Accredited practitioner training, live on Zoom or self-paced online
Emotional Regulation Practitioner Training
Two days that teach you what is happening in the nervous system when a child or an adult cannot settle, how to read which state they are in, and what to do there.
£295or split the cost with Klarna at checkout
Book a live date Start online todayIt looks like behaviour. It is a nervous system.
It is 2.40pm. The child who was fine at lunch has gone from quiet to a thrown chair in under a minute, and nothing you say is landing. Later that week an adult sits in front of you, polite and articulate, and cannot explain why the smallest request from their manager left them in tears in the car park.
Neither of them is choosing this. A nervous system that has had to protect someone for long enough learns to act first and ask questions later. It predicts danger from a tone of voice, a time of day, a particular room, and it fires before the thinking brain has caught up. That is what dysregulation is: a system doing its job too well, in the wrong place.
Once you can see that, the whole thing changes. You stop trying to talk someone out of a state they did not reason their way into, and you start helping the system find its way back. This course teaches you how.
You cannot reason with a nervous system that has already decided it is under threat. You can help it decide differently.
Why this training matters now
More children and adults are arriving in classrooms, care settings and coaching rooms already dysregulated. Staff are supporting pupils who shut down without warning, young people in care who react to things nobody else noticed, and adults whose anxiety has quietly become the backdrop to everything.
The people doing that work rarely lack goodwill. What they lack is a clear way of responding that does not depend on the person being calm enough to listen. Most training explains what dysregulation is. This course is about what to do while it is happening, and how to help someone need you less next time.
Who this is for
You do not need a coaching qualification or a therapy background. About half the people who train with STILL come from outside coaching and therapy altogether. What matters is that you work with people who struggle with emotion and want a structured, credible way to help.
If you are already in a role
Teachers, teaching assistants and SENCOs. Residential and social care workers. Healthcare staff. Family workers. You will use this with the people already in front of you, and you will have a framework to explain what you are doing and why.
If you want to practise
Coaches adding a specialism. Counsellors and therapists wanting session-ready tools. Career changers building a practice from the start. You leave with a programme you can deliver, not a certificate and a blank page.
What you will be able to do
- Explain what the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and vagus nerve are doing during a meltdown, a shutdown or a panic, in words a child or a stressed adult can follow
- Read where someone is in the Window of Tolerance and choose a response that fits that state rather than the one you reached for last time
- Use the Six States of Anxiety (OK, Slow, Buzzing, Overloaded, Fast, Crisis) as a shared language, so clients and pupils can tell you where they are
- Co-regulate first, and understand why self-regulation tools fail when someone is in shutdown
- Write and use social stories, with or without art, to make a difficult situation predictable before it happens
- Use distress tolerance skills such as TIPP when the thinking brain is offline, and CBT reframing and thought defusion when it is back
- Adapt the whole approach for autistic, ADHD and PDA profiles, including interoception work and the difference between a meltdown and a shutdown
- Run a first session, a skill-building session and a crisis response session from the plans included, and make a warm referral when a need sits outside coaching
How this course is different
Nervous system first
The mechanism is explained plainly, so you understand why a strategy works and can adapt it, rather than following a script.
Match the tool to the state
The Six States framework tells you what to do when someone is slow, buzzing, overloaded, out of control or in crisis. The same tool does not work in every state.
Draws on the recognised approaches
Polyvagal theory, CBT, DBT skills, social stories and attachment, taught through one framework rather than as a pile of techniques.
Neurodiversity built in
Sensory needs and different ways of processing emotion are part of the core content, not an afterthought.
Three sessions you can run
A first session, a skill-building session and a crisis response session, each timed minute by minute around Stop, Talk, Imagine, Listen, Learn.
Part of a whole
The same STILL framework runs through the Anxiety, ADHD, EBSA and Grief certifications, so each course deepens the others.
What this training is, and is not
This is practitioner training in supporting emotional regulation. It does not qualify you as a therapist or to treat a clinical condition. The approach is designed to sit alongside therapy, clinical care and school support rather than replace them, and the course covers when and how to refer on.
The two days
Day one: understanding the nervous system
Nine modules that build the picture of what dysregulation is and how a nervous system moves between states.
