Single Session Family Consultation
Conduct family sessions that provide timely, accessible support to all family members while retaining a strong client-practitioner relationship.
Incorporating family members and other people who are important to service users during the provision of service for your individual clients has been shown to improve outcomes for those experiencing a range of mental health and related difficulties and to their families.
What is Single Session Family Consultation?
Single Session Family Consultation (SSFC) provides an articulated, practical process for engaging with and consulting families, and combines it with key components of Single Session Thinking principles and practices, enabling practitioners to make the most of each encounter with families.
Who is this relevant too?
SSFC is for people working in allied health, human services, and community services who want a solid foundation in the SSFC practice approach and greater confidence when working with families.
It is particularly relevant for:
- Frontline workers, like social workers, counsellors, psychologists, family therapists, youth workers, family support workers, drug and alcohol workers, case workers, and community workers in outreach, residential, and centre-based services.
- Practitioners new to family-inclusive practice or the SSFC approach, who want a clear and useful introduction that works in many settings, with different people and services.
- Supervisors, senior practitioners, and team leaders support their teams' reflective practice to improve quality and use family‑inclusive methods.
- Managers and program leads seeking to build shared practice language, strengthen organisational capability, and support consistent implementation of SSFC‑aligned practice across services.
Benefits of SSFC for clients and their families
SSFC model of practice:
- Provides an opportunity for the family members to better understand where and from whom their loved one is receiving support
- Facilitates greater shared understanding of the difficulties faced by your client, plans for supporting them and how to respond when challenges arise
- Allows the family to feel heard and better understood by the practitioner and service
Learning options
Please select the learning options below to find out more and start your SSFC learning journey.
Single Session Family Consultation is an online learning course comprising 5 modules. You can complete at your own pace, pause and return at any time and review content. The course features practice theory and examples, interactive activities and reflective questions to consolidate your learning.
At the completion of the module, you will receive a certificate of completion.
Course length: 5 hours (CPD hours)
SSFC module overview
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Describes the rationale and practice principles underpinning SSFC and its place within a comprehensive response to families
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Unpacks the conceptual and practical contributions of Single Session Thinking and Family Consultation to the model
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Describes and demonstrates the key stages of SSFC: convening, conducting and following up
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Addresses key challenges including translating SSFC training into practice
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Provides references and tools to aid and support practice
Learning outcomes
On completion of SSFC, you will be able to:
- Understand the Single Session Thinking and Family Consultation frameworks that underpin SSFC
- Convene, conduct and undertake follow-up as part of SSFC
- Address challenging situations in sessions with families
- Identify how you can incorporate SSFC into your practice
Listen to Dr Brendan O'Hanlon discuss this course and how it provides a solid grounding in the practice frame of SSFC.
Purchase Single Session Family Consultation
CPD Hours: 4 hours
Who should attend
SSFC in Practice is relevant for those who want a clear and straightforward practice model for engaging and including families in their work, but who are not family therapists. It is particularly suitable for those working in individually oriented services for adults and young people (such as mental health and alcohol and drug services) where working with families is not the primary focus.
Prior knowledge
Completion of The Bouverie Centre’s Single Session Family Consultation self-paced online suite in the last 12 months.
Learning outcomes
By attending this workshop, you will:
- Build on your existing knowledge of SSFC as a practical, doable model of family engagement and inclusion
- Have a unique opportunity to practice skills of SSFC in a supportive small group setting where you will receive relevant and helpful feedback
- Become ‘practice ready’ in the use of SSFC
- Be able to work through the issues of how to get started in making SSFC part of your current practice
Workshop style
This is an implementation-focused workshop led by a subject expert who is also a clinician. There will be small group practice activities and case discussions, along with the exploration of ideas to help make SSFC part of your practice repertoire.
You will have the opportunity to ask questions about any aspect of SSFC and its applications and receive advice about how to start using SSFC within your work role and setting.
Register for Single Session Family Consultation In Practice
For group or organisation purchases
We offer bulk purchase discounts for organisations and group bookings. Please email bouverie.training@latrobe.edu.au for more information.
Expression of Interest
Submit our expression of interest form to be notified of future offerings of this workshop and related professional development opportunities.
Select the learning option below that best suits your work context.
Turn complex mental health information into a shared understanding
Sharing information with families is a core part of effective mental health care — yet uncertainty about how to explain complex issues clearly, manage differing perspectives, and respond to common questions while maintaining relational safety is a concern of practitioners.
