Online Courses

(Playful, acceptance, curiosity, empathy) A therapeutic parenting approach.

How do we humans learn to trust? How do we learn about safety, particularly in relation to others? How do we learn basic beliefs about ourselves, the world and others? How do we develop our identify and a sense of who we are?

This course explores:

• Attachment
• Intersubjectivity.
• Patterns of attachment.
• Blocked trust, what it means and how it affects behaviour.
• Responding to blocked trust.
• Blocked care, what it means and how to avoid it.
• Toxic shame.
• The attitude of PACE and how applying this attitude can help your therapeutic parenting style.

As a foster carer it is likely that you will be caring for a child who has experienced complex trauma. It is really important that you have a thorough understanding of what trauma is and how trauma affects children before we can begin to think about strategies to support you and your child. We will look at the strategies in Part 2 of this course.

In this course you will have the opportunity to develop:

• A deeper understanding of how trauma affects your children’s behaviour.
• Increased confidence to support your children who have experienced trauma.
• Strategies for strengthening the relationship between you and your child.
• An awareness and sensitivity to the dynamics of trauma.

In this course you will have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of how trauma affects your children’s behaviour; increased confidence to support your children who have experienced trauma; strategies for strengthening the relationship between you and your child and an awareness and sensitivity to the dynamics of trauma.

This course builds on the knowledge learnt in part 1, which covered what trauma is; the difference between single incident and complex trauma; the effects that trauma has on children’s development including the effects on the brain, body, learning, emotions and relationships.

In this section you have the opportunity to explore:

What it means to be trauma informed.

• What it means to be trauma informed.

• That healing happens through respectful relationship.
• The importance of supporting your child to feel safe.
• Ways to support emotional regulation in your child.
• The importance of keeping yourself regulated.
• Ways to discipline your child that are not punitive.
• The importance of time in and connection.
• The principles of Playful, Loving, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathic caring.

When you think about Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people what comes to mind? Who are they? What do you know about them and their culture, music, art and history?

These are important questions to ask yourself as a worker or person caring for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children or young people.

This course provides information about indigenous culture; an overview of Australian history with Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and young people, statistical information as well as policies and legislation related to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and young people in care.

This course will cover the importance of maintaining relationships and cultural identity for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children and young people.

This course introduces Aboriginal Culture including:

• Defining culture.
• Legal definitions of Aboriginal peoples.
• Who are Aboriginal peoples?
• Confirmation of Aboriginality.
• Aboriginal population in Australia.
• Examples of Aboriginal culture.

As a carer it is likely you will be caring for a child or young person who has experienced grief and loss. The purpose of this course is to develop your existing skills and add a few more tools to your toolbox.

This course covers the fundamental aspects of caring for a grieving child or young person including:

• Defining grief and loss.
• The different types of loss and grief children and young people in care experience.
• What behaviors might be an expression of grief.
• The process of grief.
• How to support a grieving child or young person.
• Case studies to put it all together.

Loss and grief are a natural and normal part of being human and something we will all experience.

Family time is a significant part of the lives of children who cannot live with their parents. This course explores the importance of bonding and attachment, maintaining relationships with significant others and promoting a child or young person’s understanding of their identity. The dynamics of contact are explained with barriers and issues explored.

This course looks at the legislation and policies supporting this process and information to support carers in their role in promoting family time. Case studies are explored that demonstrate the important and complexity of family time.

In 2018, 3043 people died by suicide. That is double the road toll and equals 8.3 deaths by suicide each day.

You can make a profound difference to a young persons life who may be having suicidal thoughts. This course aims to raise awareness and prevention of suicide.

Course content includes:

• Defining suicide.
• Why young people take their own lives.
• Possible warning signs a person is contemplating suicide.
• Risk factors and protective factors.
• Myths and facts about suicide.
• Responding to and supporting a child or young person at risk of suicide.

Understanding how trauma effects brain development is a fundamental part of effectively caring for children and young people in care.

The first part of this course looks at normal brain development and its functions. The second part covers how the brain is impacted by early trauma.

