FACTS Training - Support for Families and Carers

If you are a mental health professional interested in delivering FACTS within your service, please complete this form and email us to register your interest. If you meet the criteria outlined in the form, you will be given access to the FACTS materials hosted on the e-learning platform.

Criteria for mental health professionals

You must:

• be a mental health professional with knowledge of BPD/EUPD and mentalisation

• have, or be able to source, a carer with lived experience of supporting someone with BPD/EUPD to co-deliver FACTS.

Carer involvement is essential. Their lived experience brings empathy, credibility, and a unique understanding of supporting someone with BPD/EUPD, enriching the delivery of the course.

If you are a carer of someone with BPD/EUPD and would like to set up FACTS in your local area, you will first need to have attended a FACTS training course.

To find out when the next course is taking place, please view the list of providers and contact the provider closest to you.

After completing the course, carers interested in becoming FACTS leaders should email the FACTS Steering Group. They will guide you through the process, which includes:

• Gaining experience through observing, shadowing, and co-delivering FACTS courses

• Receiving guidance on the administrative and practical aspects of running FACTS

• Support to make connections with local mental health services, including access to a supervising mental health professional for safeguarding or participant concerns

Once approved as a FACTS leader by the Steering Group, please ask them to email us to confirm your approval and complete this form. You will then be given access to the FACTS training materials hosted on the e-learning platform.

FACTS training is delivered by either:

• Mental health professionals who have a knowledge and understanding of BPD/EUPD and Mentalization, who can co-deliver the training with volunteer carers who have lived experience of supporting someone with BPD/EUPD or;

• Volunteer carers, who have completed a course previously and gained support and approval from the FACTS Steering Group to deliver FACTS. They will also require support and supervision from a local mental health service.

Carer involvement is essential. Their lived experience provides a unique understanding of relationships with someone with BPD/EUPD, bringing empathy, credibility, and depth to the training.

Before registering an interest in delivering FACTS, mental health professionals are advised to seek agreement and support from their manager or service.

Both mental health professionals and carer leaders must ensure that training deliverers have access to a supervising mental health professional, who can provide support with matters such as safeguarding concerns or participant complaints.

Once approved as a FACTS leader or trainer, you will receive an email with a username and password giving access to the following materials on the e-learning platform:

• FACTS handbook

• Leaders’ welcome pack

• PowerPoint slides and leaders’ notes for each module

• Information, slides, and notes that can be shared with participants

• Training videos to support understanding of FACTS skills

• Template documents

Once you begin delivering FACTS, you will be required to inform Anna Freud of any training delivered by completing a form and sharing anonymised participant feedback. Further details will be provided once access to the materials is granted.

You will also be able to contact the FACTS Steering Group for advice if needed. Please note that the Steering Group is made up of volunteers and will respond as soon as they are able.

The intellectual property for FACTS is held by Anna Freud. Course materials are only available to registered leaders and participants and must not be shared with others.

Leaders may adapt the training content to better meet the cultural needs of their local setting.

Participant notes and slides for the first FACTS module, ‘Introduction to BPD’, are available below:

• Participant notes: Introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder

• Participant slides: Introduction to Borderline Personality Disorder

Full course materials for the remaining modules are only available to registered leaders and participants.

If you would like to attend a FACTS course, please view the list of providers and contact the provider closest to you. You can also view the FACTS flyer here.