Training and Consulting
I provide a wide variety of professional development for staff at all levels. There are many ways to support your training needs, from conference/school-wide keynotes, all day workshops, small group consulting or one-on-one coaching. All Professional learning is unique, tailored to your individual goals, needs and culture.
Menu of Professional Development offerings:
Dysregulation, Dissociation, Discombobulation — understanding brain science and how it affects kids from hard places
Understanding how to help kids from hard places begins with understanding the specifics of how trauma and stress affect and change the developing brain. In this workshop, we will discuss brain development and how trauma impacts the brain, memory, emotional development, behavior, and readiness to learn – and explore some high-impact strategies for effective interventions.
Trauma Invested Discipline and Accountability
The most common question I receive after a trauma invested schools presentation is, “This is great, I understand kids from hard places struggle…but what about accountability?” This workshop will ask and examine the question of what it means to discipline students effectively by balancing our goals of increasing motivation, teaching and developing problem solving skills, maintaining order in the school, all while maintaining strong relationships and a Culture of Safety.
The Intricacies and Science of Motivation
Student motivation in the classroom is of critical concern for many educators. We know intuitively and through decades of research that tells us that students who are motivated and engaged in their learning do better academically and behaviorally than peers who are not motivated. Unfortunately though schools continue to be filled with external motivation practices which have shown to dampen an individual’s intrinsic motivation, particularly for complex and also for otherwise interesting tasks.
In this presentation we will examine four researched-based attributes of intrinsically motivated students and see how we can leverage classroom strategies to increase student motivation.
Top strategies for being a resilient caregiver
We influence and help kids through the power of presence and our relationships. And… the stress of life and caring for so many others can take its toll on our ability to be whole and available to those who need us most. In this session, we will take time to be present and remind ourselves of the factors that make us resilient and effective caregivers.
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Caring for ourselves and being whole and healthy is the foundation for being an effective helping professional.
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In this session we will: Define Resilience, Examine four factors that increase resilience for those in the helping professions, and set goals that move us to a healthier and more resilient professional.
Engaging Parents and Families in your Practice (1 - 2 hrs)
We all know the importance of engaging your client in services. Research shows that family engagement is essential in promoting positive child and youth outcomes in education, mental health, health, child welfare, and juvenile justice. It is beneficial for all child and youth service systems to incorporate policies, processes and practices that increase meaningful family engagement at all levels of service delivery – planning, goal setting, decision-making and intervention delivery.
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In this session we will discuss the keys to engaging parents, caregivers and other community supports in your program and interventions. We will also analyze and problem solve some of the barriers to successful community engagement and give time to plan and strategize solutions.
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We all know the importance of engaging families and other supports in our work with youth, however it is a challenge for most workers and systems. In this practical workshop we will discuss the principles of family centered practice, uncover and problem solve some of the challenges, and examine the four key strategies for engaging parents and caregivers in your program.