This course explores how the brain develops during pregnancy; the functions of the left and right hemispheres and the brain stem; emotional development on the infant brain; the overactive fight or flight response; the importance of the environment on brain development in the early years; how early abuse and experiences affect brain development; the influence all this has on learning. Finally, case studies will be presented to cover the material covered.

This course explores:

• The types of domestic/family violence.
• Understanding the impact of witnessing domestic violence on children and young people.
• Understanding the impact of domestic violence in the Australian child protection system.
• Identify the best ways of supporting children who have witnessed domestic violence.

The high rate of substantiated emotional abuse of children and young people in Australia highlights the impact of domestic violence has on children and young people.

Resilience is what gives us the psychological strength to cope with stress and hardship. It is the mental strength that we call on in times of need to carry us through without falling apart and enables us to bounce back.

Dealing with change or loss is an inevitable part of life. At some point, everyone experiences varying degrees of setbacks. Some of these challenges might be relatively minor, such as not getting the teacher you want, while others are disastrous on a much larger scale, such as abuse, major accidents, homelessness or being removed from a parent. How we deal with these problems can play a significant role in not only the outcome but also the long-term psychological consequences.

This course will look at what resilience is, our own resilience as adults, signs of resilience and how to build a child or young person’s resilience. This course is relevant for everyone.

Child protection is a significant course for all foster carers regardless of the age or stage of children and young people in your care.

All children need care and protection and therefore there is legislation to protect their rights and wellbeing.

While some parents relinquish care of their children or are medically unable to care for them, majority of children and young people in care have experienced abuse and/or neglect.

This course focuses on recognising and responding to child abuse and neglect. Types of child abuse, definitions and indicators of abuse or neglect will be covered during this course. Case studies explore the situations of children in care who have experienced significant child abuse and/or neglect.

We all experience transition and change during our lives. Life events such as finishing school; changing jobs; marriage; divorce; death of a parent; children moving out of home etc are just a few changes that you may experience.

Some people are more affected by these transitional periods than others. For some, change brings overwhelming feelings, regardless of the expected nature of the change.

This course aims to provide carers with skills and knowledge to help children who have experienced trauma, to navigate their way through change.

Carers themselves go through change and loss in their own lives and can have trouble managing their own emotions when a child in their care moves on. This training is just as much for you as carers as it is for children.

This course explores how carers can support positive change in children’s lives through restorations and transitions.

This course explores:

• Understanding why children are restored to their parent/s.
• Explore how a decision is made to restore a child to their parent/s.
• The skills and knowledge parents need to demonstrate to have their children restored.
• Factors that increase the chance of successful restorations.
• What carers can do to support children and their families prepare for restoration.

This course explores challenging behaviours of children and young people in care.

Children and young people in care often come from families where day to day routines is chaotic, parents lack general parenting skills, have little understanding of child development and often use inappropriate discipline, when they do discipline.

These children and young people may have also experienced abuse, neglect, trauma, and violence.

We explore:

• What are challenging behaviours?
• Stages of child development and associated behaviours.
• Impact of trauma on behaviour and learning.
• Intellectual disabilities and autism.
• Causes and reasons for challenging behaviours.
• Strategies for managing challenging behaviours.
• Case scenarios.

Attachment and bonding is a significant theory as it not only relates to children in care but all human beings. If we understand our own attachment style, we can make positive changes and become more secure. Therefore, better able to become a child’s secure base to feel confident, safe, and protected.

This course explores:

• Different types of attachment styles that develop from infancy.
• Characteristics of each attachment style in children and young people as well as characteristics of their parents and caregivers.
• How a person’s attachment style affects their behaviours and relationships throughout their lives.
• Case scenarios that explore the different attachment styles.

As a carer you may find yourself caring for a baby or child whose mother used substances during pregnancy.

This course aims to provide you with a broader knowledge on the effects of substance abuse on a newborn baby. The group of mothers and families who fit in to this group make up only a small percentage of total births in Australia each year.

