Living with a disability: Relational and Therapeutic Approaches for Counsellors

This course explores how living with a disability may shape identity, autonomy, relationships, loss, and emotional experience, and how these themes may present in therapy or within single-session or helpline contact.

Participants will take away:

• Greater understanding of the lived experience of disability in therapy
• Strategies for responding ethically and sensitively to uncertainty
• Skills to reflect on personal assumptions and work inclusively
• Approaches to support client autonomy and resilience

Course Structure.

Duration: 2 hours, (1 hour teaching + 1 hour discussion).

Format: Online, (Zoom).

Overview:

• Introduction & Context: Trainer background and course purpose.
• Understanding Disability: Key models and frames, (medical, social, grief, identity, power, trauma, meaning).
• Therapeutic Themes: Emotional, relational, and practical challenges.
• Adapting Practice: Sensory, physical, and relational strategies for inclusive therapy.
• Referral & Signposting: Ethical considerations and support options.
• Discussion & Q&A: Case-based reflections and participant questions.

Aims.

• To increase therapist confidence and ethical awareness when working with clients who have physical and/or sensory disabilities.
• To support reflective, relational, and inclusive practice.
• To reduce avoidance and anxiety in therapeutic work with disabled clients.
• To provide frameworks for understanding grief, identity, autonomy, and relational dynamics in disability.
• To guide therapists in safe, ethical, and empowering referral or signposting when needed.

Learning Objectives.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Explain key models and frames for understanding disability, including medical, social, grief, identity, power, trauma, and meaning-making approaches.
• Recognise common therapeutic and relational issues experienced by clients who have physical and/or sensory disabilities.
• Adapt therapeutic techniques to accommodate sensory, physical, and relational needs.
• Explore their own assumptions, anxieties, and relational tendencies in therapy with disabled clients.
• Understand ethical considerations around touch, boundaries, and contracting.
• Identify when referral or signposting is appropriate, and access relevant services or helplines.
• Develop a reflective plan to increase confidence and competence in working with disability.