No Duff learning centre

Training

When all else fails read the manual

These are the training pams we should have got, before we enlisted and especially after we got out.

Our training courses have now gone through a few iterations. We have tried a few ways of delivering information, from complex long courses delivered in a class room to the "she'll be right mate, how hard can it be?"

We have matured in our expectations of what our mentors and our veterans can do and therefore have changed our course delivery - thanks to a lot of feedback along the way. We have found that we need a mix of things to do the job - the right tool for the job makes it much easier. We now have quick step by step fixes for crises , short problem solvers, information modules, and our long courses.

For Volunteers

More
Induction Course
This is a course for our volunteers introducing them to No Duff and volunteer work. its also a useful overview of the issues in supporting veterans for non volunteers whom are interested in the topic. ckick below for more information.

The induction course is designed for volunteers whom have either no military experience or no experience in volunteer work. Its also designed to give a once over lightly of the key issues which veterans and their supporters face. 
It has 4 main modules which are intended to be worked through in order - so if you are ex military you dont get to don't skip the military part. There are bits in every section that will be new to everyone.
The first module gives an over view of the military and what military life is like.  It also looks at the indoctrination process and the culture within most Western militaries.
The second module takes a look at veterans - what happens when someone release from the military, what its like trying to reintegrate into civilian life and what the outcomes are like.
The third module looks at veterans support in New Zealand - government departments, charities and volunteers. It looks at  being a volunteer, at charities and No Duff in particular, at what happened historically to get us to where we are now, what works and what doesn't.
The last module is about best practice, some principles on how to look after yourself and the veteran. This covers the roles, boundaries, the law - all the dry but important shit that makes this work.

Induction course

for Veterans

More
Self help
This is the foundation course for veterans. Why a veteran sees things differently to a civilian, the common problems post service, and how to use your training to your advantage. Click below to see more.

This is a course which is unique, we have have not found anything like it anywhere (if we had we would have copied it and saved a shit load of work). Its unique because it brings together several techniques that would usually be done face to face and uses them in a self directed course - its the missing mentor (or the wingman for you Air Force types). It's also unique because it's for veterans, so its not politically correct, it uses the language that veterans use. The language and content can be direct and confronting - we make no apologies for that.
We have taken what we have learned from supporting our people both in service and post service and distilled out what we think is important. The material is drawn from the published literature, from our own experience, from advice from many Professionals whom generously answered our questions, and most importantly it comes from the veterans themselves.
Its an 80% course. When we looked at what we respond to, 80% of the problems could be managed by the veterans themselves with the right knowledge and tools and a little guidance. That information is what we included here. It's not everything by any means, it's the soldier's 5 on how to self recover when you are in the shit. 

self help
More
Skill builders
these are specific packages on things that commonly cause problems, things like communication, anger, sleep, finances and a whole lot more.

We have 2 main offerings here.
The first is actions on. These are quick recipes for urgent problems such as feeling suicidal. Not a lot of explanation, just follow the prompts to get the job done.
The second product is the skill builders. Where do you find out how to get a Gp, or get your service records, or apply for a benefit, or get help with your VANZ applications. These are step by step guides to the common problems.

skill builders
More
Mental Injury
This ones the big one that is often requested. It is a distance and residential course on mental injury. The distance course sets the ground and lets people know what is coming. The residential component uses group and individual sessions to look at mental injury in veterans and uses several techniques to overcome the problems that come with mental injury.

Mental injury is our most pressing and frequent presenting problem. Many of the presentations are wrapped up in a whole lot of maladaptive shit - drugs, alcohol, violence, you name it and we see it. The pre course gets some basics squared away, which means we can maximise the benefit of the residential component. We aim to have a tiered approach to the residential component - do one then come back for another to achieve 2 things - ensure you have it sorted and act as a resource for the next poor sod we get on the course.

Mental Injury
More
Moving on
The course for those whom have climbed the mountain and are looking to whats next.

This course is about taking the next steps - about progressing from illness to wellness, maximising what we achieve in life. This is a course that looks at the whole picture - our physical, mental and spiritual well-being within our community. Its about giving back to our families and our community and regaining that sense of purpose.

Moving on

For mentors

More
Peer mentor
Peer mentors guide our veterans through the self help course and other packages, act as navigators and also as a sounding board enabling the veteran to stay on track and reflect upon what they are learning. This course gives the skills to facilitate veterans on their self directed journey. Click below to see more.

This course is for the mentors - how to be a mentor. It goes hand in glove with the self help course. This course is about how to use the self help course as a resource to get a veteran moving. Its also about the skills needed to support someone, about the boundaries of peer mentoring, and the actions on when it gets a bit a rocky.

peer mentor
More
Peer counsellor
A course on how to guide a veteran through the problems that the self self help course didnt fix. This is an in depth course on the walk and talk program, the advanced WRAP materials, basic CBT and goal directed therapies together with a module on adaptive disclosure.

This course is about how the peer mentor takes it to the next level - working within a multidisciplinary team delivering care under the direction of the clinical team. It dovetails into our virtual veterans clinic and the face to face specialist clinics. It is also about supporting the veterans primary care team, helping them navigate the often bewildering complexity of veterans support.

Peer counsellor
More
Peer supervisor
This course is for those whom provide the leadership and debriefing of our peer mentors and peer counsellors. Its the nuts and bolts of running teams and courses in a volunteer environment.

The mentor and supervisor for the mentors. Working in this area is hard, the best people to advise and support are those whom understand it because they have done it. We tech about how to look after the mentors, how to ensure they stay within their boundaries, and about the quality assurance in our service delivery. The peer supervisors work in concert with the clinical director and the psychological medicine leads to provide a safety net for all involved.

Peer Supervisor

We are continuously updating our courses and adding new information, so check in often. Let us know what you think we should do, what is it that would make a difference?

The courses are modular, designed to build upon the skills you learn at each step.

 The self help aspect is important. We emphasise the sills to self recover, to build self reliance and resiliency rather than dependancy.


Image

Courses

These are the long courses, usually with several modules.

Courses
Image

Actions On

Step by step instructions for crises
Use the help button if you need to speak to someone now

Actions On
Help
Image

Tools

The how to packages to get shit done, You will find the VANZ form here.

Tools
Image

Skill builders

Short modules that sort the everyday shit that trips us up. This is where you find things like anger management, finances and communication.

Skill builder

design for mobile

Our material is designed with a mobile first approach. Mobile is where most of our veterans will interact with the material  - on their phones. The phone is what they are most likely to have on them when things get messy. Our site will automatically detect the type of device being used and reformat accordingly - just don't expect it to be as pretty on your big screen desktop because it wasn't designed for that.

Mobile first places some constraints - they don't have big screens and data is always going to be an issue. Hence the videos are kept to a small screen size and they don't autoplay. As we get feedback and improve the site we will deploy the web app - that will give the option of having the key material from the site available offline - big download on wifi then you are not using the data when out and about. When we are happy with the web app we will deploy more features, many of which are already in development.

Our approach is that the users need to contribute to evolve the site, so we need our users to give us feedback in the comments. This is because we use no tracking, no google analytics, no page trackers of any kind on the site. That was a conscious decision - but it means we are blind unless the users tell us what they like, don't like and want.

Leave us a comment about what you liked, what you think needs to be here or links to stuff others might find useful.

Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.

Khalil Gibran (from the New York Times)
Be the first to comment!
0 / 1000

Last updated 14/10/23

Courses