FAQs
Answers to your most frequently asked questions.
Answers to your most frequently asked questions.
Each course progresses from one lesson to the next by clicking on the ‘complete lesson’ orange button at the bottom of the lesson page, which generally appears below the ‘Need help? Try our online troubleshooting’ message. It looks like this:
Finally at the end of the course there will be a button that allows you to show that you’ve completed the entire course, and the certificate is released. It looks like this:
Having marked the course as complete, you will then be sent to a ‘Congratulations’ page where you are offered a variety of options including being able to download your certificate.
If you’re having difficulties going from one lesson to the next, or the button itself doesn’t appear, sometimes it’s because of a simple caching issue, whereby your device isn’t calling the most up-to-date page from the server, and so is only offering you one it’s stored in memory, which isn’t yet marked as complete.
If this happens, try this:
Please make sure you are logged in to your account and that it is the same account you used to purchase the course. The most common reason users cannot find their purchased training is that they have more than one account and are not logged into the correct account.
You can log into your account here. Once you are logged in, you can find all of the courses you have access to here.
If you have lost or forgotten your password, you can request a reset here.
If you suspect you may have created more than one account in error, please contact us and provide us with as much information as possible, including potential email addresses you may have used to create your account. Additionally, please let us know which account you would like to be your main account so that we can combine them into one.
If you continue to have difficulties please contact us.
Please ensure that you have entered your login credentials correctly here.
If you have lost or forgotten your password, you can request a reset here.
If you continue to have difficulties please contact us.
If you can’t remember your details, please try requesting a password reset from the following link: www.carolynspring.com/my-account/lost-password
If there is an account registered with the email address you entered, you will receive an email that contains a link that you can click to reset your password. Please check your spam or junk folder as the email may end up there. If you still have not received the email, please check that you have entered your email address correctly, or try alternative email addresses.
If you cannot remember the email address you used, or you no longer have access to it, please contact us and include as many relevant details such as order numbers for any purchases, your name and billing address, potential email address for the account, etc.
With these details, it will help us to locate the account on our system and re-establish your access as soon as possible.
You can request a password reset here.
Please leave about 10 minutes between password reset requests and make sure that you are entering your username or email address correctly.
Please check your inbox fully, including your spam or junk folder as the email may have ended up in there.
If you are still unable to reset your password, please contact us.
Please contact us and provide us with as much information as possible, including potential email addresses you have used to create your account. Additionally, please let us know which account you would like to be your main account so that we can combine them into one.
Certificates are available to download once all lessons within a course have been marked as complete (including the final page ‘Resources’) and the ‘complete course’ button has been clicked. Certificates will automatically display the name of the account holder and the date that the course was marked as complete.
You can find a link to your certificate on the ‘course complete’ page following the final lesson or download it at any time from your learning account which can be accessed here.
If you are experiencing technical difficulties, please check your browser settings in case downloads are restricted or disabled. Additionally, please check where your downloads are saved as the file may have been saved automatically.
Also check out this FAQ: https://www.carolynspring.com/faq/my-course-isnt-showing-as-complete/
If you continue to have issues please contact us.
This may happen if you are not logged in before you begin a course or return to a course not yet completed. Please make sure you are logged in here and try again.
If you have lost or forgotten your password, you can request a reset here.
Once you are logged in, you can find all of the courses you have access to in the ‘My courses’ section of your account here.
Please take care entering your coupon code in the box. We would recommend that you copy and paste it to make sure it is correct. Some coupon codes have restrictions and cannot be used in conjunction with other coupon codes or on items that are on sale. If your coupon code continues to not work, please contact us, explaining what you are trying to purchase and which coupon code you are trying to use.
Please make sure that you have marked each lesson within a course as complete. You can mark a lesson as complete by scrolling down below the lesson content and clicking the button labelled ‘Complete Lesson’. N.B. This is also required for the final page which lists all course resources.
Once all lessons have been marked as complete, you can view your certificate on the course completion page or in your account here.
