Welcome to AFNCCF Manuals

Welcome. This is a signposting site for locating specific wiki manuals from AFNCCF. Wiki manuals are easily adaptable, and grow with learning. Some versions, principally AMBIT, allow local teams to curate local versions, building upon our core content. Core content versions are listed directly below. Enter the Full Directory (see below) to locate local versions.

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Manuals available here

See the guide for help with using these manuals

AMBIT

Adaptive Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment

ambit

Adaptive Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment is co-produced by academics, workers and service users and addresses the needs of teams working with complex, risky, and often not conventionally ‘help-seeking’ clients. Originally designed for outreaching to adolescents, it is now used across a much wider range of service users and settings.

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ambit

Adaptive Mentalization-Based Integrative Treatment is co-produced by academics, workers and service users and addresses the needs of teams working with complex, risky, and often not conventionally ‘help-seeking’ clients. Originally designed for outreaching to adolescents, it is now used across a much wider range of service users and settings.

ambit-0-19-barkingdagenham

A manual for Barking & Dagenham 0-19 Universal Children’s Service

ambit-24sevenfostering

A space called ambit-24sevenfostering

ambit-2trfootball

A space called ambit-2trfootball

ambit-afc

A space called ambit-afc

ambit-alot

A space called ambit-alot

ambit-altrecht

A space called ambit-altrecht

ambit-amass

A space called ambit-amass

ambit-amyos

AMBIT AMYOS manual

ambit-archive

AMBIT Archived Material

ambit-aspirehouse

A space called ambit-aspirehouse

ambit-backup-cph

AMBIT Backup CPH

ambit-barkingdagenham

AMBIT Barking Dagenham manual

ambit-barnet

AMBIT Barnet

ambit-bathnes

Wellbeing Team, B&NES and Wilts NHS

ambit-beechcroft

A space called ambit-beechcroft

ambit-belfastcfc

A space called ambit-belfastcfc

ambit-belfastdamhs

A space called ambit-belfastdamhs

ambit-belfastypc

A space called ambit-belfastypc

ambit-benjamin

A space called ambit-benjamin

ambit-bexley

Ambit Bexley Manual

ambit-brathay

A space called ambit-brathay

ambit-brighton

Brighton & Hove City Council & CAMHS

ambit-bromley

A space called ambit-bromley

ambit-bromley-camhs

AMBIT Bromley CAMHS

ambit-bromley-wellbeing

AMBIT Bromley Wellbeing

ambit-bromley-yos

AMBIT Bromley YOS

ambit-bronzefield

A space called ambit-bronzefield

ambit-brooklyn

Brooklynminds AMBIT Manual

ambit-build-it

A space called ambit-build-it

ambit-burynorth

A space called ambit-burynorth

ambit-burysouth

A space called ambit-burysouth

ambit-cait

A space called ambit-cait

ambit-caldecott

A space called ambit-caldecott

ambit-cambridge

CPFT (Cambridgeshire)

