Training: 

I am a tutor on post-qualifying CPD counselling / psychotherapy courses and a Fellow of Advance HE / Higher Education Academy. I am also a retired Senior Lecturer, Lecturer & Education Officer. 

I have a Master's degree in Education and a Certificate in Adult and Cpntinuing Education.
I have been teaching for over thirty years and have taught / led counselling and art psychotherapy courses at all levels, including: PhD, EdD, Master's degree, Undergraduate degree, Advanced Diploma, Post Qualifying Diploma, Diploma, Certificate, Postgraduate Medical Education, Post Qualifying CPD, etc. 

Current and recent training includes: 

• Trainer: 

  • A core trainer with and co-founder of Awen - CPD, teaching post-qualifying CPD for art psychotherapists:

    • seminars for art therapists: art therapy / psychotherapy theories and praxis; 

    • short courses for registered practitioners: e.g. eco-practice, sand tray work, using fairy tales & myths in psychotherapy, etc.

  • Trauma education facilitator.

  • Input on BSc Psychological Trauma Studies (QUB).

If you are seeking training, I welcome enquiries.

I map my training to relevant BACP competence frameworks and curricula, HCPC Standards of Proficiency and Conduct, and BAAT guidelines. 

I offer significant experience in designing and teaching courses.

Topics I offer training in include bespoke seminars and workshops on:

• art psychotherapy / art therapy

• counselling / psychotherapy

• supervision praxis, creative supervision

• working therapeutically with children & young people

• sand tray & creative approaches; 

• creative reflexive practice

• education, adult education

• qualitative research approaches; arts-based research approaches

• appraisal / performance development;  

• self-care for professionals; professional quality of life / resiliency for professionals

For examples, see:

• Courses

• CPD - continuing professional development.

A selection of my presentations / training is online at: Selection of Presentations.

Past teaching

Past teaching included:

• Art Psychotherapy (masters & doctoral levels).

• Counselling / Psychotherapy (doctoral, masters, diploma, certificate levels).

• Counselling / Psychotherapy (CPCAB Level 5) specialist training for practice with children & young people. 

• Counselling / Psychotherapy (CPCAB Level 6) specialist training for supervision of practice.

• Education, learning theory, and special needs (postgraduate / masters levels).

• Appraisal & performance development (for university staff).

• Medical Education (postgraduate level).
   

Master's level training in Art Therapy / Art Psychotherapy in Northern Ireland 2002-2019 (& inputs up to Autumn 2023)

I founded the first Master's level training in Art Therapy / Art Psychotherapy in Northern Ireland in 2001 and led it as programme leader since its establishment in 2002 at Queen's University. I was also a Lecturer in Education (Special Needs). The MSc Art Therapy course was designed and ran as integrative art therapy, founded in a relational approach, with a person-centred and client-led core. In 2001, I led the course through its HPC/HCPC approval and University validation processes. It was designed in line with common factors research and evidence-based research showing that the quality of the therapeutic relationship is key and the therapist adapts and tailors the practice to best suit the needs and preferences of the client. 

I further evolved the MSc and established it at the Centre for Psychotherapy, Belfast Health & Social Care Trust, where I was programme leader. This was trauma-informed integrative pluralistic art psychotherapy, with a relational foundation. The course shared some teaching with a Master's in Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, with both courses validated with a university in England. In 2014-2015 I redesigned the training as Trauma-Informed Pluralistic Art Psychotherapy - an integrative, relational and systems-based model, with a person-centred core grounded in co-production principles. 

I later established it in 2018 at another university, leading the MSc until l retired as Senior Lecturer and programme leader in Autumn 2019. I continued to teach small inputs on the training until Autumn 2023 - when I and three other tutors were part of the latest wave of lecturers/supervisors to resign. (Since 2019 the UU MSc course has been led by others and taken in another direction and is not a trauma informed pluralistic art psychotherapy course.)

From 2002-2019, the model of art therapy practice training in Northern Ireland (and including my inputs up to Autumn 2023) was always integrative, person-centred, trauma-informed, pluralistic, systems-based, and culturally sensitive, also aligned with co-production principles. The training was grounded in a synthesis of art and therapy, celebrating and promoting diverse forms of art practice and therapy practice. Training groups and studio art practice groups were a core weekly/fortnightly component of the training, giving students a three year depth experience of diverse art media and processes, as well as learning about group work and therapy processes. This complemented the students' practicum-based learning. 

The training featured a person-centred and client-led core, informed by various theories and models including: humanistic, mentalization, art, attachment, systems, psychodynamic, social justice, transpersonal, ecopsychology, anthropology, creativity, child and adult development, art materials, trauma, cultural diversity, social activism, psychotherapy, etc. Taught modules covered all these theories as well as quality assurance / clinical governance, and research skills. I evolved the training, keeping in line with contemporary evidence-based practice and common factors research. The training always promoted collaborative practice, co-production, and accommodated both client-led and directed practice, tailored to client need and preference. The training was grounded in the eco-biopsychosocial paradigm and aligned with trauma-informed care principles. It promoted routine systematic evaluation of practice and gathering of feedback, including using valid outcome and alliance measures. It also promoted the use of audit processes as part of quality assurance. Vitally, the training was grounded in good governance, ensuring risk assessment and management, valid and informed consent, confidentiality, good record-keeping, data management, and ethical and legal practice. 

