the structures that exist that separate health from education and adult mental health from child mental health.  The framework is powerful but adults and young people need support in making sense of ideas over time and so we are committed to delivering practice models based in local communities that combines online learning with face to face workshops and local expertise encouraging parents and professionals to develop their expertise and understanding over time.  

We are passionate and enthusiastic about taking these practical sometimes life changing ideas out to parents and professionals.
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What sorts of challenges?

I Matter Ideas can be helpfully applied to a wide range of difficulties experienced by young people and families.    We are currently working with partners on the following:
i)  universal services early intervention - working with reception parents about home behaviour
ii) working with parents of children with challenging behaviour
iii) working with adopters on post adoption support
iv) working with parents of children on the autistic spectrum
v) working with professionals who want to take part in parent education and support.

In I Matter we have a saying that all children are complex but some are more complex than others.  So if you are someone who actively wants to learn, there will be something here to support your journey.   Let's start with You!
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You have a key role to play - Your Well-being and Confidence Matters!