Available courses

Theories of Rehabilitation & Change: A Volunteer’s Lens

The Theories of Rehabilitation and Change digital training series is a self-paced learning programme designed to provide volunteers and practitioners with a clear, practical understanding of how rehabilitation and long-term change are supported in justice and community-based work. The course introduces three core theoretical frameworks that underpin modern rehabilitation practice: the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model, the Good Lives Model (GLM), and Desistance Theory.

Drawing from real-world rehabilitation contexts and practitioner experience, this course emphasises that theories are not abstract academic concepts, but practical lenses that help volunteers understand behaviour, guide responses, and support people more intentionally. Participants will learn how these frameworks explain why people offend, what supports meaningful change, and how progress unfolds over time.

Across structured modules and focused episodes, learners will explore how risk, needs, strengths, identity, agency, social bonds, and purpose interact in the rehabilitation process. The programme highlights the complementary nature of the three models: RNR provides structure and focus, GLM builds strengths and motivation, and Desistance Theory explains how change is sustained through time and relationships.

What Should I Do? Managing Real-Life Ethical Dilemmas in Volunteer Work

The Managing Real-Life Ethical Dilemmas in Volunteer Work digital training series is a self-paced learning programme designed as a core component of volunteer preparation. The aim of this course is to help volunteers develop a grounded, practical understanding of ethical behaviour when working with justice-involved individuals. Drawing from lived experience and real-world rehabilitation practice, the course provides clear frameworks that support safe, consistent, and professional volunteering.

Through three structured modules and twelve focused videos, participants will explore what ethics truly mean in a volunteer context, including the differences between moral values, organisational boundaries, and legal responsibilities. Volunteers will also learn how personal emotions, past experiences, and good intentions can influence decisions, and how self-awareness plays a crucial role in ethical practice.

With "Her" In Mind: Understanding the Needs of Women Offenders

This course equips volunteers with the awareness and skills to support women offenders through empathy, respect, and trauma-informed care. Many women’s offending behaviors stem from relational trauma, abuse, and instability rather than deliberate intent. By understanding these pathways, volunteers can respond with compassion instead of judgment.

Key topics include the effects of abuse, disrupted development, incarceration trauma, reintegration challenges, and the impact of motherhood and stigma. Volunteers also learn the importance of boundaries, affirmation, and respectful engagement — including with transgender individuals.

The course emphasizes that meaningful change happens through presence, not pressure. Volunteers are encouraged to listen deeply, build trust, and support women in rebuilding their identities and lives with dignity. True impact comes from walking with them on their journey toward healing, belonging, and lasting reintegration.

Cultural Competency In Corrections: Engaging with Diverse Inmate Populations

The Cultural Competency in Corrections digital training series is a self-paced learning programme designed as a supplement to the In-Person training that you have attended. The aim of this course is for Singapore Prison Service volunteers to deepen their understanding of the diverse cultural influences within correctional settings. Through six focused videos, the course explores the key subcultures that shape inmate behaviour, including gang, drug, and trauma-related cultures, as well as the impact of early life experiences.

Volunteers will learn how these environments influence communication, trust, and coping styles, and how to apply this understanding in real interactions. The final module will provide practical guidance on culturally competent communication, boundary setting, and self-awareness, helping volunteers engage safely, respectfully, and effectively.

By combining knowledge, reflection, and practical tools, this course equips volunteers to interpret behaviour with empathy, respond with cultural sensitivity, and build trust that supports rehabilitation and positive change within the correctional system.

IMPACT Refresher Training

The IMPACT Refresher Training program is designed for existing Singapore Prison Service volunteers to strengthen their understanding of key concepts, policies, and practices within the correctional system. The course consists of five modules delivered through ten educational videos.

Participants will revisit the history and legal framework of Singapore’s prison system, learn about recent policy shifts, and gain a deeper understanding of the four phases of rehabilitation. The program also covers the Singapore Correctional Model, future-focused initiatives like Corrections 2030, and the importance of restorative practices in offender rehabilitation.

Through this refresher training, volunteers will reinforce their knowledge, stay updated on evolving practices, and continue contributing effectively to the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders within the community.

Para-counselling (Basic)

Welcome to the Para-counselling (Basic) Course. There are 5 learning units in this training

    1. Learning Unit 3A: Communication and the Communication Process
    2. Learning Unit 3B: Communication Barriers
    3. Learning Unit 5: Ethics and Confidentiality

Aside from Learning Unit 3, all other learning units will be covered during the face-to-face classroom session.

You will need to complete all 3 e-Topics for Learning Unit 3 before the assessment day.

Para-counselling (Advance)

Course Description

You may have some basic engagement skills but wish to enhance and use them more purposefully.

This Advanced Para-counselling course integrates essential counselling engagement skills into a structured helping process. Learners will understand various counselling theories and apply effective techniques to help clients achieve life-enhancing outcomes more intentionally.

