Positive Behaviour Support training at Ability Consultants | Get it free!

Melody Dexter

06 December 2022

Positive Behaviour Support training at Ability Consultants | Get it free!

FREE Positive Behaviour Support training? Yes, you read that right! Access FREE Positive Behaviour Support training, right now, from wherever you are. 

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you work or what qualifications you have, you can log in now to learn about Positive Behaviour Support (PBS).

But wait, there’s more ;)

Our free, publicly accessible Positive Behaviour Support training is definitely ready for you to start, free for all PBS practitioners from all over the world. In addition to our free, public courses, we offer our own PBS practitioners additional training, at the start of their time with us, and throughout their career at Ability Consultants, as well as clinical supervision, peer mentoring and more. Keep reading to find out how to access our free Positive Behaviour Support training.

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Positive Behaviour Support training during induction

After orientation with key members of our team, new behaviour support practitioners get started with Base Camp, our online, self-paced induction program.

Through Base Camp, practitioners become familiar with our systems and working safely as a behaviour support practitioner. Key behaviour support units include an introduction to Person-Centred PBS by Steve, one of our fabulous Clinical Operations Managers, as well as units about restrictive practices, observing behaviour to inform PBS plans and strategies, and measurably improving quality of life.

Safety units include positive approaches to behaviour, safer de-escalation and safer lone working. We also offer a telePBS course, to help practitioners enhance their telepractice skills, where our team shares tips and experiences delivering remote support with clients of all ages.

As an advocate for accessible communication, our induction includes communication access training, disability awareness training and a short course in Easy English, delivered in collaboration with Scope.

Lastly, our Team Leader course offers practitioners a chance to see what it might be like to be a Team Leader, as well as outlining how their own relationship will look like with their own Team Leader. Topics include Empowering Leadership, caseload allocation and how to support mentees in crisis.

In addition to our online learning, all practitioners are assigned an experienced behaviour support practitioner as their mentor and team leader at orientation. Practitioners and their team leaders meet weekly, one on one, to support their skill development and their work as a PBS practitioner. Shadowing opportunities are also available for all practitioners; this could include attending an observation session during a client session, a team training session with stakeholders or attending a restrictive practices panel.

Positive Behaviour Support training throughout your career as a practitioner

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FREE Positive Behaviour Support Training

If you’re looking for our free Positive Behaviour Support training, this is it! Right now we’re offering two free PBS training series, with plans to add more in-depth training courses for behaviour support practitioners. This training is free and available anywhere, anytime.

Currently, our free Positive Behaviour Support training includes:

  • Functions and Formulations Units 1, 2 and 3
  • Multi-Element Interventions Unit 1 and 2 (Unit 3 & 4 launching in late 2023).
“Our Functions and Formulations course will teach you how to integrate best-practice and data-driven processes into your daily practice. You’ll also sharpen your PBS skills to support your movement through the NQSC PBS Capability Framework.”

— Chris Wood, Senior Behaviour Support Practitioner and Team Leader

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Functions and Formulations training series

The Functions and Formulations training series includes three units:

  1. Introduction to Functions and Formulations

Learn about the Positive Behaviour Support cycle, behaviours of concern and person-centred support.

 2. Establishing a Baseline for Behaviours of Concern

    In this course you’ll learn how to identify, assess and establish a baseline for behaviours of concern.

    3. Identifying Functions and Writing a Formulation

      In this course you’ll learn how to identify functions of a behaviour of concern and how to write a persuasive formulation.

      To enrol and start learning now, visit our Centre for Excellence and look for the Summit course bundle.

      You might also be interested in our article, "How do you respectfully guess the functions of a behaviour of concern?".

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      Multi-Element Interventions training series

      Our Multi-Element Interventions training series includes four units:

      1. Multi-Element Interventions Unit 1: Introduction

      In this course, you'll learn about the importance and relevance of quality of life in Positive Behaviour Support.

      2. Multi-Element Interventions Unit 2: Proactive Strategies

      Unit 2 will introduce you to proactive strategies in Positive Behaviour Support, including environmental adjustments, communication strategies and skill building. 

      3. Multi-Element Interventions Unit 3: Reactive Strategies

      In Unit 3 you will build upon your knowledge of PBS interventions by learning about reactive PBS strategies. We look at the Escalation Cycle, Individualised Response Reactive Strategies and more.