My training promoted art therapy encompassing diverse forms and styles of practice, adapting as needed to include areas such as: promoting health, studio groups, community practice, museums, galleries, schools, outdoor, third sector settings, NHS/HSC settings. This spanned the NI Stepped Care model tiers. 

Practicums featured placements across these diverse settings; sectors included: health, education, criminal justice, community, museum/galleries. The Practicum Handbook I wrote won an award for good practice at Queen's University Belfast. Within the parameters of good governance and evidence-based practice, it promoted contemporary and innovative forms of art therapy practice. I ran training for Practice Educators from diverse sectors and organisations. Clinical Supervisors were always HCPC Registered or UKCP Registered and experienced in practice and creative supervision, as well as having depth working knowledge of Northern Ireland practice policies and protocols and trauma history. A core feature throughout the programme, as part of co-production and co-design, was collaboration with and acting on feedback from service-users, placements and employers. We had a panel of such people who helped to co-design and co-evolve the training. Whenever possible, the training worked collaboratively with colleagues in music therapy and dramatherapy, and also with other professions such as arts in health, counselling, art, museums, etc., also often engaging such people as visiting tutors. 

As Covid-19 emerged, within the first month I immediately adapted the training to deal with the sensitive and difficult situation. To ensure learning continued, I designed a Simulated Practicum Model for online simulated practice. Having been Education Officer for the NI Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education, I designed this Simulated Practicum Model using OSCE methodology and simulated practice, mapped to the Learning Outcomes and HCPC Standards. It featured online simulated: practice sessions across key phases of therapy, record keeping, practice education meetings, and clinical supervision sessions. It featured a synthesis of anonymised case material and featured a number of simulated clients and circumstances across a range of ages and diversity aspects. This Simulated Practicum Model was also used to help students develop foundation skills. 

My teaching (leadership 2002-2019, & my weekly inputs up to Autumn 2023), was person-centred, trauma-informed, pluralistic, systems-based, culturally sensitive, and fully aligned with HCPC standards and BAAT guidelines. As required, it ensured that all the students' art therapy practice included risk assessment and management, valid and informed consent, confidentiality, good record-keeping, data management, and ethical and legal practice. Only such practice counted as client contact hours.

Dr Caryl Sibbett, 2024.

Teaching Counselling / Psychotherapy & Art Psychotherapy: a coherent approach

Practice in, and teaching of, counselling / psychotherapy and art therapy / art psychotherapy requires 'a coherent approach' (HCPC, 2023, BACP, 2022, 2024). CPCAB (2026) states that practitioners need to have 'a clear understanding of how to integrate different modalities coherently' (p.3), 'tutors on integrative courses ... need to be very clear about the framework for integration that they are utilising' (p.5), and 'in each course care needs to be taken to address the contradictions, so as to provide a coherent model'. 

To ensure an evidence-based and coherent approach in my teaching, I map the curricula of the courses I teach on to relevant curricula, competence frameworks, standards, and ethical frameworks and codes, including e.g.:

• BAAT Practice guidelines.

• BAAT (2019) Code of Ethics and Principles of Professional Practice for Art Therapists. London: British Association of Art Therapists.

• BACP Good Practice literature.

• BACP (2026) Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions. Lutterworth: BACP.

• BACP (2021) Supervision competence framework. Lutterworth: BACP.

• BACP (2021) Counselling and psychotherapy supervision training curriculum: a curriculum framework for counselling and psychotherapy supervisor training. Lutterworth: BACP. 

• BACP (2022) Competence framework for work with children and young people (4-18 years). Lutterworth: BACP. 

• BACP (2022) Counselling children and young people (4–18 years) training curriculum. Lutterworth: BACP. 

• CPCAB (2026) Theoretical Integration for TC-L4 and PC-L5. CPCAB. Plus other CPCAB documents.

• HCPC (2023) Standards of Proficiency - Arts Therapists. London: HCPC.

• HCPC (2024) Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. London: HCPC.

• NICE guidelines.

• Evidence-based and common factors research.

• Other relevant literature.

I mainly use a metaphor or symbol of a tree to represent my 'coherent approach' which features a governance foundation (roots) - governance, ethics, laws, and related standards and competences. This supports and nourishes an integrative theoretical framework (trunk and branches) - in my case this is trauma informed pluralistic practice. This guides the use of diverse ELEMENTS (foliage / leaves) of evidence-based theories and associated practices. 

My teaching approach is consistent with, and informed by, my integrative pluralistic and trauma informed psychotherapy and art psychotherapy orientation. My integrative theoretical framework is 'trauma-informed pluralistic art psychotherapy & psychotherapy' (Sibbett, 2003, 2014, 2016, 2019) and trauma-informed pluralistic counselling / psychotherapy (Cooper & McLeod, 2011, 2015; McLeod, 2015, 2018; McLeod & Sundet, 2016; Cooper & Dryden, 2016) which I synthesise with trauma-informed care principles (SAMHSA, 2014; Sweeney et al, 2016). 

This is based on a relational integrative model of health, grounded in eco-biopsychosocial and systemic models, earth-caring values, and common factors research. It is a humanistic approach, informed by other evidence-based theories such as psychodynamic and attachment, developmental, systems, ecopsychology etc. It also encompasses eco-practice: promoting a reciprocal caring relationship with and for the rest of Nature. 

See Pluralistic Art Psychotherapy & Psychotherapy for more details.