Caregiver Skills Training

Domain V · Systemic, relational, group & community · 2022

What it is

What it is: a manualised, transdiagnostic, caregiver-mediated programme for caregivers of children aged 2–9 years (range locally adjustable) with developmental delays or disabilities, especially in social communication (autism, intellectual disability, speech/language disorders). No diagnosis is…

Format

• Format
• 9 core group sessions of 2.5–3 hours each (including a break), weekly or fortnightly, in a health facility, school or community venue. Groups of 6–12 participants; two caregivers per household are usually invited. Two facilitators co-deliver every group session.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Who may deliver it under the CST name. WHO describes a training cascade rather than a licence: master trainers/supervisors (post-secondary training in child development or mental health, experience with developmental disabilities) train facilitators through a 3-day course (Sessions 1–5, facilitation, home-visit skills) → supervised co-delivery of Sessions 1–5 and Home visits 1–2 with 20–30 min debriefs → 3-day…
• Version followed: WHO Caregiver skills training for families of children with developmental delays or disabilities (CST), final published package of April 2022 (Introduction; Facilitators' guide, group sessions 1–9; Participants' guide, group sessions 1–9; Home visit guide for facilitators; Adaptation and implementation guide), plus a note on the 3-session Caregiver well-being add-on (WHO, May 2026). Earlier…
• How change is thought to happen: caregivers learn a small set of strategies (in groups, through stories, demonstrations, role-play and coaching) and then use them daily inside the child's own play and home routines (dressing, meals, chores). Many short, motivating, shared interactions per day give the child repeated chances to engage, communicate and learn skills, while praise, predictable routines and regulation…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Does it involve fasting, a special diet or 'detox'? Have you discussed this with your doctor?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• fewer red episodes over the weeks.
• fatigue or boredom. End on success.
• the child beginning to use the expanded form.
• the child adopting the new step in later rounds.
• more frequent or clearer signals from the child.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.