Mourning, Meaning and The Internal World of the Child: unpacking the lived and unlived experiences of children in the out of home care system

Berry Street Yooralla are pleased to partner with the Child Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association of Australia (CPPAA), to offer a series of webinars, delivered by CPPAA members, that will showcase the contemporary application of Child Psychotherapy.

Titled ‘The Unconscious at Work’ the series poses the question: What is happening within the therapist when they work with clients?   This aims to highlight the depth and richness that contemporary psychoanalytic thinking brings to work with infants, children, adolescents and caregivers.  Using a range of content including case vignettes, didactic and small group discussion, the series focuses on themes of trauma, neurodiversity, relationship and loss, and how understanding and experiencing of unconscious processes shape the developing mind of the psychoanalytic psychotherapist.

This webinar is the second in a series of three, and whilst these webinars can be attended as standalone events, they are designed to build upon and complement each other.  View Series.

Overview - ‘Mourning, Meaning and The Internal world of the child’: unpacking the lived and unlived experiences of children in the Out of Home care system, Yvette Willoughby and Tracy Christophi

Using de-identified clinical vignettes, group discussion and video material, and drawing upon theoretical frameworks and concepts from Bowlby, Klein, Winnicott and others, this webinar explores the internal world of children in out of home care settings, what they have had/not had, and how an enriched understanding and deep ‘holding’ of the internal world (including the worker’s own internal world and role as recipient to the child’s internal world) becomes an essential tool for transformation, in work with them.

With a focus on the impact and meaning of grief and loss, mourning, ‘disenfranchised grief’ and the significance of unlived experiences, the webinar also highlights potent communications and relational dynamics arising in the work with traumatised children and young people. Material will encourage thinking about the less conscious ways that children/young people communicate and work through experiences of profound trauma and displacement. The question “Who am I to you?  Who do I become, to you?”  will be explored in the context of how the caseworker/therapist becomes a receptor of deep feelings of distress, rage, loss and hope, and how acceptance, holding of and working with powerful transferences and projections -including an identification with the aggressor – if allowed, can offer a unique opportunity for emotional growth in the child or young person.

Learning Outcomes

It is expected that participants will:

• Gain a deeper understanding of grief, loss and trauma using a psychoanalytic lens
• Understand the enormous value in identifying, allowing and responding to important projections, roles and transferences as an essential ingredient of working with children in out of home care 
• Develop or extend knowledge of psychoanalytic theorists 

Who Should Attend?

• Caseworkers and practitioners who are working in the trauma field and/or out of home care, or who are interested in this area of working with children and young people.
• Practitioners/workers who are interested in exploring ways to deepen their understanding, thinking and responding in their work with traumatised children and young people.

Date & Time

Dates: Friday 18 September
Time: 10.00am - 1.00pm (AEST)

Cost

$230.00 (incl. GST) per person

Please note: for privacy reasons our webinars are not recorded.

About the Child Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Association of Australia (CPPAA)

The CPPAA is a professional association of Child and Adolescent Psychoanalytic Psychotherapists whose members are qualified to work with a range of developmental, behavioural and emotional presentations in children. Visit the CPPAA website for further information.

Payment Terms & Conditions

Payment MUST be made by credit card at the time of registration (VISA and Mastercard will be accepted) . Your registration will not be confirmed unless payment has been processed.

A confirmation/tax invoice will be issued upon registration to your nominated email address.

Webinars: A full refund will be issued for cancellations up until three (3) working days prior to the webinar. No refunds will be issued after this date however substitutions are welcome.

Should Berry Street Yooralla cancel a session for any reason, those registered at this time will be entitled to a full refund of registration fees.