Could Talking Mats help you?

Talking Mats® has the potential for use with a wide range of people. It is a visual framework which helps people think about things that are important to them and provides them with a way of expressing their views more easily, for example how they feel about their activities, their health, their skills, where they live, and the care they receive. It also helps them express what their views are about topics that might be difficult to discuss such as mental well-being, safety, and decisions about their future. People using Talking Mats include parents, care worker, occupational therapists, dieticians, doctors, nurses, advocacy workers, service planners, social workers, speech-language therapists, lawyers, teachers, rehabilitation assistants, researchers, and psychologists.

Talking Mats Impact Stories A Talking Mat can be used with people of all ages and abilities, and by those with or without speech, language, communication and learning difficulties because it:

• Helps people process concepts by breaking information down into small, manageable chunks.

• Gives people time to process information and respond in their own time. Reduces memory demands.

• Reduces anxiety.

• Supports people to express how they really feel.

If you and/or your organisation want to enable the people you work alongside to have more autonomy, and involvement in important decisions, Talking Mats will be an invaluable tool for you.

Media and participant feedback

We were interviewed by Kelly Howard about Talking Mats in the NZ Psychology Association's publication Psychology Aotearoa: Talking Mats article Psychology Aotearoa.

Comments from a couple of the participants on the Talking Mats Foundation Course:

• The framework is so simple yet so revealing. I will use the mats to test our campaign designs with young people and ideas of how the community can support them.

• Learned: the power of such a conversation in discovering in a short time so much about our client. 

Talking Mats Foundation Course Formats:

The Talking Mats Foundation Course is available in-person or online.

In-person format:

This one-day Foundation Training Course delivered by Talking Mats Accredited Trainers, combines hands-on experience of Talking Mats with role-play, discussion and reflection of the use of the tool in a variety of real-life situations. The morning will provide background information, experience opportunities to use Talking Mats, useful models to think about communication and complexity of language. There will also be film footage of a range of people with communication difficulties using Talking Mats. The afternoon will focus on using Talking Mats in real life situations and planning how to develop its use in participants’ own work environment.  

Each participant will receive a Talking Mats set as part of the course – the participant will be able to order the set during the course and the set will be posted to them, usually within a week. 

Cost: $430 per person (including GST). Fee includes a standard Talking Mats symbol set of your choosing. Six hours of teaching plus breaks. Participants need to attend all six hours to receive a certificate of attendance.

Morning tea provided. BYO lunch.

In-person courses need a minimum of 8 people to run.

Online format:

This online Foundation Training Course delivered by Talking Mats Accredited Trainers, covers the same content as the in-person course and combines hands-on experience of Talking Mats with discussion and reflection of the use of the tool in a variety of real-life situations.

It consists of three 2-hour sessions over a 6-8-week period. Participants must attend all three sessions to complete the course and receive a certificate of attendance.

Most of the content is covered in the first two sessions. Between session 2 and 3, each participant videos themselves facilitating a Talking Mat with a friend, colleague or family member. Then, in the third session, each participant shows their video to the other participants. Participants regularly tell us they find this session very enjoyable and helpful.

Each participant will receive a Talking Mats set as part of the course – the participant will be able to order the set during the course and the set will be posted to them, usually within a week. 

Cost: $430 per person (including GST). Fee includes a standard Talking Mats symbol set of your choosing.

Online courses need 6 participants to run. 

Upcoming Courses

In-person

No dates currently set, but we expect to run some in-person courses in the second half of the year.

 If you are interested in attending an in-person course or would like to enquire about running a course in your area, please email contact@talkingtroublenz.org to let us know.

Online

Starting on 4 June 2025 at 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm. (Session 2 is on 11 June 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm and Session 3 is on 9 July 2.00 pm – 4.00 pm). Participants must attend all three sessions.

If you are interested in attending an online course, please email contact@talkingtroublenz.org to book your place or enquire about when other online courses will be running.

Talking Mats Advanced Courses

Keep a look out for our advanced training courses towards the end of the year.

Advanced training is for anyone who has completed the Foundation Training and would like to use a more specialised resource e.g.,

Keeping Safe - This course is for those who want to use Talking Mats in a safeguarding context.

Capacity - Enabling Supported Decision Making

Sexual Health and Relationships - The resource was originally aimed at opening up conversations about Harmful Sexual Behaviour. However, the resource can also be used to open up conversations about sexual health and relationships in general.

Thinking Ahead - Designed to support people to think about and plan for the future when coping with changes in health.

Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) - This resource is designed to be used by people who want to use Talking Mats in a context where there is already existing AAC support in place.

Each course will:

• Explain how the resource was developed

• Show filmed examples of people using the different topics

• Explain how to prepare for your Talking Mat session

• Discuss implementation and challenges

Check out the project we undertook to create the Aotearoa Rangatahi Talking Mats Set.