Do you ever feel disconnected to the children and young people you work with? When care workers feel angry, lost, or disconnected in their role, it’s not just about resilience—it’s a normal brain response. The cycle of "blocked care" happens when a care workers’ stress response becomes overwhelmed by the distress behaviours they experience at work. In turn, the young person—often struggling with “blocked trust” due to early trauma—finds it difficult to connect with and trust adults, creating a cycle that can lead to relationship breakdown.

This workshop explores the neuroscience behind blocked care, why children and young people struggle to build trust and engage in the relationship, and how to use attachment-focused care to break the cycle. Learn practical strategies to target children and young people’s unique individual needs with compassion and connection, strengthening their relationship positivity while managing your own needs, too.

Facilitator:
Noel Macnamara is a kinship carer with over 38 years of experience as a social worker, operational manager, organisational consultant, and child rights advocate. Noel is passionate about understanding the neuroscience of how child abuse impacts developing brains and using it as foundation for healing from trauma and adverse childhood experiences. Noel is the deputy director of the CETC and the executive manager of research and policy at the Australian Childhood Foundation.

Please note: all course and workshop times are displayed in Sydney/Melbourne/Canberra time zones. Please ensure you convert the time to your current time zone. All workshop payments must be made by credit card. Invoicing is only available for group bookings of 5 or more for the same workshop date. Contact us through cetc@childhood.org.au for group bookings.

Residential workers, care staff, house managers, and those who work in caring and support roles with children and young people in out-of-home care.