LEARN I MATTER - BECAUSE RELATIONSHIP HEALTH MATTERS
We have a mission to help adults and young people learn the importance of relationship health and their own key 'I Matter' role, as a foundation for more wellbeing at home, at work and in community
Watch the very short video and read below! Then..ask yourself:
Do you want to learn more about relationship health and its vital role in wellbeing for all roles and for all ages, and particularly in challenging situations? If so, you can get started here:
FREE: 60 Minute Masterclass: Relationship Health: 6 Missing Links in Wellbeing You Don't Want to Miss
Has it ever occurred to you, that each and everyday you have a job to do - you have a role in supporting the positive development of yourself, of children, of other adults. This job takes place through everyday interactions in the relationships you have.
So, what is a relationship? A relationship involves our own experience of interactions with others - it includes adult-adult, adult-child and much more. To be helpful and effective in your roles, it pays to understand more, especially if there are some current challenges.
So, why do children and adults behave the way they do? Why do YOU behave as you do? What can you do to prevent problems, or make a positive difference to help yourself and/or a child or adult who is struggling?
If you are someone who loves to understand more deeply and are committed to growing your own skills, we think you will find relationship health and I Matter training a fascinating approach - and very helpful!
The I Matter Framework provides a practical, easy to understand foundational map for relationship health education based on an integration of decades of research evidence on adult and young person mental health and wellbeing. built on an understanding of how the brain develops and functions.
In I Matter Training we often talk about the 'Missing Links'!
Relationship health, is an overlooked approach to improving adult and child mental health and wellbeing, helping with anxiety and managing difficult behaviour. It is exciting and it will get you thinking!
Relationship ill health, on the other hand can be very difficult - yet it is at the heart of some of our greatest wellbeing challenges. The current issue is, we have not been discussing it.
I Matter Training equips adults and young people with insight and skills for relationship health. We help those who want to feel better equipped for well-being and confidence in their important roles with good foundation training and coaching in the I Matter Framework. 
The truth is that even when you WANT to help yourself and others with more relationship health - it can sometimes be tricky to know where to start. So, what we need to understand is both the Theory and how to put Theory into practice.
So here is another missing link that it is vital to understand if you want to move forward with a relationship health approach.
If you want to help improve wellbeing for children, a key detail is the understanding and skills of the adults.
This is not just the skills of professionals - though these are very important. The understanding and skills of parents and carers matter hugely for the outcomes for children and young people. Not just on how to improve adult-child relationships but also how to improve adult-adult relationships in couples and in communities.
The science on wellbeing and on what helps children and adults to thrive makes this VERY clear.
The trouble is, the importance of this issue has been overlooked. So YOU may not have been helped to understand your role - and your own parents or carers may have not have understood much. Many professionals and policy makers have learned very little about this too. That means EVERYONE now has a lot to learn.
The I Matter Five Steps Relationship Health Learning Journey
So how do we work? Most of us hope that our important relationships will be simple, but actually they are often challenging - whether in adult-adult or adult-child, and whether at home or at work.
So, our recommendation is that to be successful in relationships it pays to make sure you first have some good foundations in place.
Without good foundations you can spend a lot of time hunting for solutions or feeling stuck and as if you are going round and round in circles.
Once the foundations are in place it is much easier to understand what is happening in a range of challenging situations - both personal and professional.
So the Five Steps to Success is a process that can take you on a learning journey that last for a short challenge, or an 8 week to 6 month learning journey or even a lifetime!
We open up places to join workshops or the I Matter learning journey to those on our mailing list. So if you are thinking this could be interesting a first step is to sign up for our news.
SIGN UP HERE FOR EMAILS AND THE FREE GUIDE
The Five Steps offers a process for finding your way out of 'the Fog'.
Why invest in strong foundations for relationship health in uncertain times?
Well.. because this issue has been overlooked, there is quite a lot to learn, and a lot to rethink. We find that most people have some knowledge but that they also have significant gaps or confusions that are contributing to the challenges that are experienced.
Training in The I Matter Framework Fundamentals thus helps adults and young people and parents and carers to understand common challenges through the lens of Relationship Health and with insight into the Five Stages of Development and the Three Dynamic Loops that impact all of our everyday interactions. The purpose is to prepare and strengthen people for helping themselves and helping others.