ambit-cambsist

A space called ambit-cambsist

ambit-camden

A space called ambit-camden

ambit-camden16plus

A space called ambit-camden16plus

ambit-camdencentreforlearning

A space called ambit-camdencentreforlearning

ambit-camdencin

A space called ambit-camdencin

ambit-camdencommunitysafety

A space called ambit-camdencommunitysafety

ambit-camdencomplexneeds

A space called ambit-camdencomplexneeds

ambit-camdendutyassessment

A space called ambit-camdendutyassessment

ambit-camdenedpsychs

A space called ambit-camdenedpsychs

ambit-camdeneducationwelfareservice

A space called ambit-camdeneducationwelfareservice

ambit-camdeneis

A space called ambit-camdeneis

ambit-camdenfif

A space called ambit-camdenfif

ambit-camdenfutures

A space called ambit-camdenfutures

ambit-camdenhousing

A space called ambit-camdenhousing

ambit-camdenieys

A space called ambit-camdenieys

ambit-camdeniys

A space called ambit-camdeniys

ambit-camdeniyss

A space called ambit-camdeniyss

ambit-camdenjcp

A space called ambit-camdenjcp

ambit-camdenlac

A space called ambit-camdenlac

ambit-camdenmalt

A space called ambit-camdenmalt

ambit-camdenprobationteam

A space called ambit-camdenprobationteam

ambit-camdensit

A space called ambit-camdensit

ambit-camdenypservicesshp

A space called ambit-camdenypservicesshp

ambit-camhs4younghackney

A space called ambit-camhs4younghackney

ambit-camhsldteam

Manual for CAMHSLD Team

ambit-casus

A space called ambit-casus

ambit-cemind

A space called ambit-cemind

ambit-childrensbureau

A space called ambit-childrensbureau

ambit-cityandhackneyamht

A space called ambit-cityandhackneyamht

ambit-clarelodge

A space called ambit-clarelodge

ambit-communitypsychologicalservices

A space called ambit-communitypsychologicalservices

ambit-damhs

A space called ambit-damhs

ambit-darwin

A space called ambit-darwin

ambit-dasl

A space called ambit-dasl

ambit-denmark

Region Sjaelland, Denmark

ambit-derry-omagh

A space called ambit-derry-omagh

ambit-devon

Devon Adolescent Outreach Team

ambit-ecid

AMBIT ECID (Fundació Vidal i Barraquer)

