Mark Dawes' Podcasts

Do You Do MAPA Physical Intervention Training?

This is another question I regularly get asked.

And the short answer is no, we don't do MAPA Physical Intervention Training.

So, what is MAPA Training and what does MAPA Training stand for?

MAPA stands for the 'Management of Actual or Potential Aggression', which is basically a name that the organisation calls itself and what it does ie., MAPA Training, which has now been taken over by CPI (Crisis Prevention Institute).

That's it.

In the same way we are called NFPS Ltd., so if people ask us do we do 'NFPS Training' we say yes, because that is training we (NFPS Ltd) deliver.

MAPA isn't a qualification or an 'approved' or 'formally accredited' system of restraint (physical intervention).

It is basically an in-house MAPA certification scheme.

Unlike MAPA we do offer a qualification in the form of a BTEC Level 3 Award in Physical Restraint Instruction.

This provides a structured process of learning and development through a recognised Educational Awarding Body, with internal and external verification and standardisation and quality management processes in place.

And if you'd like to find out more about our BTEC Level 3 Restraint Instructor Award Course you can see the course webpage here - https://nfps.info/physical-intervention-trainer-course/.

Or simply drop me an email and we can arrange to have a chat over the phone to clarify any further questions you may have.

My email is - [email protected].

Thanks for watching.

“What is PMVA Training and Do You Deliver PMVA Trainer Training?"  

These are questions I constantly get asked.  

So, what does PMVA mean?  

PMVA stands for the 'Prevention and Management of Violence and Aggression'.  

Which is basically a healthcare term for Physical Restraint (also known as Physical Intervention, Control and Restraint, Positive Handling, MVA, etc., etc.).  

It is primarily used to prevent a service user or patient harming themselves or others.   

PMVA training is not a qualification or an endorsed or recognised standard of any kind.  

It is just a healthcare term for Physical Restraint Training.  

That's it.  

Our BTEC Level 3 Restraint Instructor Award Course is a PMVA Trainer Course - https://nfps.info/physical-intervention-trainer-course/ 

And many healthcare organisations already use our training to train their PMVA trainers.  

This is because our course comes with a BTEC Level 3 qualification.  

If you'd like to know more you can view our course here - https://nfps.info/physical-intervention-trainer-course/ (and there is a video on our course webpage about all of the difference names and what they mean).  

Or simply drop me an email and we can arrange to have a chat over the phone to clarify any further questions you may have.  

My email is - [email protected].  

Thanks for listening.

Who would be liable for giving illegal information and instruction (with regards to physical intervention, self-defence, handcuffing, etc.)?

Well the short answer is, it would be you!

Now you may be able to take some action against the trainer who provided the information to you.

But fundamentally, you would be liable for not doing your own due diligence prior to undertaking or commissioning training with your chosen training provider.

This podcast explains why we have become a society of repeaters and why you should choose your training provider carefully.

Click the hyperlinked text to find out more about our:

# BTEC Level 3 Restraint Instructor Award Course;

# BTEC Level 3 Self-Defence Instructor Award Course;

# BTEC Level 3 Handcuff Trainer Award Course.

Which are possibly some of the most legally defensible courses in the UK today.

Forgiveness is a powerful act that can set you free and liberate you from suffering which will reduce the effect of negative stress in your life.

Stress as, many famous scientists and biologists tell us, is responsible for over 90% of all physical and mental illnesses and diseases.

In addition, many people have to deal with conflict in their lives. Conflict, aggression and abuse at work and even in some cases at home and disputes and disagreements with other people that cause anger and hatred. 

In this podcast I am reading some extracts from a book called the 'Book of Joy' which tells the story of a meeting between the Dalai Lama and the late Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

In one chapter they speak of the power of forgiveness and I'd like to share some of that with you.

Oh, and if you think forgiveness is easy, then you've probably never tried it. Forgiving someone is an act of strength, not weakness.

It is anger and hatred that are signs of weakness.

When most people think of meditation they conjure up images of people sitting cross-legged for hours with serious expressions on their face trying hard to empty their minds, and that puts a lot of people off meditating.

The reality is meditation is merely focussed attention and the opportunity to meditate is always present, even if it’s only for a few seconds and I thought I’d share some tips with you in the hope that it may encourage you to try meditation by dispelling some of the myths about it so that you can take advantage of meditation's many benefits.

One myth (already mentioned) is that before you start to meditate you must first empty your mind of all thoughts, but that’s not true because for a mind to be empty it has to be empty of something? This is a misinterpretation of the Buddhist teaching on signlessness, inter-being and impermanence.

To meditate all you need to do is focus your attention on one thing and the easiest thing to do is focus on your breathing.

For example, like a lot of people I used to get frustrated at being stuck in traffic, but now I see it as an opportunity to meditate and all I do is focus on my breath and to help me do that I follow the advice of a great Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hahn who taught me that if I said to myself: “Breathing in I know I am breathing in”, as I take an in-breath and “breathing out I know I am breathing out” as I exhale my breath, I can simply and easily concentrate just on my breathing which grounds me in the present moment.

Sometimes when I’m in a queue in a shop for a few minutes I simply use that time to focus on my breathing, even if it is for only two or three breaths.

When I’m working on my computer and an email comes in, what many people do is react to that by stopping what they are working on to go to the email, read it and then answer it. What I do is stop, take two or three breaths, and then decide whether I need to respond and look at the email or continue with what I was doing before the email came in.

And many times now, before I answer an email I will read it again slowly, whilst also breathing slowly whilst concentrating on the words in the email (as that is a form of meditation) and then stop and take three breaths whilst focussing on my breath entering and leaving my body before I respond to it.

