Interview with Head of Anna Freud's new Studio for mental health professionals
At CORC we provide free information to a network of organisations to educate and guide about the benefits of effective outcome and feedback measurement. We also have a CORC membership, so that statutory, voluntary community, education and private organisations can benefit from the additional resources, training, and services that CORC can provide to their staff to benefit them and their organisation.
With the launch of Anna Freud’s Studio we wanted to let our network know more about this as an additional, flexible and user friendly resource for individual professionals.
Nick Tait, CORC’s Programme Manager met with Hannah Harrison, Head of Product, who leads our Anna Freud Studio team, to find out more:
Nick: Hannah, could you tell us briefly about what Studio is?
Hannah: Studio is our new professional membership community for mental health professionals. It brings together evidence-led learning, opportunities for cross-sector connection and reflection all into one space, so that members can improve their practice and also learn alongside peers who are working across mental health care.
Nick: Where did the idea come from? What was the inspiration behind developing Studio?
Hannah: We work with a wide group of professionals as part of our work across Anna Freud. Particularly within our training conferences and events offer we received a lot of feedback through that that professionals really like the content that we deliver, but they wanted something when that course ends. We were interested in talking to professionals about what might an ongoing offer look like, where they could come back over time, at a point that suits them and stay connected with us as well. People felt that they didn't really have access to a space that was dedicated to helping them on an ongoing basis.
Nick: I know you’ve already got people that have signed up. What kinds of people are signed up and who do you think is going to be benefiting from all the great content?
Hannah: We launched at the beginning of October, and we've got over 500 people signed up already. That's a mix across our ‘Studio Explorer’ and ‘Member’ options. So far it’s a really wide range. It’s geared towards mental health professionals, but that's across lots of different settings; clinical professionals, but also professionals working in school and community settings. Our members so far include psychotherapists working in the NHS and in private practice, psychologists, school counsellors, social workers, community mental health nurses and many more.
Nick: It sounds like there's a couple of different ways that people can get involved. Could you tell me the difference between those two?
Hannah: Studio Explorer is our free package - when you sign up you get access to our resource library and a selection of our monthly content pieces that we develop. Every month you'll get something new. If you join as a Studio member, you get more detailed content every month plus options to join live and online community conversations, and discounts on some of our other training courses and events.
You could also go between the two, giving you flexibility how you engage with it. You can sign up for the full membership and cancel any time, so it can be something that you sign up to month by month or you can pay for a whole year.
Nick: Good to know, and great to hear that there's going to be new content each month. I know the first month the focus has been on: Mental health in the digital age? How do you decide what kind of things to cover and have you got an idea of what what's on the horizon and what we can look forward to?
Hannah: It will be a mixture of topics that professionals have suggested they'd be interested in learning about. We conducted a research and testing phase before launch, to capture feedback about what professionals wanted to hear from us. This has, and will continue, to be fed in, and then it's also working with our range of experts at Anna Freud and in our wider community, around what they think is important. You can expect to see content on a wide range of things like why play matters, mentalizing, neurodiversity and trauma, and leadership and career development.
Nick: Sounds like a nice range of different things that people can have a look at. In terms of the kind of formats, what kind of content can I expect to see as a member?
Hannah: It is a multimedia experience; we know that people like lots of different types of content and so we've tried to bring that into what we offer with Studio. There will be short form explainer videos, which might be under 5 minutes, through to long form content, which might be 40 to 50 minutes of, which might be more of an in-depth discussion between experts or a masterclass format. You’ll also find podcasts and audio content; some self-paced learning modules; and written articles and blogs. So hopefully there's something in there for everyone.
Nick: I know many mental health professionals work alone, which can be quite isolating, so I think this could be really enticing as a community for different professionals. How's it going to work?
Hannah: When we asked people what they wanted, one of the things that came through strongly was to fight a growing feeling of professional isolation. A lot of professionals work really busy schedules, therefore connecting with others isn't always the easiest thing to do. So, we're testing a few different ways for this to work within Studio – and we’re open to members’ feedback.
Number one is we have a community discussion space on the platform where asynchronously people can put a message or a question, and then others can respond to it. For example, when we launch a monthly theme, we may open a discussion about some of the topics discussed in that theme that people can come back to and comment on at any time. So that's something that people can do in their own time and can fit in around their busy schedules. Some will be first thing in the morning, lunchtime and evening sessions. So hopefully there's an opportunity for people to get involved at different times.