ambit-edinburgh

A space called ambit-edinburgh

ambit-enfieldgangs

A space called ambit-enfieldgangs

ambit-essexld

AMBIT manual for Essex LD

ambit-factswales

A space called ambit-factswales

ambit-fairhaven

AMBIT Manual for Fairhaven Young People’s Unit

ambit-familyandchildcare

A space called ambit-familyandchildcare

ambit-familytraumacentre

A space called ambit-familytraumacentre

ambit-flaxfieldunit

A space called ambit-flaxfieldunit

ambit-fwd

A space called ambit-fwd

ambit-geneva-omp

A space called ambit-geneva-omp

ambit-ggze

AMBIT GGZE

ambit-glasgowlaac

A space called ambit-glasgowlaac

ambit-greenwich

AMBIT Greenwich Manual

ambit-greenwichacan

A space called ambit-greenwichacan

ambit-guernsey

A space called ambit-guernsey

ambit-hackneymind

A space called ambit-hackneymind

ambit-hackneyyouth

A space called ambit-hackneyyouth

ambit-hassloch

Jugendhof AMBIT Manual

ambit-heidelberg

Heidelberg

ambit-herts-rehab

AMBIT manual for Herts Rehab

ambit-hertsandbucksld

AMBIT manual for Herts and Bucks LD

ambit-hertscountycouncil

AMBIT manual for Herts County Council

ambit-hive

AMBIT manual for the Hive in Camden

ambit-hmpswaleside

A space called ambit-hmpswaleside

ambit-hvidovrekommune

AMBIT Hvidovre Kommune

ambit-icp-ireland

Intensive Community Programmes, Ireland

ambit-ifit

A space called ambit-ifit

ambit-ifs-landau

IFS LANDAU

ambit-ipswich

A space called ambit-ipswich

ambit-islington-aot

A space called ambit-islington-aot

ambit-jandrcare

A space called ambit-jandrcare

ambit-juvenilejusticecentre

A space called ambit-juvenilejusticecentre

ambit-keelproject

Manual for The Keel Project Islington

ambit-kenteis

A space called ambit-kenteis

ambit-kentlinkworker

A space called ambit-kentlinkworker

ambit-kentlinkworkers

A space called ambit-kentlinkworkers

ambit-kestrel

A space called ambit-kestrel

ambit-kidsco

A space called ambit-kidsco

ambit-kiteteam

A space called ambit-kiteteam

ambit-lakewoodcentre

A space called ambit-lakewoodcentre

ambit-lancs

Lancashire and South Cumbria AMBIT Collaboration

ambit-lisburndownpatrickcamhs

A space called ambit-lisburndownpatrickcamhs

ambit-mac

A space called ambit-mac

ambit-metjeugd

A space called ambit-metjeugd

ambit-metrosouthcymhs

Metro South CYMHS

ambit-montana

A space called ambit-montana

ambit-mulberry

A space called ambit-mulberry

ambit-newhorizons

Camden & Islington Gangs Team and New Horizons

ambit-northdownandardscamhs

A space called ambit-northdownandardscamhs

ambit-northernirelandgeneral

A space called ambit-northernirelandgeneral

ambit-northernirelandsharedcontent

A space called ambit-northernirelandsharedcontent

ambit-northerntrust

A space called ambit-northerntrust

ambit-nwg

A space called ambit-nwg

ambit-offcentre

A space called ambit-offcentre

ambit-offtherecord

A space called ambit-offtherecord

ambit-omidfoundation

AMBIT Omid Foundation

ambit-onlyconnect

A space called ambit-onlyconnect

ambit-oxleasnhs

Manual for Oxleas NHS

ambit-pathways

A space called ambit-pathways

ambit-pausesouthwark

Manual for Pause Southwark

ambit-peabody

AMBIT Peabody Manual

ambit-pedo-hdes

PEDO-HDES Child Psychiatry Unit Portugal, Azores

ambit-pemburyproject

AMBIT Pembury Project Manual

ambit-plymouth

A space called ambit-plymouth

ambit-porchlight

AMBIT Porchlight Manual

ambit-porvoon

Porvoon lasten - psykiatrian poliklinikka

ambit-prakashellenhorn

A space called ambit-prakashellenhorn

ambit-redthread

A space called ambit-redthread

ambit-retspsyk-regionsjaellanddk

AMBIT Retspsyk Region Sjaelland Denmark

ambit-righthere

A space called ambit-righthere

ambit-roermond

AMBIT Roermond

ambit-roseschool

The Rose School Lancashire

ambit-safe

A space called ambit-safe

ambit-saferlondon

A space called ambit-saferlondon

ambit-savu

A space called ambit-savu

ambit-selfharmteam

A space called ambit-selfharmteam

ambit-set-connects

A space called ambit-set-connects

ambit-southeasternbess-step2team

A space called ambit-southeasternbess-step2team

ambit-southeasterntrust

A space called ambit-southeasterntrust

ambit-southerntrustcamhs

A space called ambit-southerntrustcamhs

ambit-spain

AMBIT Spain

ambit-starproject

A space called ambit-starproject

ambit-stmaryscentre

Manual for St Mary's Centre

ambit-suffolkcentral

A space called ambit-suffolkcentral

ambit-suffolkcoastal

A space called ambit-suffolkcoastal

ambit-suffolkcore

A space called ambit-suffolkcore

ambit-syepp

A space called ambit-syepp

ambit-tcs

AMBIT Manual for TCS

ambit-therapeuticsupportservices

A space called ambit-therapeuticsupportservices

ambit-tht-talksafe

A space called ambit-tht-talksafe

ambit-torbay

A space called ambit-torbay

ambit-torbaycamhs

A space called ambit-torbaycamhs

ambit-transformingfamilies

AMBIT Manual for Transforming Families

