Format

Half-day live online training

3 hours (including Q&A)

Delivered by

Nigel Humphrey – Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Dr Laura Taylor – Educational Psychologist

Cost

£80 per participant

• SENCos
   
• Teachers
   
• School leaders
   
• Teaching assistants
   
• Educational psychologists
   
• Social workers
   
• Pastoral staff
   
• Youth workers
   

Children who have experienced adversity often present in ways that are misunderstood within educational settings. Behaviours that appear defiant, withdrawn, inattentive, or disruptive can reflect nervous system responses shaped by stress and trauma.

This training introduces a developmentally informed understanding of behaviour, helping school staff recognise how early experiences influence learning, relationships, and regulation.

Participants will gain practical strategies to support regulation, connection, and engagement in the classroom.

• What ACE research tells us about development
   
• Why adversity affects learning and behaviour
   
• Understanding stress and the nervous system
   

• How the brain develops through experience
   
• Introduction to the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics
   
• Why regulation comes before reasoning
   

• Why traditional behaviour systems often fail
   
• Understanding dysregulation and survival responses
   
• The role of relationships in learning

• Emotion Coaching
   

Participants will learn practical approaches including:

• co-regulation strategies
   
• sensory regulation
   
• relational approaches to behaviour

• Emotion Coaching strategies
   
• building safety and predictability
   
• supporting overwhelmed students
   

By the end of the session participants will:

• Understand how trauma affects brain development
   
• Recognise trauma-related behaviours in educational settings
   
• Apply regulation-based strategies in the classroom
   
• Develop more compassionate and effective responses to behaviour

• gain an introduction to Emotion Coaching techniques to support emotional regulation and behaviour in the classroom.
  
   

Format

Half-day live online training (3 hours including Q&A)

Delivered by

Nigel Humphrey – Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Dr Laura Taylor – Educational Psychologist

Cost

£80 per participant

This training is designed for professionals working with children and young people, including:

• SENCos
   
• Teachers
   
• Teaching assistants
   
• Pastoral staff
   
• School leaders
   
• Educational psychologists
   
• Social workers
   
• Youth workers
   

It is particularly relevant for schools supporting children who have experienced trauma, adversity, attachment disruption, or neurodevelopmental differences.

Many children who struggle in school are not choosing to misbehave — they are experiencing dysregulation within their nervous system.

When a child feels overwhelmed, threatened, or unsafe, the brain prioritises survival responses over learning. In these moments, traditional behaviour management approaches can escalate distress rather than reduce it.

This training introduces Bruce Perry’s Regulate → Relate → Reason framework, helping educators understand why regulation must come before reasoning or discipline.

Participants will gain practical tools to help students feel safer, calmer, and more able to engage with learning.

Participants will learn how to recognise the signs that a child’s nervous system is becoming overwhelmed.

Topics include:

• fight, flight, freeze and dissociation
   
• hyperarousal vs hypoarousal
   
• how stress affects attention and behaviour
   
• recognising when a child cannot access reasoning or learning
   

Understanding these patterns helps staff respond with support rather than escalation.

Before a child can think clearly or follow instructions, their nervous system must first settle.

This section explores practical regulation strategies including:

• sensory regulation
   
• rhythm and patterned activities
   
• movement and breathing
   
• creating predictable routines
   
• environmental adjustments in the classroom
   

Participants will learn how small changes can significantly improve a child’s capacity to remain regulated during the school day.

Once regulation begins to return, relationships become the bridge back to safety and learning.

This section explores:

• co-regulation between adults and children
   
• the importance of calm adult presence
   
• relational safety in the classroom
   
• how connection reduces defensive behaviour
   

Participants will learn how relationships can become a powerful regulatory tool.

Only once a child is regulated and feels safe can the thinking parts of the brain re-engage.

This section explores how to:

• guide reflection after dysregulation
   
• support problem-solving and repair
   
• use curiosity instead of confrontation
   
• help children develop self-regulation over time
   

This approach allows learning and behaviour change to occur without shame or escalation.

In dysregulated moments, children often lack the language or skills to explain what they are feeling.

Emotion Coaching provides a structured approach for adults to help children understand and regulate their emotions while maintaining appropriate behavioural expectations.

Participants will learn how Emotion Coaching can support the Relate and Reason stages of Bruce Perry’s Regulate → Relate → Reason framework.