This understanding is important at all ages and stages but preparation will help you know what to focus on in challenging situations and uncertain times and early action will help prevent small difficulties becoming large ones. FIND OUT MORE
When you get clearer, stronger and more skilled, life is easier and your roles are more rewarding. Everyone has a part to play.
Because, lets be clear, if you are in a challenging situation, you are going to need to build yourself much more advanced skills.
The I Matter 'Wellbeing in Community Wheel' is a tool for self asessment and a way of thinking about joining up practices.
Relationship Health has many applications
Once you have a good understanding of the I Matter Framework Fundamentals and of the core principles for relationship health then there are many detailed areas of life to explore further.
We use the I Matter Wellbeing in Community Wheel (or I Matter Wheel for short) to help people complete their own process of self review.
What is going well?
What is going not so well?
What skills do I want to learn?
What skills do I want to help others to learn?
The Wheel can also help you think about which organisations you want to work with on specific challenges in your community
These skills from the Wheel, and many others, are developed in
The I Matter Deep Dive programme.
Commit to building your own skills - as noone else can do your journey for you
When you commit to developing your own understanding...
new and exciting opportunities show up!
Did you know that: studies show that a strong relationship and emotional bond between a child and just one caregiver is a child’s best predictor of resilience to stress and trauma, as well as defence against drugs, early school drop-outs, violence, involvement in crime and other social struggles. It is often a parent, but it can also be an extended family member, a club coach, a teacher, or a neighbour. These vital relationships change the way our brains function under pressure.
Who Am I?
Hello and Welcome - I'm Cathy, I'm a Relationship Health I Matter Trainer and Coach.
I have over 25 years of experience working with children and adults first in the classroom and later in child and adult clinical psychology services. However something wasn't sitting right with me. Eventually in the face of huge levels of unmet need, I concluded that there was something really important missing.
Back in 2009 I set out to try to understand what was missing. I revisited a huge amount of research and evidence to try to understand what it was saying. Slowly the pieces start to come together into something really useful. One day it gained the name 'The I Matter Framework', which I started to teach, along with my colleague Jacqui Wilson, an experienced child and family practitioner, Jacqui and I now work together in the Kendal area with professionals and families. READ MORE
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
The first time I completed the 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
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
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
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
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
The registration questionnaire 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
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
If so, here are 3 ways to get started...
There are blogs and audio clips and
some free downloads
Sign up to Email
More Free Resources
Take a look at the ebooks and
master class starters.
Check out Ebooks
Sign up for Masterclass
If you are ready to go deeper then the
I Matter Learning Journey is for you offering a step by step approach
Apply for Fundamentals
Progress to Deep Dive
1:1 Coaching
We send out ideas and offers and monthly news to strengthen you in progressing Relationship Health using I Matter principles.
Please note, if you sign up with a professional email, you will receive a monthly update.
If you use a personal email you will receive more frequent emails about ideas and opportunities.
I Matter free or paid course materials were developed strictly for educational purposes and should not replace guidance and help from other service providers. Feedback listed is unpaid and will not represent all participants. Read full Terms and Disclaimer CLICK HERE
Our training supports Action Takers. It equips people to become Relationship Health & I Matter Aware, Relationship Health & I Matter Informed and Relationship Health and as I Matter Deep Divers. We license professionals to become I Matter Links and I Matter Leads.
In addition, all persons, professionals and organisations with professionals trained in the I Matter Framework are required to make it clear to others that though they may have completed a training course in the I Matter Framework they act completely independently of I Matter Training and are fully responsible for their own decisions and services provided. Interpretations of the ideas set out in the training can sometimes vary and Dr Cathy Betoin and I Matter Training may not always agree with an individual’s interpretation – so each person is responsible for coming to their own conclusions, and for progressing their own learning over time, including the decision on who to work with and not work with.
We only license the use of I Matter resources for professional use to Link and Lead practitioners in organisations named on this site. i.e. I Matter Training Ltd and Relationship Health Matters CIC have no responsibility for the services or interpretation offered or choices made by others. If not listed here, professionals are not licensed by us and should not be using resources until ready to do so.