The course aims to equip individuals with the fundamental knowledge and skills in counselling engagement, when working alongside with certified counselling professionals in their daily work.

 

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

  • Apply the Egan’s model for purposeful and outcome-focused client-engagement 
  • Apply probing techniques to uncover client’s story and determine underlying issues sustaining problems
  • Utilise counselling theories and techniques to guide interactions with client
  • Understand the basics of counselling theories, therapies, and techniques, including Psychodynamic Therapy, Person-Centred Therapy, Cognitive-behavioural Therapy, Motivational Interviewing



Motivational Interviewing

You may have heard your loved ones or clients say, “I know I need to change la, because… but then…”. Sometimes they may even seem to be stuck in their problems, repeating the same old “excuses” and “buts” despite you having already told them the solution.

Ironically, the more we try to persuade or confront someone, the more resistance happens. It’s like fighting a wrestling match that leaves both parties feeling tired, hurt, and frustrated. 

Here’s where Motivational Interviewing (MI) comes in. The MI approach teaches you how to explore and strengthen a person’s own reasons for change, while also demonstrating an appreciation of the challenges they face. It is a collaborative conversation style, much like a dance rather than a wrestling match. By adopting the MI approach, you can build supportive relationships with your loved ones/clients and evoke their intrinsic motivations for long lasting change.

Youth Coaching / Coaching for Professional Effectiveness and Personal Success

Gone are the days where managing was about ‘I say, you do, because I am the boss and I know best’. The new millennial workforce wants employers who believe in their potential, who support them in achieving what they never thought they could. Are you such a manager?

Equip yourself with coaching skills to help your employees thrive and succeed in the workplace. Support staff in improving service delivery and client interaction. As coaches, we can drive positive change within both individuals and the organisation.


A Self-Reflexive Approach to Develop Personal and Professional Competency

How well do we know ourselves?

Whether consciously or unconsciously, our experiences and interactions with others have influenced who we are today.

But we can challenge our current selves and shape our surroundings for the better. We are agents of change.

Join us for this course on Reflexive Practice to turn your experiences into insights, and insights into practice strategies for personal and professional growth.

Reflective practice is a systematic process to guide our thinking and reflections. Acquire the skills and techniques to tap into your experience to enhance your effectiveness and to cultivate a habit of continuous learning.


Mentoring for Youth

Mentoring youths can be a direct, yet complex and dynamic process. Having helping skills is not enough. To be effective mentors, it is important to understand youths’ worldviews and appreciate the functions of youths’ behaviours within their life experiences.

Uncover why youths engage in such behaviours and learn how to select appropriate mentoring approaches based on their needs. Be equipped to engage youths and inspire them towards greater heights in life. 

There are three parts to this e-learning. The parts will cover the following topics:

Principles and practices of youth mentoring

  1. Differences between mentoring and other approaches
  2. Stages in mentoring
  3. Understanding youths' issues

Examining youth trends and cultures

  1. Youth cultures
  2. Motivation and needs underlying youths' engagement in activities
  3. Examining youth cultures

Providing guidance, information, and resources to youths

  1. Exploring resources to provide guidance and information 
      • Career and educational opportunities
      • Hobbies and interest groups
      • Youth programmes and services

Coaching and Counselling Techniques to Build Mental Wellness and Resilience

This 2.5 day workshop on Coaching and Counselling Techniques to Build Mental Wellness and Resilience, including Psychological First Aid and Mental Health, covers topics such as understanding mental health, building resilience, psychological first aid, and coaching and counselling techniques. 

This is the e-learning portion for Coaching and Counselling Techniques to Build Mental Wellness and Resilience. At the end of this segment, you will learn more about different mental health conditions, the stigma mental health patients are facing, and how you can help to provide peer support to them. 

Building Mental and Emotional Resilience (Mindfulness-based stress reduction)

Getting through life is challenging. We face daily madness in managing our work and family, and often, we neglect our personal wellbeing. This could in turn, adversely affect our relationship with our family and reduce our productivity at work.

Mindfulness-based stress reduction is an evidence-based approach that aims to help you reduce and manage your stressors. Rather than suppressing or forcefully overcome the challenges in your life, the programme will guide your exploration of these stressors to gain insights into how the stresses are sustained in your life.

The programme adopts mindfulness-based strategies and practices to cultivate a mindset of openness, acceptance, and self-compassion. It will equip you with the skills to distinguish between your thoughts and your reality in the “here and now”. 

Ultimately, the aim of MBSR is to help you sharpen your sense of being, with which, can allow you to make wiser choices and develop thinking styles, behaviors and habits that are conducive to stress reduction and prevention, and to leading life more fully.


DORP - Working with Offenders and their Families

This self-directed e-learning module aims to supplement the 1.5 days of face-to-face training on "Working with Offenders and their Families in the Community".