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Knowledge and Understanding Framework (KUF) Leadership training

This course enhances leadership capacities by exploring the complexities of leadership. It is tailored for leaders who recognise the distinction between management and leadership and can integrate both effectively into their roles.

About this training

This training is informed by the Knowledge and Understanding Framework (KUF) which is focused on working with people with complex emotional needs often associated with a diagnosis of ‘personality disorder’. This training will be facilitated by tutors who have a range of experience (clinical, lived experience and educational expertise) in these areas.

The KUF approach to leadership

Leadership is a social and relational process. The context of working within intricate systems which are not always aligned, alongside working with people who may have multi-faceted needs, brings a high degree of complexity, and requires leadership that takes account of:

  • The need to be aware of challenging interpersonal and institutional dynamics.

  • The capacity to make sense of and work with challenging interpersonal dynamics and to distinguish between these and institutional dynamics.

  • The fact that systems tend to defend against painful aspects of the work.

  • The need to provide and maintain containing organisational structures that enable work with such complexity.

A certificate of completion will be awarded if a minimum of 80% attendance has been achieved.

The KUF Leadership training programme was previously commissioned by NHS England and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS).

Aims of this training

During this training, delegates will:

  • Develop capacities to take up leadership roles in their own services appropriate to their abilities, and to contribute to the development of psychologically-informed leadership cultures.

  • Explore complex systems, and develop thinking about people with complex needs within those systems, to enable effective service delivery.

  • Develop an increased understanding of organisational dynamics and how to respond to these within services.

  • Explore psychodynamic approaches to relational processes, gaining insight into human development and the impact of trauma, adversity and neglect.

  • Develop an organisational framework to anticipate challenges in service delivery and apply flexible, reflective thinking to complex dilemmas.

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