There are so many opportunities for you to meditate, even if it for a few seconds, and if you do it regularly you can train your mind to not only enjoy the present moment but build resilience as well as benefiting from all of the other physical and mental benefits of meditation.

And if you’d like to know more about those benefits you can listen to this podcast or read the blog post here - https://nfps.info/why-do-i-meditate-have-i-gone-over-to-the-dark-side/

I’d be interested in your comments.

You may have noticed that I have posted various articles and podcasts about meditation, and that’s generated some interesting conversations with people, many who I have known for many years and some who are very good friends.

Some people, I am sure, think that I’ve gone over to the ‘dark side’ as they see meditation and mindfulness as some form of ‘weird’ spirituality thing.

Others think that I have possibly gone soft, but none of that could be further from the truth.

The truth is that meditation is a discipline that takes regular and committed practice and like any other discipline you practice regularly, the more you do it the more it will be there for you when you need it.

In short, mindfulness meditation is training for the brain.

And if you think it’s easy, try this. Try to sit quietly and think of nothing but your breath for 20 minutes and you'll soon realise that after a minute a distracting thought will enter your mind.

Many of you listening to this or reading this will go to the gym regularly and you do so because you want to get fitter, lose weight or realise the benefits of physical activity for your mental health.

But what’s the point of having a great body or being physically fitter if you don’t look after your mind.

To me that’s the equivalent of ensuring that your car's bodywork is spotless and clean, but not caring for the engine.

Training our brain has major benefits.

To read the full blog post go yo this webpage - https://nfps.info/why-do-i-meditate-have-i-gone-over-to-the-dark-side/

Will having certain 'certification' or 'accreditation' protect an organisation if they commission training and something goes wrong because the training doesn't meet the specific needs and risks of the organisation? 

This is a question that I have been asked many times and I know my good friend Trevel Henry has been asked this too because we regularly have conversations about this when an agency speaks to us about this very point.

This podcast answers that question. 

Have you ever had the experience of having a problem, where you are caught up in thinking about all of the possible negative outcomes that could occur. Have you ever experienced the anxiety caused by the uncertainty of what could happen? If so, you have been the victim of your thinking.

The fact is, it is just a bunch of thoughts. A mix of real time conscious thoughts underpinned by an unconscious programme that has developed in early childhood, through adolescence and adulthood until it has become a default mechanism for the way you perceive and understand your world.

And these immaterial thoughts and programmes can have tremendous material consequences in your life. They can cause you to suffer from anxiety, make you depressed, make you angry and aggressive. They can compromise your immune system and make you physically and mentally ill.

The truth is that your thoughts create what you experience so your life becomes a mirror of your internal processes.

Enjoy the podcast.

Recently I received news that a very lovely person I know suddenly died a week before Christmas, leaving his family completely devastated at the loss of a loving husband and father.

I also know of someone who was rushed to hospital on Christmas Day with a suspected stroke and as a result of the pandemic we have all noticed an increase in the number of people now suffering with mental health problems, anxiety and uncertainty.

These situations can cause people to feel isolated and alone, their grief, worry and anxiety making them feel separated from the rest of society.

But we are not alone. We are all connected and sometimes it just takes a bit of contemplation and reflection to see that interconnectedness in a different perspective.

The problem is that our society today is all about noise and distraction. People constantly need to be distracted from their life by watching the television, working long hours, engaging in excess and a variety of other external things that are easily available to distract them from themselves and the life they are living as a means of escapism.

Sometimes however, we need to quiet the noise and turn down the static so we can listen to our mind and our bodies and connect with the world in a much more holistic and healthier way.

Now I’ve covered the amazing benefits of meditation on previous podcasts and blog posts but this morning I was listening to a guided meditation episode on one of the apps I use called ‘10 percent happier’ and I’d like to share with you what I heard on that guided meditation in the hope that it will help give you a new perspective on the simple act of breathing and how extraordinary such a simple act can be.

As you breathe just consider the reality of what you are doing.

You are joining nearly 8 billion people and tens of billions of animals engaging in this same process around the world right now.

In addition, there are also approximately 400,000 species of plants breathing with us. Exhaling the oxygen we breathe in and inhaling the carbon dioxide we breathe out.

One life can sometimes seem so separate from everyone else’s and seem so lonely, and yet without this breath connected to all living things on this planet it would end very quickly. We’re never as lonely as it seems.

Consider each breath you take contains more that one septillion molecules in it. That’s more than a billion, billion molecules.

And because each breath diffuses around the world, it takes only about a year for each breath that every human is breathing to scatter all around the earth.

As you are breathing right now, the odds are you’re breathing in five or six molecules of the last breath of Christ, of the breaths that the Buddha exhaled when experiencing enlightenment, of the breaths of every ancestor of yours and every living person, animal and plant that has ever lived on planet earth.

Many people feel very separate, but we are actually all connected.

The app is called 10 percent happier and it is available to download and is definitely worth a listen - https://www.tenpercent.com/

In business today many people, including trainers, think that if they become more somber, stoic or serious that will give them a degree of gravitas so that they will be taken more seriously, which in turn means that it will help create a sense of superiority over others.

In addition, in a drive to be politically expedient, it is sometimes seen that ‘having a laugh’ or being self-deprecating is, in some way, wrong and not the right way for a so-called ‘professional’ to behave.

I disagree.

If we stop and consider for a moment that one of the main purposes of training is to engage the learner so that they can be open to new experiences then and receptive to new ideas, we first need to make them feel comfortable.

To read the full blog post click here - https://nfps.info/the-importance-of-having-a-sense-of-humour/