Nurture specialist consultant training
Become a certified parent consultant: Nurture specialist
Offer the NurtureCalm education programme
Join a community of change-makers
Change the world...
Facilitate the learning of deeply nurturing human practices
Nurture specialist consultants have a width and breadth of knowledge of what human beings need to feel connected and nurtured. Using the science of the human brain and our psychology we can teach ancient practices passed within communities for generations before the changing of our societies. The best part is that we insist upon evidence and so base the practices we teach on scientifically sound research.
You will be able to support and educate parents on all forms of nurturing touch, including infant massage (and beyond) for relief, development, connection and stimulation. But this isn’t all. You will bring practices of relaxation, regulation of the mind, containment of the body and movement and position (sometimes called yoga) of the body together to create a truly nurturing experience.
The best part is that we don’t stop at 12 months. these nurturing practices can be developed and adapted as families grow and so we offer the full package, even touching on nurturing other adults in our relationships.
You can read a full outline of the training course below.
You will have access to our frameworks that ensure that parents are given the tools to make individual choices for their family now and in the future. We are educators, consultants and specialists, but not experts. We support and educate humans so they can become better experts in each other for calmer relationships.
With this knowledge you will offer bespoke consultations to educate and support parents in nurturing their families, and a programme of workshops and courses under the NurtureCalm brand (with membership of the community). These include:
The training process
Interactive learning
Interactive learning
Online modules
Online modules
Full support
Mentoring
You will study modules online, covering:
Anyone who joins CalmFamily as a leader at any level must first study our 10 core modules providing them with a basic understanding of human beings, and our approach to working with families, and leading for change. Once complete, specialist modules in one or more areas can be studied alongside our interactive training events. If you have studied the core modules before, you can choose whether to revisit them, or just study the new specialist modules for the specialism you are adding to your repertoire. You will also be given an optional literature review section for each specialism that you do. We have a number of accessible ways of undertaking this, or you can choose not to if this is not your preferred way of learning.
Core CalmFamily modules
A relatively quick module that takes you through the history, structure, values, approach and programmes within CalmFamily, including information about our projects in development.
In this module you will gain understanding of the social, legal, political, historical and anthropological concepts surrounding child-bearing, childhood and family life. You will also consider the complexity of the concept of family in our modern society and how this impacts practice.
A brief introduction to the body systems forming a basic understanding needed for other modules that involve discussion of things such as hormones and digestion.
A brief introduction to developmental neuroscience, the evolutionary process that created the human brain and factors influencing the development of the brain, and how motivation works.
This module provides the basic theories of developmental and social psychology including attachment, human needs, motivation and resilience.
In this module we look in depth at the science of the senses, looking at the most up-to-date concepts of the 5 external senses, the 3 internal senses and the balance of regulation.
In this module you will study the neurological and physiological processes of sleep, what is normal for humans and the issues society faces in this regard.
We will also look at the science of the different states of relaxation according to various schools of thought and research.
In this module we examine the basics of nutritional biology, human infant feeding, introducing solid foods, how humans intuitively eat, and the science of taste.
This module covers the fundamental principles of the CalmFamily frameworks for:
- Calmer relationships
- Trouble-shooting human needs
- Mental regulation
- Sensory regulation
- Emotional regulation
- Repairing relationship ruptures
- Learning and development
Everyone who joins CalmFamily to educate and support for a calmer future is a leader. In this module we explore what this means, how to do this authentically for you, and what bravery really means, especially when you rarely feel brave. We also talk about some important business stuff that is practically very helpful.
Nurturing specialist modules
An in-depth module exploring all aspects of infant development, including the application of what we learnt in the neurology and psychology core modules to babies specifically. You will also explore how our understanding of infant development impacts parenting.
This module will provide a good understanding of what it is like to be a baby and how we can understand and continue to understand them, in order to better meet their needs and have the relationships we want to with them. This module covers:
- The fourth trimester experience
- Infant states
- Infant communication
- Play and learning in the first year
- Common infant health issues
With the underpinning understanding from previous modules, we will explore how we approach having calmer relationships with our babies, and how we use our frameworks to support parents in an empowering way.
This module introduces you to the principles of CalmFamily’s nurturing practice. Nurturing is designed as a practice that meets needs to the extent of nurturing, rather than simply meeting basic needs. This involves stimulating and soothing babies with touch techniques, movement, containment and by creating the right environment. During your training days, you will use the principles you have learned to gain confidence in supporting parents to use these techniques for nurturing babies.
This module takes you through:
- The biological science of sleep
- Gives a historical and evolutionary perspective of our societal sleep practices
- Provides a good understanding of normal infant sleep
- Critically analyses common baby sleep training strategies
- Covers infant sleep safety in depth
- Takes you through our frameworks for supporting parents with baby sleep
This module was co-written by Emily Wilding, Sarah Oakley IBCLC, and Gill Rapley. (PhD), and on completion with practical elements taught by Emily on the training days, provides you with certification as a CalmFamily infant feeding practitioner. This is equivalent to being a breastfeeding or mother peer supporter with other breastfeeding organisations.
For infants of 0-6 months it covers:
- The feeding guidelines
- Types of milk and milk feeding
- The science of human infant feeding
- Normal infant feeding behaviour
- Common feeding challenges
- How to support parents with milk feeding
This section was written by Sarah Oakley.
For babies of 6-12 months this module provides an in depth understanding of the process of weaning, meaning the whole process by which milk feeding is replaced by solid foods over a period of several years.
It covers:
- The guidelines on introducing solid food
- The science of weaning
- Readiness for solid foods
- The practicalities of introducing solid food
- Understanding baby food products
- Our approach to supporting infant learning of food and eating
- Our approach to supporting parents through this period
In this module we take a quick look at some important information and options around the remaining basic practical baby care activities, including:
- Bathing
- Changing and elimination
- Swaddling
- Carrying
This slightly sadistic module makes you take a look between your fingers at the practices of mainstream baby “experts”. With no judgment at all, because I have followed their advice in the past, this can be challenging for some people. I do apologise, but as a Baby Specialist you need to know their techniques, so that you can properly support parents.
This final module, alongside your face-to-face training days, will prepare you for being a baby specialist consultant. You will gain a good understanding of the BabyCalm programme, of our principles and approach to facilitating learning for families, and you will have the chance to re-visit material covered in the face to face training.
Following completion of the modules (not including the literature review), and your training days, you will receive a certificate of training and will be bale to work as a consultant. You then have the choice as to whether you follow our mentoring pathway.
Book now
Click here to see dates, prices and to book now...
or select an option below to find out more about our training
Find out more using these links