ambit-tsdhc

A space called ambit-tsdhc

ambit-twentyfoursevenfostering

A space called ambit-twentyfoursevenfostering

ambit-up

AMBIT UP Manual

ambit-vorarlberger-kinderdorf

Vorarlberger Kinderdorf

ambit-wandsworth

A space called ambit-wandsworth

ambit-westernaustraliacamhs

A space called ambit-westernaustraliacamhs

ambit-wiltshire

AMBIT Wiltshire Manual

ambit-winchproject

A space called ambit-winchproject

ambit-ymhcentralnorfolk

A space called ambit-ymhcentralnorfolk

ambit-ymheastnorfolk

A space called ambit-ymheastnorfolk

ambit-ymhwestnorfolk

A space called ambit-ymhwestnorfolk

ambit-youngfutures

A space called ambit-youngfutures

ambit-younghackney

A space called ambit-younghackney

ambit-youngminds

A space called ambit-youngminds

ambit-ypc

A space called ambit-ypc

arts-lewisham

A space called arts-lewisham

camdenresilientpeople

A space called camdenresilientpeople

ealingbrighterfutures

A space called ealingbrighterfutures

lewisham-fftt

A space called lewisham-fftt

mac-projectfuture

A space called mac-projectfuture

qcproject

A space called qcproject

regionsjaelland

A space called regionsjaelland

southwarkintegrate

A space called southwarkintegrate

westernaustraliacommunitycamhs

A space called westernaustraliacommunitycamhs

westernaustraliaspecialistcamhs

A space called westernaustraliaspecialistcamhs

CWP

Children's Wellbeing Practitioners

cwp

This is a practice guide for Wellbeing Practitioners working with children, young people and parents in offering guided self help interventions for common mild/moderate mental health problems. The guide includes basic information on how to plan a session with a young person or parent and the theory, skills and evidence that supports this practice. Information for supervisors is also included.

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cwp

This is a practice guide for Wellbeing Practitioners working with children, young people and parents in offering guided self help interventions for common mild/moderate mental health problems. The guide includes basic information on how to plan a session with a young person or parent and the theory, skills and evidence that supports this practice. Information for supervisors is also included.

cwp-east-surrey

CWP Manual for Eikon/YMCA East Surrey

cwp-richmond

CWP Manual for Richmond

cwp-tower-hamlets

CWP Manual for Tower Hamlets

cwp-westminster-rbkc

CWP Manual for Westminster and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

cypiapt

A space called cypiapt

EMHP

Education Mental Health Practitioners

emhp

This is a practice guide for Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) who will be taking part in trailblazer projects that start in 2019. Training will be provided at UCL and KCL in London and this guide will be constructed during this first year of the programme. EMHPs will be trained to work in schools and deliver mental health interventions suitable to that context.

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emhp

This is a practice guide for Education Mental Health Practitioners (EMHPs) who will be taking part in trailblazer projects that start in 2019. Training will be provided at UCL and KCL in London and this guide will be constructed during this first year of the programme. EMHPs will be trained to work in schools and deliver mental health interventions suitable to that context.

MBT-PC

Mentalization-Based Group Programmes for Parents and Foster Carers

mbt-pc

MBT-PC are mentalization based group programmes for parents and foster carers. Currently, there are two programmes namely Reflective Parenting for parents with children under 13 years of age and Reflective Fostering for foster carers. The programmes are group psycho-education programmes which aim to enhance parental and carer mentalizing.

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mbt-pc

MBT-PC are mentalization based group programmes for parents and foster carers. Currently, there are two programmes namely Reflective Parenting for parents with children under 13 years of age and Reflective Fostering for foster carers. The programmes are group psycho-education programmes which aim to enhance parental and carer mentalizing.

mbt-pc-rf

MBT-PC Reflective Fostering Manual

mbt-pc-rp

MBT-PC Reflective Parenting Manual

The Family School London

Manuals for The Family School London

thefamilyschoollondon

Manual for The Family School London

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thefamilyschoollondon

Manual for The Family School London

EYPU

Early Years Parenting Unit

eypu

The developing practice of the AFNCCF’s "Early Years Parenting Unit". EYPU works intensively with small groups of parents who have significant personal and interpersonal difficulties and their young children, who attend the unit daily.