Each course progresses from one lesson to the next by clicking on the ‘complete lesson’ orange button at the bottom of the lesson page, which generally appears below the ‘Need help? Try our online troubleshooting’ message. It looks like this:
Finally at the end of the course there will be a button that allows you to show that you’ve completed the entire course, and the certificate is released. It looks like this:
Having marked the course as complete, you will then be sent to a ‘Congratulations’ page where you are offered a variety of options including being able to download your certificate.
If you do not end up on a ‘Congratulations’ page, go back to the start of the course and click through every lesson, ensuring that it is marked as complete.
If you’re having difficulties going from one lesson to the next, or the button itself doesn’t appear, sometimes it’s because of a simple caching issue, whereby your device isn’t calling the most up-to-date page from the server, and so is only offering you one it’s stored in memory, which isn’t yet marked as complete.
If this happens, try this:
To play a video, you can click on the ‘Play’ button in the lower left corner of the player window or on the video itself. If you start the video then pause it, the video will buffer.
If the video is buffering or won’t play, it may be your device. You can test this by trying to watch the same video on a different device or by restarting your device and trying again. Restarting your device is a remarkably effective solution to many connection issues.
Playing or buffering issues may also be your internet connection. There are two aspects to this: your WiFi connection (the connection between your device and the router) and then the internet connection itself (the connection between your router and your ISP or internet service provider, e.g. BT, VirginMedia, Sky etc). Often you can be tricked into thinking you have a fast connection because you have a good connection with your router (your WiFi connection) whereas actually it’s your internet connection that is slow or having difficulties. You can run a speed test to check this by going to www.speedtest.net. A ‘standard’ connection is at least 2Mpbs and a ‘good’ speed is anything over around 8Mbps. Sometimes the quickest way to fix this is to switch your router on and off (leave it off for 30 seconds before restarting). If available, you can also try connecting to a different network.
We also offer the option to download our videos so that you can watch them offline and not have to worry about streaming them over an internet connection. You can download each video from within each lesson. This may take a few minutes (depending on the speed of your internet connection) but once they are downloaded to your device (which you could do when you’re on a faster connection, such as at work) then you won’t have any further difficulties with buffering. Just remember where you have saved the download to so you can locate it later.
Very occasionally there may be issues with Vimeo, which is the platform which hosts our videos. These are usually short-term and happen very rarely, so please try again later. You can enquire at www.downdetector.co.uk if Vimeo has been affected by an outage.
If there is a notice saying that ‘because of privacy settings, this video cannot be played here’, try the following:
Please check the video player settings to make sure that the volume is enabled and turned up. This setting is controlled by the different sized bars to the left of the cog beneath the video.
Please check that your device volume is enabled and turned up.
Please check that you don’t have any external devices connected to your device, such as headphones or a wireless speaker.
If there is still no sound, please contact us and we will investigate.
Due to the pandemic, we have reduced the number of products we have for sale. We currently have only online courses to purchase directly from our website, which can be located here.
Our books are all available to view here and are supplied directly from Amazon. We no longer supply any physical products ourselves due to a lack of staffing and storage facilities.
As exchange rates fluctuate on a daily basis, we recommend using a service such as www.convertmymoney.com shortly prior to purchasing for a more accurate reflection of the price in your currency. You may complete your purchase using any major credit or debit card and it will be automatically converted at the prevailing rate. Please note that your card issuer may apply their own exchange rate to your purchase.
If you are an organisation looking for training for more than 4 people, please click here to access our Group Training page.
If you are just looking for training for yourself but want your employer to pay, the most straightforward is for you to purchase the training yourself (with their prior agreement) and then submit the supplied VAT invoice as an expense. This means that you can access any promotional pricing, and you will be able to start the training immediately.
However, if your organisation does not allow this form of expensing and requires an invoice up front, then please send an email to training@carolynspring.com with details of which course(s) you wish to purchase, and full details of the invoicing organisation (including postal address, email to send an invoice through to and any purchase order number). Please note that access to the course(s) will not be granted until we have received payment, which can take some weeks. Also, due to the additional costs of invoicing and manual ordering, the full price will be payable and no sale pricing will be available.
If you have any questions, please simply get in touch with us via email at training@carolynspring.com.
