Events Calendar

Learn about the unique stresses of front line emergency services personnel (police, firefighters, paramedics and rescue personnel) and gain an understanding of the culture of emergency services lifestyle, including impact on family members.

The information in this one day course is a condensed opportunity to develop knowledge and skills in internal control psychology. The concepts presented in this course are those of Choice Theory® psychology which is an explanation of how the brain functions to integrate information. The aim of presenting a one day course is to encourage people to participate in CPD training in internal control psychology. Participants of this course can then go onto participate in the Basic Intensive Training with a one day credit. It is hoped that this creates a more flexible option for people for training as it can be hard to book in for 4 day courses.

* Discount for AASW members *

This practicum serves to assist participants to increase their knowledge base in CT RT and LM and importantly increase their skills by focusing on skills development experiences these applications in practice. Participants will be taught the value of questioning techniques through a combination of lectures, demonstration role-plays, practice, experimental exercises and discussions of Dr Glasser's ideas.

* Discount for AASW members *

This workshop focuses on how to better support parents with an intellectual or learning disability by building knowledge of parents' needs and effective use of resources.

The Artistry of Facilitation is an engaging and dynamic one day course that will assist workers to explore the theory and practical aspects of facilitating training groups. The course will ensure workers have the knowledge, practical skills and confidence in preparing, delivering and reviewing training sessions. The training will also focus on becoming an artist of facilitation – in particular, the subtle techniques and aspects of facilitation. The course is applicable to trainers in all areas – it is designed to suit both beginning facilitators as well as those that are more experienced.

* AASW Member Discount *

This interactive and stimulating 2-day course will assist professionals to explore conflict and impart the essential principles and process of mediation. The structured 5-step mediation model and specific conflict resolution skills will be presented and practiced. The course can be utilised in many different areas of conflict e.g. client work, workplace disputes and interpersonal conflict.

* Discount for AASW members *

This 1 day workshop will assist managers, team leaders and team members to develop insight and awareness of their own and others’ emotions (behaviours, moods, reactions) to intentionally improve individual, team and organisational outcomes (wellbeing) in the workplace. It will also discuss and practice the 7 core EI competencies (skills and strategies) that are essential in the development and management of effective and productive interpersonal interactions.

* Discount for AASW members *

This 1 day workshop will assist managers, team leaders and team members to develop insight and awareness of their own and others’ emotions (behaviours, moods, reactions) to intentionally improve individual, team and organisational outcomes (wellbeing) in the workplace. It will also discuss and practice the 7 core EI competencies (skills and strategies) that are essential in the development and management of effective and productive interpersonal interactions.

* Discount for AASW members *

This one day workshop will assist the manager/ worker/ staff member to understand and demonstrate the skills, techniques and model in having difficult but necessary conversations.

A difficult but necessary conversation is anything you find hard to talk about but know that you need to. The issue is often how to start sensitive conversations that will invite open and constructive dialogue. When interactions become difficult, emotions often escalate and communication can break down. We often fear having the difficult conversation as we are concerned that we may make the situation worse - so we may try to avoid it or if we know we have to have it, we may try and blunder through it.

This course will provide the necessary understanding, skills and confidence to manage the discussion effectively. The difficult conversation in the workplace will be necessary for the manager with employees, between colleagues and with clients or students. It is also applicable for challenging interpersonal conversations. This course will explore the difficult conversation utilising the Harvard Negotiation Project model.

* AASW Member Discount *

This interactive 1 day course will assist professionals to understand and practice the necessary presentation skills and techniques to deliver engaging and inspiring presentations. The course will explore preparation/ planning and evaluation of the presentation, development of your own authentic presentation style, strategies to overcome nerves and challenging audiences; and, insight into the latest strategies and technologies (and tips!) used by inspiring speakers.

*Discount for AASW Members*

This series of seminars will apply Arnold Mindell’s most current Second Training and Process Mind and Deep Democracy to clinical skills, Leadership, Facilitation and Holistic Health awareness, in a collaborative, alchemical and experimental way, with a variety of facilitators from Portland and Australia.

Demonstrate your skills and knowledge in an interactive environment and gain the BSB51915 Diploma of Leadership and Management. Some work will be required outside of the workshop.

