BIG FEELINGS, BEHAVIOUR and REGULATION

Emotional regulation is one of the most important building blocks for success and social and emotional wellbeing. It sits at the heart of everything that matters for children and adolescents - learning, behaviour, and the ability to form and maintain healthy relationships. Self-regulation will take time to develop and is not guaranteed. It will depend on the relationships and experiences young people are exposed to. In the meantime, things can get messy. For many young people, big feelings will drive big behaviour, which can be confusing and challenging for them and the adults who care for them, whether at home, school, or in the wider community. 

The more we understand the what, why, and how of feelings and the behaviours they fuel, the more we can respond to young people (and ourselves) more effectively and compassionately. Ultimately, our responses will nurture the vital foundations of self-regulation in children and their capacity to understand and express themselves, and engage more fully with the world. 

This workshop is for anyone who works with children or their important adults, including allied health professionals; and educators and other school professionals. Participants will leave understanding the neuroscience of behaviour, feelings, learning and regulation - what’s happening the brain and body when children are dysregulated, how to respond, how our responses can build (or block) their capacity for self-regulation and emotional resilience, and how to nurture the development of self-regulation in all young people. We will explore:

• The neuroscience of behaviour, feelings, and learning
  • The neural foundations of behaviour, learning, and feelings.
  • The techniques that will foster regulation and maximise learning and behavioural outcomes for all young people.
• A neuro-affirming approach
  • Moving beyond ‘one size fits all’ strategies to support and honour neurodiversity.
  • How to support the sensory systems, and why this matters.
  • Understanding and responding effectively to meltdowns through a compassionate, neuroscientifically-informed lens.
• Execution function and emotional regulation
  • Understanding executive function: attention, working memory, flexibility, and impulse control.
  • High-impact strategies to strengthen executive function and support regulation across the diverse needs of young people.
• Big feelings and big behaviour
  • A neuroscience informed approach to responding to big feelings and behaviour.
  • Why many common behaviour management techniques and parenting principles are being misunderstood, why they don’t work, their unintended impact on behaviour, and what to do instead.
  • How to nurture self-control and emotional self-regulation in young people.
  • How to set meaningful boundaries that hold: how to preserve connection and influence, reduce power struggles, build the capacity for self-regulation; and how to respond when those boundaries are challenged.
  • A model for behaviour, feelings, and dysregulation that can be used to
    • work with all young people to make sense of their behaviours, feelings, and a range of mental health concerns,
    • identify specific triggers and discuss ways to reduce the effects of these, 
    • understand the strategies that will build their capacity to regulate,
    • facilitate discussions with parents or school to increase engagement and collaboration,
    • make way for a more compassionate, effective response to challenging behaviour, big feelings, or disengagement,
    • understand the importance of our own attachment histories in caring for young people,
    • facilitate conversations between co-parents when parents conflict on discipline.
• When behaviour is extra big
  • The common origins of defiant, disruptive, demanding, aggressive behaviour - and how to respond in the moment. 
  • High impact strategies to respond to challenging behaviour, bring calm, and minimise the occurrence of future incidents.
• Why relationships matter
  • How to build the necessary high-quality relationships that will support social and emotional wellbeing.
  • Why relationship is the circuit-breaker for dysregulation.
  • How to repair after conflict and build trust, safety, and influence.
• Building the roadmap to regulation
  • Helping young people make sense of their own feelings and behaviours, and why this matters.
  • Building strong emotional toolkits for fostering emotional literacy and resilience as the foundation for lifelong wellbeing.