Training

Our Current Courses

We offer training on various subjects, but they are all informed by our passion to involve and co-produce our work with people who have lived with their own experiences, whether it be challenges with mental health, addiction (often with arrests and prison or homelessness) or others – there is a huge crossover between mental health and addiction, homelessness, domestic abuse survivors and more. We try our best to make sure that our training courses are accessible and friendly, avoiding jargon, stigma and aiming to make even complex ideas understandable. We believe everyone has great things to offer, and we hope our training shows this by the content and those who deliver them with real life experiences.

After attending any of our training courses you will be given a certificate of attendance. 

If you have lived experience of mental health challenges or addiction and would like to join our training at no cost, please contact us on enquiries@sunnetwork.org.uk.

All our addiction training dates are here and more details for all our training below: 

Intro to addiction image - brain and silhouette

Do you want to understand why a loved-one, client or colleague is trapped in addiction? Is addiction caused by weakness or flaw in genetics or is it something else? What’s going on biologically; see the complex neurology explained simply to see what’s happening in our brains when we are obsessed, unable to make good decisions, stuck in our habits and deeply ingrained behaviours that are harming us and those who we care about. Our introduction to addiction training offers hope and understanding while humanising a problem that causes pain to us and those suffering with addiction.  

This training is an informative course drawn on years of experience and many hours of recovery work with people from all walks of life and all sorts of trauma and expressions of addiction. You will see how all addiction starts with normal reward and pleasure systems that operate in all of us. In this dynamic and interactive course we define addiction while making the physiology, neuro-biology, developmental evolution, and psychology easier to understand. Because this training is written and delivered by a professional with individual experience of addiction, attendees will hear descriptions of what it feels like to be trapped in the cycles of shame and obsession, compulsion, and loss of control.

Take a look at our upcoming training dates and book your place here.

Addiction recovery image - brain and silhouette

What’s the difference between those who pursue their recovery and those who can’t quite start? Can we do anything to help someone who isn’t ready to recover? What is it like to go through addiction recovery? What has helped people persevere in recovery after decades of active addiction? And what haveweI learned that can help you? We don’t think we can do recovery on our own, and it’s not quick or easy, but we’ll share what we’ve learned, what KC does to stay healthy and strengthen his recovery and things that help people he mentors in their own addiction recovery.

In this insightful and practical training, we consider real-life case studies to learn together how tools taught in this course can be offered and learned, making these concepts and meaningful ideas into useful plans for recovery. Attendees will have an opportunity to see and try a short simple practice for addiction recovery which can benefit anyone’s wellbeing. This course focuses behavioural addiction (like gambling) as well as expressions that involve substances such as alcohol and other drugs. Recovery isn’t easy, and it isn’t quick. Many work for their whole lives to recover, and plenty relapse. While, sadly, some do not manage to recover or stay recovered. Yet recovery is possible, and we celebrate and learn from stories of those who do recover. The training is ran by someone living in recovery from addiction.

Take a look at our upcoming training dates and book your place here.

Spirituality and Addiction Training Logo, silhouette of a head with a heart shaped brain inside with the words 'Spirituality and Addiction Recovery'

What can spirituality offer you, if you’re against religion? Is there hope and purpose that can be found outside yourself, beyond what you can see and measure? What can you learn from indigenous philosophies—while keeping your feet on the ground in modern life? What is cutting edge brain science showing about spirituality that brings hope? Addiction can come from isolation and much more, so connecting with something or someone can help. Find out more about how spirituality can make a difference with addiction recovery by coming along to our training.

Take a look at our upcoming training dates and book your place here.

Porn and Sex Addiction

Want to understand why your partner won’t stop looking at porn? Learn what’s happening in the brain during active addiction and how it’s more related to dopamine, neurotransmitters, and testosterone than sex. And, their addiction is no more about you than it is about sex.

Addictions with behaviours are more controversial, but work exactly the same in the brain and respond to the same support and strategies as other addictions. This is an informative 3 hours course with examples from a myriad of addictions relating to sexuality. We offer morning and evening training sessions. After any of our training you will be sent your own 3 hour certificate of attendance after attending regardless of whether you join online or in person in Cambridge.

Take a look at our upcoming training dates and book your place here.

Coproduction

Did you know – services that are co-produced with the people accessing them are more likely to get it right first time, deliver what is needed and save money long term? Do you want to co-produce with local service users? Or do you use services and think you would have some great ideas on how they can improve? Our Co-production training can help everyone learn how important the voices of people with lived experiences are, what they can bring to the table, and how to support them to co-produce with services. Or find out how you as someone who uses services can get involved and have an equal say from start to finish in making improvements.

Learn the differences between collaboration, involvement and co-production. Understand the benefits, identify and remove the barriers, and learn how to successfully facilitate or be involved in co-production work. Learn about all the aspects of co-production from those that work with it daily. This course has been co-designed and is co-delivered by The SUN Network and a facilitator with lived experience of mental health challenges, and is designed for people with lived experience, service providers and service funders (commissioners). Contact us for more information enquiries@sunnetwork.org.uk.

Take a look at our upcoming training dates and book your place here.

Contact us about our group bookings to discuss a time and date that works best for your team or to register your interest or to chat with us.



Courses Coming Soon

Dual Diagnosis:

Mental health challenges intersecting with substances and behavioural addictions.

Facilitating a Meeting:

For volunteers needing a confidence boost and some practice and tips/refresher.