Course Length: 1. 5 hours (CPD hours)
SSFC - Information Sharing with Families is an online learning module you can complete at your own pace, pause and return at any time and review content. The course features practice theory and examples, interactive activities and reflective questions to consolidate your learning.
At the completion of the module, you will receive a certificate of completion.
Who is this relevant too?
SSFC - Information Sharing with Families is for professionals working within the SSFC practice framework who want to further develop their skills and expertise in delivering family‑inclusive psychoeducation whilst working directly with clients and their families.
Individuals who will benefit
- Clinicians and practitioners working with clients and families, including:
- Mental health clinicians (e.g. psychologists, social workers, nurses)
- Therapists and counsellors
- Case workers and care coordinators
- Family workers and peer practitioners
Level of seniority
- Primarily frontline and early‑ to mid‑career practitioners
- Also relevant for senior clinicians, supervisors, and team leaders seeking to support reflective practice and workforce capability
Work setting
- Public and community mental health services
- Primary care and integrated care settings
- Rehabilitation and psychosocial support services
- Non‑government organisations and private practice
Relevant client groups
- Adults experiencing mental health challenges
- Families and carers, including parental mental illness
- Diverse families, including CALD communities
- Clients where trauma, complexity, or ongoing care coordination is relevant
Prior knowledge
Single-Session Family Consultation online learning and/or in-practice workshop
Practice experience using the SSFC framework
SSFC - Information Sharing with Families overview
This online learning module builds on Single Session Family Consultation (SSFC) to strengthen your capacity to deliver clear, tailored, and family-inclusive psychoeducation. Grounded in SSFC principles, family-inclusive practice, and relational safety, the course content focuses on three-way conversations in which clients and families are recognised as experts in their own experience, alongside clinicians’ professional knowledge.
Participants will develop practical strategies to support shared understanding, engage families, and foster future collaboration. By the end of the course, you will be equipped to address questions about mental health, treatment, medication, confidentiality, and support options with greater confidence and clarity.
Key subject areas:
- Psychoeducation in the context of the SSFC framework
- Family inclusive practice
- Three‑way conversations (clinician, client and family)
- Relational safety
- Client centred information sharing
Learning outcomes
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Explain the purpose and value of psycho‑education within a Single‑Session Family Consultation (SSFC) for clients and families using clear, plain language.
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Plan and convene a client centred, tailored psychoeducational SSFC that attends to culture, development, literacy, and relational safety.
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Facilitate effective three way conversations that normalise different perspectives, centre the client’s preferences, and support multi-engagement.
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Respond confidently to commonly asked family questions about mental health, treatment, medication, confidentiality, and support options.
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Apply practical strategies for agenda setting, containment, information sharing, and follow‑up to support shared understanding and future planning.
Register for SSFC: Information Sharing with Families
Support young people’s communication with their families
Working effectively with young people often involves engaging families, caregivers, and chosen family in complex, time‑limited youth service contexts. Practitioners can be uncertain about how to propose family involvement, manage confidentiality, respond to heightened emotion, and maintain safety.
Developed by Youth Support + Advocacy Service (YSAS) and the Bouverie Centre, Single Session Family Consultation (SSFC): Youth Services equips youth-focused practitioners—including youth workers, counsellors, social workers, and allied health professionals—with evidence-informed, family-inclusive approaches for real-world practice.
SSFC: Youth Services is an online learning module you can complete at your own pace, pause and return to at any time, and review the content. The course features practice theory and examples, interactive activities and reflective questions to consolidate your learning.
At the completion of the module, you will receive a certificate of completion.
Course length: 1.5 hours (CPD hours)
Who is this relevant too?
SSFC: Youth Services is for professionals working within the SSFC practice framework who want to further develop their skills and expertise in developing their practice in youth service contexts.
It is particularly relevant for:
- Direct practice practitioners, including youth workers, AOD workers, case workers, counsellors, social workers, family support workers, community development workers, and practitioners in outreach, residential, and day program settings.
- Supervisors, senior practitioners, and team leaders responsible for supporting or embedding family‑inclusive and youth‑centred practice within services.
- Managers and program leads seeking to strengthen organisational capability in family‑inclusive youth work and SSFC implementation.
The primary client group includes young people and their families, particularly those experiencing substance use, mental health challenges, trauma, family conflict, justice involvement, housing instability, out‑of‑home care, or marginalisation.
