This Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA)-endorsed program is allocated 12 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points. Find out more.

Support emotional wellbeing in diabetes care with LISTEN

Nearly half of adults with diabetes experience diabetes distress, yet many healthcare conversations focus solely on glucose levels and medication.

On this online course, you’ll learn how to bridge that gap. You’ll discover practical ways to support emotional wellbeing alongside physical health, using the evidence-based LISTEN programme and Problem-Solving Therapy.

Build your PST toolkit

Problem-Solving Therapy is a structured, evidence-based approach that fits naturally into diabetes care. You’ll work through each stage of PST, seeing how it helps clients identify challenges, generate solutions, and build resilience.

This isn’t theory, it’s a practical framework you can start using immediately. You’ll discover how low-intensity mental health support reduces diabetes distress and improves outcomes for people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Transform how you communicate

Small shifts in communication create big changes in trust. You’ll explore techniques for building therapeutic relationships, from your opening questions to collaborative problem-solving.

These skills help you move beyond symptom management to client-centred care that acknowledges the emotional reality of living with a long-term condition. You’ll learn to listen in ways that make people feel genuinely supported.

Deliver support that scales with need

You’ll gain confidence in applying PST across telehealth and face-to-face settings, adapting your approach to different contexts.

Crucially, you’ll learn to recognise when clients need more intensive support and how to navigate referral pathways effectively. By the end of this course, you’ll know how to provide accessible emotional support while ensuring people get specialist care when they need it most.

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Skip to 0 minutes and 1 second EDITH HOLLOWAY: Supporting emotional well-being in people with diabetes can feel overwhelming. How do you respond with empathy without overstepping your scope of practise? What if you could feel more confident and make a bigger difference with just a few practical tools?

Skip to 0 minutes and 24 seconds Hi, I’m Dr. Edith Holloway, a senior research fellow at the Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes. I’m excited to introduce you to LISTEN, Low-Intensity Support To Enhance emotional well-being for people with diabetes in routine care. LISTEN is an accredited online training programme that gives health professionals the confidence and skills to support emotional well-being of people living with diabetes. During the course, you’ll learn to build rapport, use evidence-based tools, like problem-solving therapy, and know when and how to refer clients for additional support. You’ll learn how to guide your clients through the emotional challenges associated with managing their condition, specifically diabetes distress, safely and effectively.

Skip to 1 minute and 17 seconds Imagine being able to offer more than just good clinical care with a tool to enhance healthy coping and support when it matters most. Whether you’re a diabetes educator, nurse, dietitian, or allied health professional, these are skills in high demand now more than ever. Join the LISTEN course today. And take the next steps towards evidence-based, person-centred care that truly makes a difference.

Syllabus

Week 1
The LISTEN program
- Let’s get started
  Meet your teaching team and other learners, and find essential information about this course, including valuable tips and links to help you get the most out of your learning.
- Diabetes and emotional health
  Living with diabetes can impact mental health, often leading to depression and anxiety. Emotional distress is common and addressing it is essential for improving overall wellbeing and self-management outcomes.
- What is LISTEN?
  LISTEN is a low-intensity, structured support program designed to enhance emotional wellbeing in people with diabetes, using Problem-Solving Therapy and communication skills to guide compassionate, goal-focused conversations.
- Building rapport
  Meaningful progress in therapy often hinges on the strength of the connection between therapist and client.
- Problem Solving Therapy
  Explore Brief Problem-Solving Therapy (PST), a structured, time-efficient approach that helps clients identify problems, set goals, and develop practical solutions to reduce emotional distress often associated with diabetes.
Week 2
Introduction to Problem-Solving Therapy
- Communication skills
  Effective communication is an essential tool in Problem-Solving Therapy for building trust, clarify problems, and guide clients through each step of the process.
- Session one: Introducing LISTEN to your client
  The client is introduced to PST during session one, along with the structure and guidelines for the sessions.
- Problem Solving Therapy (PST)
  Explore how to use the six steps of Problem-Solving Therapy when working with clients.
Week 3
Problem-Solving Therapy steps
- Problem-Solving Therapy: Defining the problem
  Helping the client to clearly identify a specific, manageable problem.
- Problem-Solving Therapy: Goals and brainstorming
  Explore the middle steps of Problem Solving Therapy to guide clients move forward with clarity and confidence.
- Problem-Solving Therapy: Create an action plan
  Work with the client to agree on small, achievable steps forward.
Week 4
Outcomes and referrals
- Evaluating the outcome
  Check-in on your client’s progress and reflect on how they progressed.
- Strategies and referrals
  There are some issues where PST most suitable strategy, and it is important to know when and how to refer a client for more specialist help.
- PST adherence and competence scale
  The Problem-Solving Treatment - Primary Care Adherence and Competence Scale (PST-PAC) is used to help facilitators assess and enhance their delivery of PST.
- Assessment and next steps
  Complete the assessment to gain a certificate and move on to Part 2 of the LISTEN program.

Who is this accredited by?

Australian Diabetes Educators Association:

This program is endorsed by the Australian Diabetes Educators Association (ADEA) and is allocated 12 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points.

The CPD Certification Service:

This course has been certified by the CPD Certification Service as conforming to continuing professional development principles

When would you like to start?

Start straight away and join a global classroom of learners. If the course hasn’t started yet you’ll see the future date listed below.

Available now
Join - $234

Learning on this course

If you'd like to take part while our educators are leading the course, they'll be joining the discussions, in the comments, between these dates:

12 Oct 2026 - 9 Nov 2026

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Identify the stages of Problem-Solving therapy (PST)
Evaluate appropriate communication techniques for building rapport and therapeutic relationships.
Assess when further referrals for care are required.

Who is the course for?

This course is ideal for diabetes health professionals seeking practical tools for emotional support. Perfect for learners ready to apply PST, strengthen therapeutic communication, and expand telehealth capabilities in diabetes care.

LISTEN is delivered in supported cohort-based intakes.

Need an earlier intake? If there is strong interest, we may open additional cohorts sooner. Express your interest: listentraining@deakin.edu.au

Who will you learn with?

Edith Holloway

I have co-led the development of LISTEN. I am passionate about equipping health professionals with practical, evidence-based skills to confidently address the emotional aspects of diabetes.

Who developed the course?

Deakin University

Deakin University is one of Australia’s largest universities with more than 61,000 students and over 15,000 online.

Established
1974
Location
Melbourne, Australia
World ranking
Top 280Source: QS World University Rankings 2021

Deakin Institute for Health Transformation

We address today’s most complex and compelling health challenges through excellence in collaborative research that transforms how we design and deliver prevention and care.

Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes (ACBRD)

The Australian Centre for Behavioural Research in Diabetes is the first national research centre in Australia and internationally, dedicated to investigating the behavioural, psychological and social aspects of diabetes.

Diabetes Victoria

Since 1953, Diabetes Victoria has been the leading peak body dedicated to reducing the impact of all types of diabetes on people, families, communities and health systems across Victoria. Diabetes Victoria was established when Victorians living with diabetes expressed the need to have ownership of their condition.

In collaboration with

What's included?

This is a premium course. These courses are designed for professionals from specific industries looking to learn with a smaller group of like-minded individuals.

Learn best practices from experts
Learn from the experience of other health professionals
Fit learning around your schedule with unlimited access
Get evidence of learning outcomes and CPD hours
Certificate of Achievement to prove your success when you're eligible
Download and print your Certificate of Achievement anytime

Join - $234

Still want to know more? Check out our FAQs

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Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
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Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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