      4. Multi-Element Interventions Unit 4: Reducing Restrictive Practices

      Unit 4 provides an overview of reducing and fading the use of Regulated Restrictive Practices to maximise quality of life.

      We highly recommend completing our Functions and Formulations series before our Multi-Element Interventions series.

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      Leadership training for behaviour support practitioners

      When behaviour support practitioners at Ability Consultants are ready to take the next step, we offer leadership training, including:

      • Deliberate Practice and Scaffolding

      Learn and unpack the principles of deliberate practice including personalised mentoring aligned with individual learning goals, working with ongoing learning and feedback and successive refinement.

      • Feedback Informed Mentoring

      Understand how feedback-informed mentoring can be useful in mentoring relationships and how it can be applied in your work as a Positive Behaviour Support practitioner.

      • Motivational Conversations

      Learn how Motivational Interviewing (MI) is a collaborative person-centred approach that helps build a person's own motivation and confidence to change. Also known as MI, practitioners gain core skills that underpin empathic working alliances and learn how to apply MI in a behaviour support context.

      • Empowering Leadership

      Through self-paced learning and interactive mentoring, understand and apply empowering leadership principles including rapid empowerment, universal safety, agile hierarchy and more.

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      Group learning sessions, live on Zoom

      Once a fortnight, Ability Consultants practitioners have the opportunity to join live Positive Behaviour Support training on Zoom, from wherever they are in Australia. We have team members all over the country and it’s a great opportunity to check in, say hello and learn in a collaborative environment.

      Topics are specifically designed for behaviour support practitioners, to foster best-practice and keep practitioners informed with the latest developments in Positive Behaviour Support. In addition, a number of topics are closely linked with the Periodic Service Review, the Essential 10 and behaviour support capabilities as listed in the NDIS PBS Capability Framework.

      Previous topics include:

      • Initial Meetings
      • Support System Review
      • Restrictive Practices Audit
      • Identification of Target Behaviours
      • Service Goals
      • Talking Mats
      • Consent Checking
      • Data Analysis
      • Restrictive Practices Response
      • Observations and Interactions
      • Monitoring Implementation and OUtcomes
      • Progress Reports
      • Interim Behaviour Support Plans
      • Behaviour Assessment Reports
      • Comprehensive Behaviour Support Plans.

      These Positive Behaviour Support training sessions are collaborative, with the opportunity to ask questions and hear how practitioners carry out their practice including de-identified examples. Group learning sessions run for 1.5 hours every fortnight. If you miss a session, you’ll have the opportunity to catch up anytime by viewing the recording at a time that suits you.

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      Safety Intervention Training | In-person Positive Behaviour Support Training

      We offer Safety Intervention Training to our behaviour support practitioners through a blended learning model of online learning and a full day of in-person training. This evidence-based course was designed by the Crisis Prevention Institute and was previously known as MAPA.

      Safety Intervention Training:

      • incorporates trauma-informed and person-centred approaches;
      • focuses on prevention;
      • teaches de-escalation skills, non-restrictive and restrictive interventions, risk assessment and debriefing.

      This training is certified by BILD-ACT under The Restraint Reduction Network Training Standard and is nationally and internationally accredited training.

      How do I start Positive Behaviour Support training?

      If you’re ready to start our free Positive Behaviour Support training now, visit our Centre for Excellence and check out our Summit course bundle, where you’ll find our Functions and Formulations training series.

      Keep checking in, or follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to find out when the next free course will be released.

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      Join our team

      Ability Consultants creates freedom and social connection for people with disability through easy access to Positive Behaviour Support. We are a Registered NDIS provider located throughout Australia and warmly welcome expressions of interest to join our growing team.

      If you’d like to learn more about joining our team, contact Jane at [email protected] or visit our careers page for more information.

      The NDIS Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) Capability Framework

      We support our practitioners as they navigate the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Positive Behaviour Support Capability Framework. Find out more here. 

      Positive Behaviour Support training at Ability Consultants | Get it free!

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      Australia-wide service

      Ability Consultants is a team of Behaviour Support Practitioners who work with clients all across Australia through virtual and in-person means.

      Virtual (telePBS) In-person