Prior knowledge
Single-Session Family Consultation online learning and/or in-practice workshop
Practice experience using the SSFC framework
SSSFC: Youth Services overview
This module builds confidence and skills in family-inclusive practice with young people by providing practical, evidence-informed strategies not typically found in standard youth service training. Drawing on SSFC principles, family- and community-inclusive practice, and relational safety, it offers actionable tools for convening, conducting, and following up on single session work, ensuring practical application of these approaches immediately in real-world settings.
Learning Outcomes
By completing this learning module, participants outcomes include:
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Describe how Single Session Family Consultation (SSFC) can be adapted for youth service contexts.
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Apply SSFC principles to the convening, conducting, and follow‑up stages when working with young people, families, and chosen family members.
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Demonstrate effective ways of proposing SSFC to young people and family members, including negotiating confidentiality and participation.
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Identify and respond to common challenges in youth‑focused SSFC, including high emotion, conflict, safety concerns, and family violence considerations.
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Develop and use youth‑appropriate psychoeducation strategies within SSFC to address families’ prioritised needs and build shared understanding.
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Plan safe and feasible SSFC sessions across different service settings, including home‑based and outreach contexts, in line with organisational guidelines.
Register for SSFC: Youth Services
Turning family stories into pathways for change.
Practitioners sometimes leave family consultations feeling unsure about their impact—especially when emotions run high, roles become unclear, or conversations become stuck in conflict.
SSFC: Collaborative Conversations is an online learning module you can complete at your own pace, pause and return at any time and review content. The course features practice theory and examples, interactive activities and reflective questions to consolidate your learning.
At the completion of the module, you will receive a certificate of completion.
Course length: 1.5 hours (CPD hours)
Who is this relevant too?
SSFC: Collaborative Conversations is for professionals working within the SSFC practice framework who want to further develop their skills and expertise in facilitating collaborative conversations whilst working directly with consumers and their families.
This course will be particularly relevant for:
- Clinicians and practitioners working with consumers and families, including:
- Mental health clinicians (e.g. psychologists, social workers, nurses)
- Therapists and counsellors
- Case workers and care coordinators
- Family workers and peer practitioners
Level of seniority
- Primarily designed for frontline and early to mid‑career practitioners developing their family‑inclusive practice
- Also valuable for senior clinicians, supervisors, and team leaders seeking to support reflective practice, role clarity, and workforce capability in family work
Work settings
- Public and community mental health services
- Primary care and integrated or multidisciplinary care settings
- Rehabilitation and psychosocial support services
- Non‑government organisations and private practice
Relevant client groups
- Adults experiencing mental health challenges
- Families and carers, including families impacted by parental mental illness
- Diverse families, including culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities
- Consumers and families where complexity, trauma, or ongoing care coordination are present
Prior knowledge
Single-Session Family Consultation online learning and/or in-practice workshop
Practice experience using the SSFC framework
SSFC - Information Sharing with Families overview
SSFC: Collaborative Conversations emphasises the self of the worker and supports participants to explore how their own history, role, emotions, and regulation can shape, influence, and strengthen collaborative family conversations. This module aims to develop practitioners confidence and effectiveness in family-inclusive work and directly addressing family challenges by helping participants understand how they influence the work, build trust, and provide structured support for safety and change.
Key subject areas:
- Practice principles for building trust
- Strategies for navigating difficult dynamics
- Using family stories as resources for change
Skill development includes:
- Emotion regulation strategies
- Role clarity
- Circular questioning
- Naming interactional patterns
- Introducing structure in moments of conflict
- Facilitating storytelling to emphasize strengths and values
- Possibilities for future action
Learning Outcomes
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Describe how the self of the worker—including personal history, role, emotions, and regulation—shapes collaborative conversations with families.
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Identify and apply strategies to build and maintain trust with consumers and family members, including clarifying roles, acknowledging trust ruptures, and using structure to support psychological safety.
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Evaluate patterns of interaction and difficult dynamics within family conversations and demonstrate ways to lean in, slow the pace, and introduce structure to support constructive dialogue.
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Apply principles of emotional regulation to notice anxiety, stuckness, and strong emotions in themselves and others, using these experiences as information rather than barriers to effective practice.
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Generate questions and reflections that invite families to share stories, values, and past experiences of connection, resilience, and repair.
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Develop realistic optimism and hope for change by linking family strengths, stories, and small shifts in interaction to shared goals for improved family wellbeing.