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eypu

The developing practice of the AFNCCF’s "Early Years Parenting Unit". EYPU works intensively with small groups of parents who have significant personal and interpersonal difficulties and their young children, who attend the unit daily.

eypu-content

A space called eypu-content

MBTF

Mentalization-Based Treatment for Families

mbtf

Mentalization-Based Treatment for Families is a systemically-inspired adaptation of MBT for use with families with children aged 7 and upwards. The focus is on maintaining, modelling and explaining a mentalizing stance with families, using a diverse range of games and techniques to support this work.

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mbtf

Mentalization-Based Treatment for Families is a systemically-inspired adaptation of MBT for use with families with children aged 7 and upwards. The focus is on maintaining, modelling and explaining a mentalizing stance with families, using a diverse range of games and techniques to support this work.

mbtf-afc

A space called mbtf-afc

mbtf-content

A space called mbtf-content

mbtf-danmark

Mentalization-Based Treatment for Families (Danmark)

New Developments

New manuals under development from the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families

assp

A space called assp

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assp

A space called assp

questionnaire

A space called questionnaire

quittingstuff

A space called quittingstuff

sib-treatments-literature

A space called sib-treatments-literature

sud-treatments-literature

A space called sud-treatments-literature

therapeutic-journal

A prototype self help resource (designed to be written in collaboration with a trusted friend or therapist)

wave

A prototype self help manual for people trying to manage cravings or powerful emotions, such as occur in addictions, OCD, self-injurious behaviours, etc.

PCS

Parent Consultation Service

afc-pcs

A space called afc-pcs

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afc-pcs

A space called afc-pcs

pcs

A space called pcs

Tech Help

Resources to help you use the manuals

guide

A guide to working with the Anna Freud Manuals

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guide

A guide to working with the Anna Freud Manuals

Schools Outreach Service

Manuals for the Schools Outreach Service

schools-outreach-service

Schools Outreach Service

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schools-outreach-service

Schools Outreach Service

About AFNCCF Manuals

Manuals are places to record learning about practice, theory and the evidence that underpins this, so that the most effective ways of helping people in need can be tested, disseminated and effective services replicated, as widely and cheaply as possible. This service from the AFNCCF is an attempt to live up to this ideal, and to share freely work that is designed to improve lives and reduce harms. We must unfortunately remind practitioners who follow the advice and guidance recorded in these manuals that they remain entirely responsible for their own professional work, standards and ethical behaviour.

These novel wiki-based manuals are designed to make information as widely accessible as possible, and to reflect the continual effort that goes into designing ever improving ways of working; incorporating research evidence with practitioner experience and service user feedback. These manuals are open access by design and (particularly in the case of the AMBIT manual, within which programme the technology supporting these manuals was developed) are an attempt to support an open source approach to the development of effective practice, especially in fields of work where the evidence-base for best practice remains at best partial. Open source projects rely not just on a few cloistered experts, but on the contributions of a large community of practice, and work by providing a platform for innovations to be tested and advances to be shared.

Wikis are web-based documents in which text, pictures, video and downloadable content is curated, and which are easily adaptable as learning continues to advance – they are not like a fixed and published text, still less tablets of stone; they are designed to adapt, and grow, and to do so quickly (the word “wiki” originates from a Hawaiian word meaning “quick”).

Unlike paper-based formats, these are non-linear documents. Hyperlinks (web-links that allow you to access expanded detail about a particular word or phrase), tagging (which allows thematically linked content to be grouped in different ways – like flexible versions of chapters) and powerful search engines allow content to be approached and navigated by the reader in multiple directions, and sorted in multiple ways, according to the reader’s needs, rather than offering a single rigid linear structure. This is perhaps a little closer to the reality of clinical work, and to how human memory works. Above all, they are documents to be used, rather than stored, although the authors’ hope is that time spent browsing will be stimulating and engaging – not least because of the rich array of multimedia content that they hold. Not everyone learns best from a block of text.

Readers will find that learning to navigate and use the various ways of searching, sorting and revealing required content takes very little time, but nonetheless a little time set aside to explore how these novel documents work will prove a good investment. Feedback on problems with the layout, broken links, or other potential improvements is gold for authors, and we encourage participation. All the manuals provide means for providing feedback.