- What emotional regulation is: the brain structures involved and what triggers dysregulation
- The Window of Tolerance: hyper-arousal, hypo-arousal, and what shrinks or widens the window
- The Six States of Anxiety and how to match the intervention to the state
- Co-regulation and why it comes before self-regulation
- Social stories: the four sentence types and how to write them
- Polyvagal theory in plain language: three states and how people move between them
- CBT for regulation: thinking traps, reframing and thought defusion
- The STILL Method: Stop, Talk, Imagine, Listen, Learn
- DBT skills: TIPP, ACCEPTS, Wise Mind and PLEASE MASTER
Day two: working with real people
Four modules that take the framework into neurodivergent, trauma-affected and school-avoidant lives, and into the room.
- Neurodivergent regulation: interoception, autism, ADHD, PDA, meltdowns and shutdowns
- Grounding and regulation tools: the STILL Method 3-1-1, body scan, RAIN and breathing
- Trauma, EBSA and attachment: the recognised frameworks and when to refer
- Delivering sessions: the three session plans, building independence, compassion fatigue and safeguarding
Plus an advanced theory section on predictive processing, constructed emotion and allostasis for those who want the deeper science.
After you qualify
Use it in your role
Run the sessions with pupils, residents or patients as part of your existing job, with a framework your colleagues can understand.
Offer it to clients
Deliver structured emotional regulation sessions one to one or in small groups, using the session plans and marketing materials included.
Join the STILL community
Qualified practitioners can register with The STILL Method (£50 a year) for a listing on the coach directory and access to team calls with other practitioners.
Several of our practitioners take this course first and then bring it to their school or setting. If that might be you, STILL for Teams covers training a group of staff together.
Why I built this course
I spent more than twenty five years as a social worker and then an anxiety specialist, and most of what I saw go wrong came down to the same thing. Good adults, trying hard, responding to a nervous system as if it were a decision. The behaviour got managed, the child or the adult got blamed, and the pattern underneath was never touched.
This course is the training I wish those adults had been given. It is plain, it is practical, and it explains the ordinary thing the body is actually doing so you can work with it. Nothing on it is mystical and nothing on it over-promises.
Stuart Thompson, founder of The STILL Method
What practitioners say
Over 100 practitioners have trained with The STILL Method across anxiety, ADHD, grief, pain, sleep and emotional regulation. Read their reviews.
What you receive
- The full two-day Emotional Regulation Practitioner curriculum
- The complete two-day practitioner handbook, with every module, exercise and the quick reference section
- The STILL Method coaching framework guide and three timed session plans
- The practitioner resource pack: worksheets, scripts and the Six States visual
- Lifetime access to the course content
- Recordings of the live sessions
- Marketing materials to promote your emotional regulation work
- A certificate of completion from The STILL Method, an accredited provider with ACCPH and IPHM
- The companion guide, Work With Your Nervous System, Not Against It
Questions people ask
Do I need coaching or therapy experience?
No. The course takes you from the beginning. Some of the most effective practitioners we have trained came with no previous training at all, and about half of all STILL practitioners come from outside coaching and therapy.
What is the difference between live and self-paced?
The content, resources and certificate are the same. Live is two days on Zoom with Stuart in a small group, with discussion and practice. Self-paced gives you immediate access to around seven hours of video to work through in your own time. Many people start online and join a live cohort later.
What if I miss part of a live day?
Live sessions are recorded and the recordings are included, so nothing is lost.
Can I use it straight away?
Yes. The three session plans are timed minute by minute and written to be used the week after you train, with a client, a pupil or a group. The first session plan deliberately introduces one concept only, so it is a safe place to begin.
Does it cover school avoidance?
Yes. Day two includes a module on trauma, EBSA and attachment, including the recognised frameworks and when to refer on. The separate EBSA Practitioner Certification goes much further for those doing family casework.
Does it cover autistic and ADHD children and adults?
Yes. Adapting for neurodivergent nervous systems is part of the core content, including sensory needs and different ways of processing emotion.
How big are the live groups?
Small. This is not a webinar. There is room to ask questions and practise, which is why dates fill.
Can I spread the cost?
Yes. Klarna is available at checkout on both routes. If you are planning to take several STILL courses, the Training Pass includes this one and every other certification.
Is the course accredited?
The STILL Method is an accredited provider with ACCPH and IPHM. Graduates can register as a STILL Method practitioner with ACCPH.
Book your place
£295or split the cost with Klarna at checkout
Live on Zoom
Two days, 9.30am to 2.30pm, small group, recordings included. Weekday and occasional weekend dates.
See dates and bookSelf-paced online
Start today. Around seven hours of video, all session plans and resources, and the option to join a live cohort later.
Start the online courseQuestions before you book? Email train@thestillmethod.org and we will come back to you the same day.