Key elements include:

• recognising emotional cues in behaviour
   
• validating feelings while maintaining boundaries
   
• helping children name emotions
   
• guiding reflection once regulation returns
   

This approach helps adults move from managing behaviour to developing emotional skills, supporting long-term regulation and resilience.

Throughout the session, participants will gain practical approaches they can apply immediately, including:

• regulation-based responses to behaviour
   
• sensory strategies for the classroom
   
• relational de-escalation techniques
   
• structured support following dysregulation
   
• ways to build predictable and safe learning environments
   

By the end of this session participants will:

• understand how dysregulation affects behaviour and learning
   
• recognise signs of nervous system overwhelm
   
• apply the Regulate → Relate → Reason framework in the classroom
   
• use practical strategies to support regulation and engagement
   
• respond to challenging behaviour in ways that build safety and connection

• gain an introduction to Emotion Coaching techniques to support emotional regulation and behaviour in the classroom.
  
   

Neurodiversity and Trauma in the classroom

Format

Half-day live online training (3 hours including Q&A)

Delivered by

Nigel Humphrey – Consultant Clinical Psychologist

Cost

£80 per participant

This training is designed for professionals working with children and young people, including:

• SENCos
   
• Teachers
   
• Educational psychologists
   
• Social workers
   
• Foster carers and adoption services
   
• CAMHS practitioners
   
• Residential care staff
   
• Youth justice professionals
   

It is particularly helpful for professionals supporting children whose behaviour, attention, emotional regulation, or relationships raise questions about neurodevelopmental differences, trauma, or both.

In many settings there is increasing uncertainty about whether a child’s difficulties reflect neurodiversity, trauma, or the interaction of both.

Children may be described as having traits of autism or ADHD, while also having histories of adversity, attachment disruption, or chronic stress. In these situations, it can be difficult for professionals to understand what is driving behaviour and how best to respond.

This training provides a developmentally informed framework for understanding the similarities and differences between neurodevelopmental conditions and trauma-related adaptations.

Participants will gain a clearer understanding of how to recognise patterns associated with autism, ADHD, and developmental trauma, while also learning why these experiences often overlap.

The goal is not to force simple answers, but to support more accurate understanding and more effective support strategies.

This section provides an overview of key neurodevelopmental differences commonly seen in educational and care settings.

Topics include:

• Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC)
   
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
   
• executive functioning differences
   
• sensory processing differences
   
• social communication styles
   
• strengths and challenges associated with neurodiversity
   

Participants will develop a clearer understanding of how neurodevelopmental differences influence learning, behaviour, and relationships.

Children who experience adversity may show changes in the way their nervous system responds to stress and relationships.

This section explores:

• the impact of early adversity on brain development
   
• regulation and the stress response system
   
• attachment disruption
   
• hyperarousal and hypoarousal
   
• how trauma can influence behaviour and learning
   

Participants will learn why trauma often affects regulation, attention, emotional responses and trust in relationships.

One of the most challenging areas for professionals is recognising when neurodevelopmental differences and trauma co-occur.

This section explores:

• similarities between trauma and ADHD
   
• differences between autism and trauma-related social difficulties
   
• why trauma can amplify neurodevelopmental vulnerabilities
   
• how adversity may shape the presentation of neurodiverse children
   

Participants will gain a framework for understanding complex presentations without relying on overly simplistic explanations.

The training concludes with practical strategies for supporting children where neurodiversity and trauma may be present.

Topics include:

• regulation-based approaches
   
• relational safety and trust-building
   
• sensory and environmental supports
   
• supporting attention and executive functioning
   
• responding to behaviour through a developmental lens
   

These strategies help professionals create environments that support both neurodiverse needs and trauma recovery.

By the end of this session participants will:

• understand the key features of autism and ADHD
   
• recognise how trauma can influence behaviour and development
   
• identify similarities and differences between neurodiversity and trauma
   
• understand how the two may interact
   
• develop practical strategies for supporting children with complex developmental needs
   

Misunderstanding the relationship between neurodiversity and trauma can lead to inappropriate support strategies, frustration for professionals, and distress for children and families.

When professionals develop a deeper understanding of development, behaviour begins to make more sense.

This training helps professionals move beyond diagnostic labels toward a more nuanced and compassionate understanding of children’s needs.