This course covers:

• The types of substances that are commonly used by women during pregnancy.
• How these substances affect the growing baby.
• The supports and types of treatments available.
• The care of the baby following birth.
• The care of the baby in the long term.
• 3 case studies of women who used illicit substances during pregnancy, their journey through the hospital system during pregnancy and the outcome for them and their baby.

Thank you for becoming a carer for a child or young person in your extended family, or a child or young person well known to you.

When children are removed from their family, they need to be in an environment which supports an appropriate sense of belonging to their family. Kin carers provide that important link between children and their birth family. They are the glue that bonds the children to their family.

It is a big job, one that can be filled with big rewards. You have an opportunity to shape and influence a child's future. While kinship and relative care is rewarding, it also comes with challenges. 

The aim of this course is to better equip you to know how to navigate those more challenging times.

This is a short course aimed to promote, protect, and nurture each child and young person's individual life story.

Every person has a life story. No two stories will ever be the same, but everyone is unique and worth capturing.

This course will cover:

• What is a life story?
• The importance of life story work for a child or young person in care.
• Creative ideas for life story work.
• Including the child or young person in their life story work.
• Case studies that reflect the importance of life story work throughout the child and young person’s life.

Did you know that between 20% to 40% of girls and 10% to 15% of boys experience sexual abuse by the age of 16 years-old?

This course was developed to increase your understanding on how sexual abuse can impact on children and young people’s lives and to provide strategies for caring for a child or young person who has experienced sexual abuse.

The learning outcomes include:

• What sexual abuse is and isn’t.
• How child sexual abuse occurs.
• The effects of child sexual abuse.
• How to respond if a child discloses sexual abuse.
• What behaviors to expect and techniques to manage these behaviors.
• Case scenarios are explored.

You may find yourself caring for a child or young person with a culture that differs from your own.

The phrase Culturally and Linguistic Diverse Background (CALD) is used to describe the ethnic groups from different cultural backgrounds to the dominant Australian culture.

This course was developed to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining the cultural identity of CALD children and young people in care. The course addresses potential issues that carers may face and encourages you to find new ways to actively participate in children’s culture.

You will learn about the cultural challenges for CALD people, particularly children and young people in care who are living with families of a different culture to their own.

Being a worker or carer presents many benefits and some challenges. One of the challenges can be managing anxiety. This course has been designed to build knowledge and understanding of children and young people who experience anxiety.

This course explores the underlying causes of anxiety including loss and grief to give you a better understanding of anxiety.

This course aims to increase your knowledge of the impact of anxiety disorders on children and young people and how they can be triggered.

Case studies are presented to explore the signs of anxiety and how carers can help support children and young people experiencing anxiety.

As a foster carer, kinship carer, adoptive parent or worker in the out-of-home care sector, there will be many occasions which will require you to advocate for the child or young person in your care, for yourself, your family and others.

This course looks at:

• What is advocacy.
• The need for advocacy.
• The types of advocacy.
• The advocacy processes.
• The rights of all people.
• Social justice.
• Empowerment.
• Setting goals.

‘…not every young person’s experience of sex has been positive. Our goal is to support young people reach a positive sexual sense of self despite past trauma.’

Engaging with young people who have experienced trauma around the topic of sexual health poses unique and sometimes complex challenges.

An experience of trauma can lead to poorer health outcomes. It is important to have discussions about sexual health and relationships with young people from settings where there is a likelihood of trauma in a young person’s history – such as young people in Out Of Home Care or justice services. This will help them to have positive interactions and experiences, despite what their history may be.

The way to achieve this is by empowering these young people to confidently make safe choices based on accurate information.

This online course aims to empower young people to confidently make choices based on accurate information. The course will assist carers and workers who work with young people in Out Of Home Care. 

Good sexual health promotion is grounded in a ‘sexpositive’ framework, which, views sex as a positive force in people’s lives. However, not every young person’s experience of sex has been positive. Our goal is to support young people reach a positive sexual sense of self, despite past trauma. 

Grounding the discussion in information on values of healthy relationships can help, such as talking about: 

• What a healthy relationship looks like.

• How to recognise problems in a relationship.

• How to exit a problematic relationship.

This is a high quality course developed by NSW Health.