Westmead Feelings Program 2: Facilitator Certification, accessible from Jan 27 – March 4 2025

Delivery mode: Online
Time and duration: 20 hours of online coursework, over approximately 10 weeks.

Please note this certification registration does not include a Westmead Feelings Program 2 Resource Kit. 

The Westmead Feeling Program 2 (WFP 2) teaches emotional and social skills to autistic children without mild intellectual disability. WFP 2 is aimed at children with fluent speech who are able to read and write.

The comprehensive online WFP 2 Facilitator Certification Course enables professionals to implement the 15-month WFP 2 intervention program in school, private practise and hospital settings. It is designed to provide professionals with the knowledge, skills and confidence to effectively implement the 15-month WFP 2 intervention in their setting to the highest standard.

This course is suitable for teachers, special educators, psychologists, allied health and disability practitioners who intend to provide WFP 2 in their setting, and wish to gain the knowledge, skills and confidence to successfully implement the program.

Intended learning outcomes

Participants will be able to:

• demonstrate the capacity to use WFP 2, including all key resources, to teach children with ASD the skills required for understanding emotions, problem solving, perspective taking and managing emotions
• demonstrate the capacity to use WFP 2 to teach parents and teachers of children with ASD how to be ‘emotion coaches’, supporting skill development in understanding emotions, problem solving, perspective taking and managing emotions
• analyse and critically evaluate a range of positive behaviour support strategies to be able to effectively deliver WFP 2 to children with ASD
• apply knowledge to implement differentiated teaching strategies.

Course in detail

The course consists of four units and two learning assurance tasks. It covers proficiency in 12 separate areas of WFP 2, through interactive tasks, activities and videos.

Unit 1: introduction and overview

• History, research and development of WFP 2.
• Differentiated teaching methods for the learning profile of children with ASD.

Unit 2: Teaching ‘WFP 2 Module 1: Understanding emotions’ to children, parents and teachers

• How to develop children’s awareness of their own and others’ emotional states.
• How to introduce parents and teachers to their role as emotion coaches, and encouraging communication.
• Conveying the emotional and social strengths and challenges for children with ASD.
• Familiarity with the Feelings Strength Bar and associated worksheets.

Unit 3: Teaching ‘WFP 2 Module 2: Problem solving and perspective taking’ to children, parents and teachers

• How to develop children’s abilities to solve problems and feel empathy.
• How to develop children’s understandings of the link between thinking, feeling and doing, and encouraging helpful thinking.
• Consolidating parents’ and teachers’ use of visual cueing to assist with problem solving.
• Familiarity with problem-solving and perspective-taking videos and worksheets.

Unit 4: Teaching ‘WFP 2 Module 3: Managing emotions’ to children, parents and teachers

• How to assist children with techniques for enhancing positive feelings and coping with not-so-good emotions
• How to develop parents’ and teachers’ emotion-coaching skills in the context of managing difficult situations
• Familiarity with Feelings Control Kit strategies and worksheets
• A live (and recorded) webinar, providing an opportunity to discuss and give feedback on the implementation of different aspects of the program

Learning assurance tasks

The learning assurance tasks are a multiple-choice quiz and a 5−10 minute video demonstrating proficiency in one area of the WFP 2 delivery. On successful completion of the course, participants will receive:

• an accredited certificate, enabling participants to facilitate WFP 2 at the highest standard with children, parents and teachers in schools, hospitals and other relevant clinical settings
• the opportunity to be listed on ACER’s online certified practitioners’ register.

AITSL Professional Standards for Teachers

The course specifically addresses Professional Knowledge standards 1.5 and 1.6.

• Standard 1.5: Differentiate teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities.
• Standard 1.6: Strategies to support full participation of students with disability.

The Psychology Board of Australia

The WFP 2 Facilitator Certification Course satisfies the guidelines for 20 hours of continuing professional development required for the annual registration of psychologists.

This course will run subject to minimum participant numbers. If the course does not proceed during the advertised dates, you may choose to have your registration costs refunded in full or credited towards the same course at a future time.