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Welcome to our new website. We’re celebrating 40 years of delivering self-harm support shaped by the people we work with. You told us support needs to be easier to find, easier to access and feel less exposing – this is part of that change. Read more here. Sift, previously Self Injury Support.

Training

Understanding self-harm, creating safe spaces and learning supportive responses

Understanding Self-Harm

Trauma-Informed Awareness Training

Drawing on over 40 years specialist experience, our self-harm awareness training offers a clear, trauma-informed introduction to understanding self-harm and how to respond with confidence and compassion.

Sessions are carefully tailored to your requirements and explore the many forms self-harm can take and the signs that someone may be struggling.

Rooted in lived experience and trauma-informed practice, our training helps you understand why people self-harm, how to create psychologically safe environments, and what truly supportive responses look like. Participants learn how to offer safe, effective support using evidence-informed approaches, including grounding techniques, validation, and practical safety planning.

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"Thank you for the training you gave us. I have been inundated with positive feedback. Everyone found it useful and you made the whole experience very calm. It enabled us to look at a difficult subject in a positive way." – Oxford College Nurses

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For Health & Care Workers

Self-Harm Awareness Training in Health Care Settings.

Are you a health care provider, paramedic, nurse, care manager or other type of carer? Our Lived Experience Peer Support Service works directly with the NHS to support people affected by self-harm, and can provide training which equips health & care workers with the knowledge they need to deal with incidents of self-harm among their patients and clients. Get in touch to discuss your training requirements. 

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For Educators

Self-Harm Awareness Training for Educational Settings.

Are you an educator, key support worker, or pastoral support worker? We work with educational establishments of all levels and age groups to provide training that builds confidence and enables mindful and practical approaches when supporting students that self-harm. Get in touch to discuss your training requirements. 

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Workplace Training

Self-Harm Awareness Training for Employers & Employees.

Whether you’re a small business owner or manager at a large corporate office and looking to educate your teams about supporting mental health in the workplace – we can help. Break down the stigma and enable improved staff wellbeing through educational group sessions, at a convenient time and location that suits your business hours. Get in touch to discuss your training requirements. 

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Community Training

Supporting Self-Harm in Community Groups, Charities, Youth Centres & More.

Raising awareness and improving understanding or what to do when someone self-harms is the first step towards keeping people safe.  Whether you’re a youth worker, charity or other type of change-maker – we welcome training enquiries from a wide range of organisations that are looking to educate people affected by self-harm and the people that care for them. Get in touch to discuss your training requirements.

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What People Say

Our practical workshops build confidence in having safe, validating and non-judgmental conversations with someone who self-harms. Grounded in trauma-informed practice and lived experience, it introduces clear, compassionate language to use, techniques for de-escalation, and ways to set and hold boundaries safely. Participants also explore how to manage their own emotional responses, enabling them to offer steady, grounded support in moments of distress. These are just some of the things that participants have said about our self-harm training:

  • “The trainer’s openness made the day really interesting.”
  • “The training is based on lived experience and research.”
  • “Practical strategies and useful ideas.”
  • “We received clear handouts to go with the information.”

Our Impact

We have 40 years of experience delivering training to a wide range of organisations including YHA staff, care-home support workers, NHS staff & service providers, and volunteers.

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of listening service users reported feeling less anxious

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said our training improved their day-to-day work

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messages responded to every month

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out of 5 rating by people who use our services

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“This training has given me more knowledge to take back to the work place. Very enjoyable and useful. Thank you!” - Rachel Hooper, Health Care Assistant, Juniper Long Fox

FAQs

Our training is designed for schools, healthcare teams, youth workers, community organisations, charities and workplaces. We tailor each session to your setting, level of experience and the needs of the people you work with.

Our training is tailored to your needs to develop understanding of self-harm as a spectrum of behaviours, the reasons why someone may use self-injury and the challenges for support.

Drawing on the views of people who use self-harm and up to date evidenced based guidance, participants gain information about the needs of people who self-injure and helpful responses and consider self-help strategies that can enable someone to improve their emotional wellbeing.

Course aims

To develop understanding of self harm and responses that are helpful

Course objectives

By the end of the course participants will have had opportunities to:

  • Develop understanding about self harm and reflect on the challenges for staff and volunteers when providing support
  • Think about helpful responses, drawing on the views of people who use self harm and up to date evidenced based guidance
  • Recognise the difference between self harming behaviours and suicidal thinking and also the links with potential risk for some individuals

We bring over 40 years of specialist experience supporting people who self-harm and those who care for them. Our training is built on trauma-informed practice, lived-experience leadership and decades of frontline learning. This depth of expertise means we don’t just teach theory - we share real, community-rooted understanding of what truly helps, making our training grounded, credible and highly impactful. Income from our training funds our life-changing, life-saving services.

Participants gain a grounded understanding of why people self-harm, how to respond safely and compassionately, and how to create environments that reduce stigma and increase psychological safety. The training includes practical tools, reflective exercises and lived-experience insights that build confidence and reduce fear around getting it wrong.

Whether you’re new to the topic or looking to deepen existing knowledge, this training offers practical tools, real-world insights and spaces for reflection to support understanding and increased wellbeing.

We are currently exploring accreditation. In the meantime everyone leaves with practical tools, reflective resources and a CPD  certificate recognising their increased awareness, skills and confidence in supporting people who self-harm.

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