Compassion Fatigue, Co-Regulation & Attachment (with Empathy from PACE)(5/5): OPEN COURSE

This is advanced-level training within our five-part PACE for Professionals programme. Participants must have completed a minimum of the PACE Mindset (Module One) before attending this course, as it builds on the shared relational foundations established across the programme.

Empathy is most powerful when connection is hardest to offer and most needed. Grounded in the PACE framework, this training explores how Empathy acts as a cornerstone for therapeutic care, co-regulation, and practitioner well-being.

Participants will gain actionable strategies to build secure relational bases for children while learning to protect their own emotional health against compassion fatigue and vicarious trauma.

Key Learning Aims

1. Attachment Theory & Patterns: Understand the ten central tenets of attachment, identify personal/child attachment profiles, and learn how relational patterns shift over time.
2. Co-Regulation in Practice: Master the four channels of co-regulation (tone, physical presence, facial expression, pacing) to create felt safety during emotional distress.
3. Navigating Compassion Fatigue: Identify the early warning signs of emotional, cognitive, and physical exhaustion, and learn the distinct differences between burnout and vicarious trauma.
4. Building Professional Resilience: Apply the PACE lens internally to practice self-empathy, establish effective boundary support, and cultivate a supportive professional network.

Why Choose This Course?

• Comprehensive Theoretical & Practical Blend: Grounded in the foundational attachment work of John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, as well as the Secure Base model, this course translates complex relational science into practical tools for everyday use.
• Focus on the Practitioner’s Nervous System: Recognises that you cannot co-regulate from a dysregulated state. Learn in-the-moment physiological resets and grounding tools to keep your own nervous system regulated.
• Sustainable Professional Practice: Directly addresses the hidden risks of compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and burnout, offering clear strategies to sustain your empathy, purpose, and professional resilience over time.
• Practical Frameworks You Can Use Immediately: Master concrete techniques like Name It to Tame It, the Five-Step Communication Process, and PACE-Informed Behaviour Support Planning.

Programme structure

This module completes the full PACE for Professionals suite, bringing together relational understanding, emotional regulation and professional sustainability. Completing all five modules supports consistent, trauma-informed practice while reducing the risk of burnout, drift and reactive responses under pressure.

Who this training is for

Our PACE for Professionals suite is suitable for a wide range of roles working with children and young people who have experienced trauma or disrupted attachment. Annual refreshers are recommended to support reflective practice and emotional sustainability.

This training is suitable for:

• Social Workers: Case managers, safeguarding and community-based roles

• Caregivers: Residential care staff, foster carers, adoptive and kinship carers

• Mental Health Professionals: Therapists, counsellors and clinical practitioners

• Educators: (Please also see "PACE for Schools") Teachers, school counselors, and special education professionals.

• Birth Parents: Please refer instead to "PACE for Parents"

⚠️ This is workforce development training. Some content may be emotionally challenging and is not suitable for addressing individual therapeutic needs within a group setting.

Testimonials:

You can take a look at what people are saying about our training HERE.

Those seeking to be certified in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) or to further explore PACE in action, are invited to visit the founder's website.

What others say

You can read feedback from professionals who have attended our training HERE..

Format, CPD & Resources

• Delivery: Live training via Zoom

• Format: Taught input, small group work, paired activities and whole-group discussion

CPD Suitability

This training is suitable for Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Participants receive a certificate of attendance and reflection prompts to support CPD recording in line with Social Work England guidance and similar professional frameworks.

Resources:

• A PDF of the course slides is included. Access to an extensive resource library can be purchased separately.

Those wishing to pursue formal certification in Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) or to further explore PACE in action are invited to visit the founder’s website.