From Dysregulation to Regulation – Helping the Overwhelmed Child find Calm within the Primary School Environment 15 & 19.1.24

Two-part webinar on Monday 15th & 29th January 2024

Never in the history of calming down has anyone ever calmed down when told to “Calm Down!” When we feel overwhelmed what we long for is connection. We want someone calm and loving to be with us, to let us know we are seen, heard, cared for and understood. No-one needs, or deserves this type of response more than our children.
Children are not yet efficient or developmentally capable of self-regulation when overwhelmed. They are in survival mode. Engaging in reasoning and logical discussion at this point is futile. The child’s prefrontal cortex or thinking brain is no longer accessible to him. He is now being driven by his emotional centre which does not do logic. The nature of the trigger is irrelevant in this moment, what is relevant is how the adult responds. A calm empathic response of a caring adult, within a structured and predictable environment will promote a felt sense of safety and calm. In this way the adult’s ability to provide co-regulation will help the child to return from dysregulation to regulation. This two-evening webinar for primary teachers and SNAs will support educators to recognise the signs of dysregulation and to meet the dysregulated child’s need in those moments and beyond. The participants will learn:
To understand and manage big feelings, from temper outbursts to anxieties

• How to respond to those feelings in a child centred way to enable regulation
• How to create an atmosphere that promotes regulation rather than dysregulation
• To set limits and boundaries without shaming

Facilitator: Aideen Flynn, Child & Adolescent Psychotherapist