The I Matter Learning Journey is an online programme and learning community which helps leaders, professionals and parents/carers to understand difficult relationships with young people or adults and take steps to bring about positive change through their own role.

Typically, these difficult relationships manifest as:

• Challenging behaviour including angry, defiance and unco-operative patterns
• Mental health issues such as anxiety, depression and self-harm
• Unhelpful stuck patterns in relationships whether adult-child, adult-adult or self-self e.g difficult patterns observed in young children that are still not addressed years later
  
  

As a senior leader, professional or parent/carer it can be incredibly challenging to know how to best support some young people or adults and how to have a healthy and supportive relationship with them.  Some children or adults with challenges have formally diagnosed conditions but many do not.  It can nonetheless be difficult to understand why quite so many children are struggling these days.

For example, in school or in community roles, it can be shocking to be drawn into incidents with children and young people who seem out of control and potentially a risk not just to themselves but also to others in your care, whilst feeling your training didn’t prepare you for the situations you are in.  Being faced with disengaged or angry, escalated parents-carers who are sometimes blaming you can at times be even more difficult than the work with young people.  It can be very discouraging to see situations around you getting worse.  But where should you start?

At home, as a parent or carer or young person, it can also be extremely challenging to see a child or adult struggling with their emotions and lashing out or withdrawing, whilst you are feeling ill-equipped to support them and are feeling so isolated and misunderstood yourself.  Of course, you really want to help your child but you may feel you have been asking for help for so long.  You do worry your efforts are sometimes making things worse, but you know you can’t do this on your own.  It’s just you didn’t know parenting was going to be so difficult and you often simply do not know how best to respond.

So, for professionals or a parents a common experience can be one of feeling that you are failing the young people or adults in your care who are clearly needing help. The experience can be one of failing at the role of being the adult in the situation. Failing at the challenge of finding the way forward

The main intended outcome of the I Matter Learning Journey is to give you a clear roadmap to improved relationship health with children and young people or adults both typical and more complex, through helping you focus on the foundations of relationship health. The programme, developed by Dr Cathy Betoin, a highly experienced clinical psychologist, teacher and parent herself. draws together decades of research evidence on what helps children and adults to thrive into a practical easy to understand set of ideas. These help you strengthen your understanding of the links between stress and wellbeing, child development, brain development and the adult role including the power of beliefs and attitudes. 

An understanding of the I Matter Framework can then support you  in:
· Strengthening of relationships with a young person/s when there are mild-moderate challenges
· Recovery of relationship health with young people when there are escalated or complex challenges
· Preparation for relationship health in a role in parenting or caring for children
· Continuing Professional Development helping you take forward the overlooked issue of relationship health in your roles so you can better support the young people in your care and work more effectively with parents

All I Matter training in the UK is overseen by Cathy Betoin. We are currently focussed on building a network of practitioners. No other training or accreditation in the I Matter Framework is approved or recognised by I Matter Training Ltd. 

• We work with community hubs and member schools as our goal is to create a well-informed community of adult professionals and parents around children and young people who are struggling. We start with GP’s and school leadership who want to work together to help parents and young people in their own locality
• Then, whether you are a senior leader or a professional or a parent, you’ll study the I Matter Framework through video lessons designed to help you better understand and then implement positive changes to your relationships with young people in your care.
• You will also have the option to join small group explorations with others in similar contexts to yours, as well as opportunities for personalised consultations, subject to the availability of practitioners, to help you address specific issues
  
• Where possible, we aim to connect you to a local community hub that is joining up professionals in health and education and community roles.
• The I Matter Programme does not offer any quick fixes. Putting I Matter principles into practice is a life-long learning process with every individual journey unique.  What you should remember is that if you ever have the feeling that ‘it is not working’ then there is simply more for you to still learn.  This is why we refer to the theory to practice stage as an I Matter Challenge.
• An I Matter Learning Journey is not about changing others. It is about creating the conditions that support relationship health for children and for yourself and others in work and home roles.   In this process, you are a key agent in bringing about the changes you want to see.

To join I Matter Programme you need to be:

• Committed to working with others in your own community and able to access local support 
• Willing to commit to study, including online study (one step at a time)
• Motivated to learn more about yourself and your own relationships and ready to make some personal changes to help children and other adults in your settings
• Available to access and engage with I Matter discussion groups
• Interested in developing the skills that support healthier and happier relationships

The initial steps to join the I Matter Learning Journey and progress an I Matter Challenge include

• Completion of an initial short online expression of interest form and initial discussion
• Completion of an in-depth online assessment questionnaire and consult on priority goals
• Registration for an online account for Preparation and Level 1
• Participation in small group online discussion of I Matter Principles and theory to practice:
• Encouragement to keep working on your own I Matter Challenge and skills.
  
  

Step by Step:   The programme encourages you to aim for one happier and healthier relationship at a time and can provide a positive complement to other learning.   We love to celebrate results!     

After Level 1 training, some people stop or pause, others progress to further learning with varied levels of support including options for personalised small group and 1:1 coaching with our growing network of I Matter Informed and Certified practitioners.  

We encourage you to stay involved so as to have the benefits of staying checked in to the I Matter Framework and Relationship Health conversations and ideas that will help you to continue finding the way forward.    We would love you to join us!

I Matter Relationship Health Training is suitable for professionals or for non-professionals who are ready and open to learn.   The training can be very informative in relation to adult-child and adult-adult relationships.   The pathway for parents is via community hubs and member schools.

The intention of the I Matter Framework is to help you understand more about what is happening in everyday challenging situations.

Though the ideas can look familiar and fairly simple putting the principles into practice takes a lot of practice, particularly if challenges have been present for a while.  The training covers a lot of issues some of which can be experienced as sensitive and so I Matter can offer a challenging learning experience for some.

If there are current challenges, it is therefore important to think through your local support options.    
This course is not intended to help you address challenging situations without other support in place. 

There is an important distinction between the First Course and the I Matter Learning Journey. 

The First Course is, as it sounds a very basic and introductory level of discussion of the ideas.  It is offered via member organisations either by recommendation or supported by an inhouse practitioner.

Those who are interested in more indepth study and a longer more sustained commitment join the I Matter Learning Journey to learn new ideas and to find a community of support with the challenges of putting the ideas into practice in their own settings.

We open the Level 1 self-paced course to new cohorts of professionals or parent groups by invitation several times a year

The Level 1 supported course costs £500pp with discounts for self-paced courses via member schools and services with a Link professionl.  It is possible to make multi-purchases at discounted costs.  

The Level 1 training is an awareness level course and is intended to support your personal understanding or for CPD only.   You are not licensed to use the resources in a professional role with level 1 training only.   If you want to use the I Matter Resources in your practice with children or adults then you can apply to join further training.  Level 2-3 involves work with children in direct roles and level 4 includes work with parents and professionals who are progressing an I Matter Learning Journey

As it sounds, the supported course includes a higher level of personalised consultations.    

At present this option is only offered in the Kendal area where we work within a network of I Matter informed professionals.

To take part in further training requires an application.   

We offer further training to professionals with priority given to community hubs to support the building of a shared local language.
We offer further training to parents-carers via I Matter approved professionals or trainees.