On ‘manualizing’

There is much more detail on the art (and some science) of team ‘manualizing’ in the AMBIT manual. Our conceit is that the team that engages in manualizing its own practices is probably by default engaging in mentalizing its own practice. Of the many opportunities that the unique open source technology underpinning these wikis affords (see http://tiddlywiki.com) the most developed use of these to date is found in the AMBIT manuals. We hope in time that the practices that AMBIT has tried to develop and encourage may support a wider congregation.

Any team that receives formal training in AMBIT is also given its own local version of the AMBIT wiki manual (for links to local versions, see “Full Directory (Local Versions)” above). Local versions all ‘inherit’ the core AMBIT content which is curated by the AMBIT programme at the AFNCCF, but in these local versions the team has editing rights to add their own locally-attuned learning (at the very least this is about “how we apply this material here, in this setting, with its unique cultural, geographic and organisational constraints”). In addition, teams can also overwrite pages from the core content in their wikis, creating their own locally-adapted or improved versions of these pages; if these demonstrate value (from formal outcomes studies, or because, say, a locally-produced teaching video is simply much clearer or better than the original offer) other teams can easily clone these local innovations into their own local wikis. Thus emerging best practice from one corner of the world can be shared widely and efficiently amongst a community of practice. Pages cloned from another local team’s version are automatically marked as such, so that the original authors’ work is given due credit. If a significant advance is made, that fits criteria suggesting more universal value, then this innovation can be drawn down into the core content curated at the AFNCCF (again, with appropriate credits) so that it then becomes part of the core AMBIT ‘curriculum’ and is automatically pushed out to all local versions.

It is from this “community of practice” that the AMBIT programme sees the next generation of improvements coming, and we encourage teams to be generous in sharing their experience and learning in this way. Because content is open by design, transparency of practice is encouraged. Because manualizing in AMBIT is exclusively a whole-team effort (not an individual project inflicted upon an unsuspecting team) it creates opportunities for teams to create more coherent accounts of their practice, a valuable resource for inducting new team members. AMBIT (in common with CYP-IAPT) also encourages a rigorous approach to outcomes measurement (being sure to “measure what matters” rather than falling for the belief that it is only measuring that matters, and to learn and adapt in response to analyses of those measures) as a further check against simply “making it up as we go along”; evidence based practice has always been defined as the judicious use of evidence, balanced with clinical experience alongside attention to the service user’s experience and wishes.

For aspiring ‘manualizers’, one further encouragement (or plea): experience of training more than 2500 workers convinces us that short video clips of role plays in which small elements of good practice are demonstrated are almost universally appreciated by trainees (even if these just stimulate debate about other, or better, ways of doing what is demonstrated). Most eminent clinicians will have a list of greater practitioners - whom they were lucky enough to sit in with and observe, and whose techniques of asking a particular question or responding to a particular challenge they have subsequently copied. Most great practitioners are magpies; they steal and reuse. Imitation is thus not only the sincerest form of flattery, but also one of the most powerful means of learning. Persuading practitioners to be bold and generous enough to video themselves role-playing, and to share this online, remains a challenge however (anxiety about criticism, and the wish to avoid any impression of boastfulness are common rationalisations for refusal.) We hope that anyone reading this far will feel empowered to identify something in their own practice that they feel they could model for others, or to nominate and encourage someone else in their team who they could persuade to do this! Within the help section of the AMBIT manuals there are simple explanations of how to create a short web-based video and embed it in local page. Everyone doing this work has the opportunity to leave legacies. A valued colleague will often move on from a team to new posts and challenges, and such losses are often keenly felt. Leaving a video or two of some element of one’s practice in that team’s manual is not a bad way to leave a part of oneself still working for one’s old colleagues.

Your privacy

You can see the AFNCCF privacy notice here.