We also are looking at launching a series of live discussion spaces where we will offer both online and in person opportunities for people to come and just talk to other people doing the work. More to come on that...
Nick: Thinking about message boards and responding to questions, I'm sometimes a bit cautious about accessing in terms of how to judge the quality of the information. Could there be people on there potentially putting incorrect information or advice or acting in an irresponsible way. How will you mitigate that?
Hannah: We want Studio to feel like an open space for everyone, and we welcome professionals from across the sector who bring a diverse range of experience with them. However, we also recognise that the quality of information shared is really important. So it is a moderated space that is facilitated by us. We have a team who look at what's shared and if we have any concerns about content not being so, we will either contact people to ask for amendments, or where necessary remove the content.
Nick: It sounds as if you’re giving professionals the opportunity to dip a toe in and try it out as a Studio Explorer – which then can be a good gateway to becoming a member. So, what can I expect to hear from you in terms of what's new, as an Explorer?
Hannah: Firstly, we hope it's going to feel like a space that you want to explore. When you sign up, you will get a link to the online platform where you will see a learner hub, which is your homepage in Studio. Each month you will get access to a new set of resources that will be posted there on the platform. There’s also a resource library of content that is kept updated, which will always be there for you to explore at any time. You will also see get an e-mail about it each month when they're posted. If you just have 5 minutes, there's something easy and quick for you to engage in. If you have a bit longer and you're feeling more exploratory, you can go and check out our bank of content.
There is also a wider open community space that Explorers get access to, as well as the member-only spaces, so you can add comments or questions in the community space.
Nick Tait: So once a month when the new content goes up, people signed up as Studio Explorers can expect to see something in their inbox, get an idea of what it is, consider if it’s relevant, and explore a bit more while they are there too. It sounds like a really great package and it's good to hear that you've got a lot of interest already.
You mentioned earlier about the extensive Anna Freud training programme - will Studio interact or be complimentary with any of those?
Hannah: Yes. Studio will sit alongside our portfolio of training and there will be areas where there will be content that supports other training programmes. So, for instance, if you learn about something in Studio and you want to dive deeper or learn more, we may have an available training course so you can sign up for that. Or, if you're on a training course with us, Studio is then a good way to stay connected to us after your training. So they work really nicely together. We are also exploring discounts for certain training courses for Studio members. So if you're a paid Studio member you can get exclusive discount codes to some of our training offers.
Nick: What about the other way around? If someone has been on one of the training courses, do I they get access to anything extra in Studio?
Hannah: It’s not launched yet, but we're definitely exploring that as an option, so if you are a on one of our longer training courses and you've been learning with Anna Freud for a certain amount of time, we may be able to provide a Studio membership for a certain period of time. Watch this space on that one.
Nick: One of the things that we get asked with our CORC trainings, and particularly for people who are registered with a professional organisation who need to keep track of their CPD. Is there a way of doing that through Studio and how that might count towards CPD accreditation?
Hannah: You definitely can. At the moment it would be a self-declaration. Currently we don’t product a specific certificate for Studio, but we are looking at which of the content could be relevant for this in the future.
Nick: It sounds like the content will be building up nicely each month and will continue to grow as a healthy resource. So, for people who are wanting to sign up, I think there's an introductory offer, is that right?
Hannah: Yes, the launch offer is available until the end of 2026 at £10 per month or £100 for a year's access to Studio. From 1 January, we will move our pricing back to the standard £12 per month, or £120 per year.
Nick: As a personal one to finish on, Hannah, what has been most exciting for you about getting this from that inspiration and idea, to a launched product?
Hannah: I think for me, it's seeing the variety of people that are interested in this and what they individually will get out of it. We had an idea in our heads based on the feedback that we'd heard from certain individuals. But actually, through the process, we've spoken to a wide range of professionals who are all kind of looking for something slightly different, but all of them seeing Studio as something really exciting.
When we did a testing phase it was really personally valuable just to hear what it feels like to do this work, what people want out of this, and then building something that actually will kind of meet their needs on that.
Nick: Thank you, Hannah. It’s an exciting product and I can see lots of ways that we'll be able to work together and do things in a complementary way.