Please take care entering your coupon code in the box. We would recommend that you copy and paste it to make sure it is correct. Some coupon codes have restrictions and cannot be used in conjunction with other coupon codes or on items that are on sale. If your coupon code continues to not work, please contact us, explaining what you are trying to purchase and which coupon code you are trying to use.
As everyone’s needs are different, we would recommend beginning by following the three steps on our Start Here page and exploring one of our themed collections which will signpost you to relevant courses and books.
Carolyn is not currently available for in-person training. However, by negotiation she may be available for group Zoom sessions as a follow-up to a team or group completing a series of training. Please ask about cost and availability when booking group training.
We offer discounted pricing for organisations wishing to purchase our training for 3 or more people. Please visit our group training page for more information.
Our pricing strategy is based on trying to offer the best training at a price that is accessible to all. Unfortunately, we therefore cannot offer any further discounts on the published pricing. We do however run frequent promotions, so please make sure you sign up to receive our emails and then you will know about the discounts when they happen (they normally only last a week.)
We also offer discounted pricing for organisations wishing to purchase our training for 3 or more people. Please visit our group training page for more information.
Carolyn has completed extensive therapy training, but does not work as a therapist. Instead she believes she can help people best through her writing and training. There are two people in the therapy room – the therapist and the client – and she believes that all trauma therapy training should incorporate the perspective of both.
It is particularly important that trauma survivors who have been rendered powerless and voiceless are heard and seen rather than having treatment approaches imposed upon them. Carolyn’s contribution is therefore to combine the latest clinical theory and neuroscience research with the personal narrative and perspective of trauma survivors and clients.
There is no time limit on completing our courses and our lifetime access promise means that you may return to your purchased training at any time in the future. Should we ever remove the courses from our website, we will give you plenty of warning and you will be able to download all the materials to keep on your device – which you can also do at any time.
How long it takes to complete any one of Carolyn’s courses depends on how diligently you address the material – you can whizz through it with the playback speed of the videos ramped up to 1.5x or 2x, or you can take your time, reflect on the material thoroughly, take notes, and do all the additional reading as well. Click here for a document detailing how long the presentation videos are, which serves as a minimum guide to the time required. And please note that you can stop and start the videos as often as you like, and each section generally lasts only around 20 minutes, so it’s easy to work in small chunks for maximum concentration.
Although Carolyn’s training is principally aimed at counsellors and psychotherapists, and written with them in mind, it is also perfectly accessible to and suitable for survivors – after all, Carolyn is a survivor herself. Some of the discussion focuses on the specifics of psychotherapy rather than being aimed primarily at a survivor audience, but the overall content is extremely helpful for survivors and perfectly understandable by them. Carolyn’s approach is to make the complex simple and to ensure that the voice and perspective of a survivor is front and centre for those working with trauma. She speaks in a very human, compassionate way, rather than in a clinical/academic way, and feels very strongly that trauma survivors need to be equipped with the psychoeducation to pursue and take charge of their own recovery. Her training therefore does just that.
The courses most suitable for survivors, which could be used as a starting point, are ‘Dissociation and DID: The Fundamentals’, ‘Trauma and the Body’ and ‘Mental Health and the Body: Treating Trauma’.
An alternative option, which also gives an insight into Carolyn’s style and approach, is to read her blogs and listen to her podcast. If these are helpful, then a good next step would the online training.
Survivors should of course take care when engaging with content as it could be triggering.
Carolyn’s training has been successfully accepted as CPD for BACP and UKCP’s purposes for a number of years. Over 17,000 people have attended her live training and there are currently over 40,000 people (mostly therapists) currently enrolled on her online courses. We are not aware of the CPD certificate issued upon completion ever not being accepted for CPD purposes by any of the main organisations.
We offer trauma training across a range of topics including child sexual abuse, dissociation and dissociative identity disorder (DID), suicide and self-harm, attachment and trauma.
Delegates from a wide range of backgrounds and sectors purchase our training, including:
If you are a survivor, you may find aspects of our training challenging or triggering, but most people can manage this well with planning.
Carolyn aims to make the complex simple and accessible, so if you are interested in a topic, please just dive in regardless of your background.
