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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“The course has been hugely beneficial to me personally in my practice for many reasons but one of the most useful is that it has given me a framework with which to approach the complexity of the role that allows me to stand alongside but apart and so really helping with personal stress and resilience as well as growth. Thank you.”
“I found the training course incredibly informative, and being able to speak to those from other professions was of real value.”
“The facilitators ran this training really well and engaged the cohort in a meaningful way”
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This course is for those who have been in an employed or contracted role either within the Offender Personality Disorder Pathway (OPDP) or NHS service for a minimum of 2 years. They must be leading or managing others, or working in a consultancy role.
They will also need organisational support to be released and given ample opportunity to make use of the learning.
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There is an expectation that delegates will:
attend all 12 online sessions plus the Community of Practice (CoP) day which will take place in-person at the main Anna Freud office in London
complete pre-session reading before each training day, equating to approximately 3 hours over the course of the training
complete some brief tasks in between sessions
bring work place dilemmas for consultation
participate in small and large group discussions.
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Dr Julia Blazdell
Julia Blazdell is an education consultant who has a lived experience of being diagnosed with a ‘personality disorder’. She started off as an academic, lecturing and conducting research at Queen Mary, University of London. She subsequently moved into mental health, working for the Mental Health Foundation on the Strategies for Living project and for Mental Health Media on the Speak Up! Toolkit. She has been involved with the Knowledge and Understanding Framework for many years, first as a Manager for Emergence CIC and latterly as a freelance lived experience trainer and consultant. Julia has extensive experience of providing consultation to community and forensic services. She has also taken up a leadership role in developing national training programmes, including within the Knowledge and Understanding Framework.
Julia was the Co-President of the British and Irish Group for the Study of Personality Disorders (BIGSPD, 2018-2024) and is the co-editor of Working Effectively with ‘Personality Disorder’: Contemporary and critical approaches to clinical and organizational practices (Pavilion, 2020).
Dr Farha Choudhary
Dr Farha Choudhary is a Consultant Psychologist and Organisational Consultant with 20 years' experience in the field of mental health. Farha has worked with people who meet the criteria for personality disorder, specialising in evidence-based therapeutic approaches to support individuals. Farha has also been a trainer with 14 years' experience of delivering the Knowledge and Understanding Framework to staff in the frontline, managers and commissioners. She is passionate about supporting staff and organisations to improve care provision, particularly to those who are highly vulnerable.
In her work with organisations, Dr Choudhary offers a range of interventions to support managers and staff groups to work through challenges in the workplace, with an emphasis on promoting a healthy organisational culture and better work practices.
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The training will be held online on Microsoft (MS) Teams. You do not need an MS Teams account in order to access the training but you will need the most up-to-date version of the MS Teams app downloaded onto your device.
Please note that without an account for MS Teams, your access to the chat history from each session will be lost. We therefore recommend creating an MS Teams account so that you can review chat history once a session has finished.
Please ensure when you join each session that your display name matches the name on your registration. This is essential for us to be able to mark you as present at the session and to therefore mark your overall attendance on the module.
How do I create an MS Teams account?
To learn how to sign up an MS Teams account for free, please follow this link.
How will I access each session?
Each session has an individual access link. For your ease, the access link for each session will be made available from Blackboard Learn, a learning management system.
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You can use Microsoft Teams on your mobile or desktop device. Below are the minimum requirements to use Microsoft Teams:
Android phones and tablets: Microsoft Teams works with Android devices using the last four major OS versions.
iPhones, iPads, and iPods: Microsoft Teams works with devices using the last two major iOS versions.
Windows, Mac, and Web: To check if your Windows or Mac meets the system requirements, please go to the Hardware requirements for Microsoft Teams page. For a list of supported browsers, please go to the supported browsers for Teams page.
Using Blackboard
The online platform Blackboard Learn will be used to deliver any self-guided learning and will provide access to handouts, materials and homework. Most laptops/ PCs/ MACs/ iPads and android devices work with Blackboard. Blackboard is best accessed through Google Chrome.
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Upon booking, you will be asked to confirm that you have read and accept our terms and conditions and our privacy notice. Please read these documents before booking:
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