MRC-‘Breathing Spaces’: A Therapeutic Model To Enhance Practitioner Wellbeing

This webinar will : • introduce the ‘Breathing Space’ model. This was developed from work with social workers during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The model is based on theories of play as well as Seligman’s theory of ‘learned optimism’(1990) and Peterson’s theory of ‘big optimism’ (2000), which act as deliberate counters to the overwhelmingly difficult narratives which surround social work practice. The model does not seek to minimise the challenges that practitioners face, but rather to offer an alternative, strengths-based approach through the use of play-based techniques.

• describe the Breathing Space model in detail, together with findings from a successful research pilot carried out with social workers in the South of England.