Carolyn receives many thousands of messages every year and regretfully it is not possible for her to respond personally to each one, although please know that they are appreciated.
Carolyn offers 1-1 consultations, principally for professionals to discuss specific complex case issues. For further information and to book a session, please follow the link on the dropdown menu under ‘Trauma Training’ or go direct to https://www.carolynspring.com/shop/consultation-1-hour/.
Unfortunately, Carolyn does not offer supervision herself and is not able to recommend individual supervisors.
Unfortunately we cannot recommend individual therapists. However, there are a number of good directories where you can search for therapists in your area, specifying that you are looking for someone to help with trauma, sexual abuse, dissociation etc.
The two most helpful directories are:
www.counselling-directory.org.uk
www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
You may also find this article helpful: ‘How to find a therapist for a dissociative disorder’.
Other useful resources are available here: Getting help
This website offers a lot of useful information via our blog, podcasts and training. If you are looking for one-to-one help from a therapist, these directories are a good starting point:
www.counselling-directory.org.uk
www.bacp.co.uk/search/Therapists
Other useful resources are available here: Getting help
The Trauma Recovery Community is a professional learning and development community for counsellors and psychotherapists working with complex trauma. As part of the application process we will complete eligibility checks where we’ll need to see evidence of your membership of a professional therapy organisation (e.g. BACP, UKCP, NCPS, COSRT, BABCP etc.) and evidence of your qualified status or for trainees of your enrolment on a Level 4 training course. If you’re unsure if you’re eligible please add any additional information when applying here.
The Trauma Recovery Community is a monthly membership. You can cancel up to your billing day for your next month’s subscription.
To cancel, please log into the Trauma Recovery Community
Please note:
Your account for the Trauma Recovery Community is a separate account to the one you may have created for the Carolyn Spring website. You can use the same email address, but for the Trauma Recovery Community you’ll need to log in here using the account details you created for the Trauma Recovery Community.
If you cannot remember the email address you used, or you no longer have access to it, please contact us and include as many relevant details such as your name and billing address, potential email address for the account, etc. and we’ll be able to confirm the email address used.
If you’d like to reset your password, you can do so by clicking ‘Forgot password?’ from the Sign in page here.
You can see the next few live sessions in the ‘When are the next live sessions?’ section of the Trauma Recovery Community information page.
We’re happy for you to use our free resources with your clients and the licence allows for this. You can download them, store them and print them out for your own use. If you want to print them and display them in your workplace and share printed copies with clients, that’s fine – as long as you don’t alter them in any way.
Our terms and conditions states in 17.3.2 that you can ‘make reasonable use’ of our material, i.e. displaying posters around your office or waiting room. That would be considered reasonable use, but you cannot reproduce them on your website or distribute electronic copies of it. Point 17.3.5 gives a few more guidelines in stating ‘The Downloadable Material should remain at all times in your possession and not be shared, sold, published, or distributed’.
If you want to use them more extensively, or you want to publish them on a website or distribute them electronically etc, then please get in touch about a licence to allow you to do this. The main thing we ask is that the intellectual property of the resources is respected and the author credited at all times. Other than that, we want you to use them to help your clients!
Unfortunately we are not accepting guest contributions to the website at this time.
Carolyn’s principle focus currently is writing. However she does occasionally accept invitations to speak at conferences, symposia etc. If you would like to discuss this further, please send full details including event title, dates, fees, anticipated audience, preferred topic, and any other relevant information to requests@carolynspring.com.
Please visit this page and complete the sign-up form.
Please simply click the unsubscribe link on any of our emails.
Unfortunately we have nothing to do with Amazon’s order and delivery process and so cannot assist. Please consult the Amazon help centre through your Amazon account for issues and queries related to orders on their platform.
You can find our terms and conditions here.
You can find our privacy policy here.
We cannot provide returns or refunds on our digital products as they are available immediately after purchase.
Physical products are covered by the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the Consumer Contracts Regulations and are eligible for return within 14 days or purchase. However, we no longer sell physical products directly from our website.
You can find out more in our Terms and Conditions at the following link: https://www.carolynspring.com/terms-and-conditions
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