This series of seminars will apply Arnold Mindell’s most current Second Training and Process Mind and Deep Democracy to clinical skills, Leadership, Facilitation and Holistic Health awareness, in a collaborative, alchemical and experimental way, with a variety of facilitators from Portland and Australia.

Interviewing children about reportable conduct can be daunting. This interactive practice-based workshop explores essential knowledge about child development, good questioning skills and legal implications involved in competently interviewing children.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a highly acclaimed evidence based program cultivating emotional, psychological and physical resilience. It brings together meditative practices with current scientific understandings of human functioning. The 8 week program (2 hours in evening plus one Sunday retreat day) is highly experiential and includes systematic training in formal and informal mindfulness practices. It is open to health professionals and members of the general public.

This seminar aims to enhance counselling practitioner’s knowledge, sensitivity and awareness for working with transgender people. Some of the topics covered will be; awareness of language when referring to trans people, scales of sex and gender, the current DSM gender dysphoria diagnosis, referral requirements for treatment and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health standards. Specifically, this training addresses background information, terms & definitions, diagnosis criteria, the prevalence of gender diversity & aspects of assessment.

Explore and experience the healing benefits of supported grief work through art in this two day course.

Experiencing a significant loss or change, throws the world into chaos and confusion. At these times, people are challenged to re-define and re-negotiate much and often have trouble putting feelings into words.

On this one-day workshop, participants will have exposure to a very brief historical roots of Solution Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) and the key pioneers, followed by theoretical foundations and how it differs from other therapies: present and goal focused, and on the person, not the problem etc. There are definite advantages to SFBT, especially when sessions are limited and these will be presented and discussed along with some of the disadvantages of SFBT.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

Seize the opportunity to take your skills and knowledge to the next level. Interactive, adult, group learning processes will be utilised to enable you to respond to complexity, using current best practice strategies.

This workshop will look at an effective conversation style that assists non-offending parents to support, believe and protect their children.

Arm yourself with the knowledge and skills to manage change and transition and the tools to remain optimistic and even excited about your future and stay well.

Seize the opportunity to take your skills and knowledge to the next level. Interactive, adult, group learning processes will be utilised to enable you to respond to complexity, using current best practice strategies.

During this workshop various creative ways of understanding and exploring dreams and imagery filtered through the backdrop of Gestalt Therapy will be explored.

This course is applicable to professionals who are seeking to expand their knowledge and skills in their work with families who are from diverse cultural backgrounds. This course will assume a prior knowledge of the dynamics and effects of Family and Domestic Violence.

Improve your knowledge of and skill in working creatively with traumatised children and young people (including those with a sexual assault history). Consider art and play therapy case studies and practice suitable methods and tools to work safely and respectfully with children who have been affected by traumatic events.

*FPS Relevant Activity*

The purpose of this one-day workshop is to build on the foundations of motivational interviewing introduced in the introductory motivational interviewing course offered through CCWT. The workshop will also provide an opportunity for participants to consolidate their skills, with a particular focus on the language of change.

Build skills, confidence and frameworks to respond effectively to people experiencing difficulties and emotional distress, whilst remaining attentive to self care in this participative and practical workshop.

Understand what drives drug use. Learn how to do an 'on-the-run' assessment and how to do it warmly and even with humour. Experience strategies for individuals, groups and families that you can call on, should you decide that you can offer something to that young person.

A three-day course that is aimed at developing skills to improve the effectiveness of workers' engagement, communication and interventions with men who use violence in home settings.

Anxiety is a normal response to stress but can contribute to persistent worry, sleeplessness and fatigue. Learn how mindfulness can reduce symptoms of anxiety, enhance psychological flexibility and be used professionally.

Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a highly acclaimed evidence based program cultivating emotional, psychological and physical resilience. It brings together meditative practices with current scientific understandings of human functioning. The 8 week program (2 hours in evening plus one Sunday retreat day) is highly experiential and includes systematic training in formal and informal mindfulness practices. It is open to health professionals and members of the general public.

Learn how to use a strengths-based approach to work collaboratively with parents and carers to enhance parenting capacity. Refine skills in conducting assessments using strengths-based tools and techniques.

SFBT principles and practices offer us practical ways to optimise change without being solution-forcing or dismissive of hardship. Leave ready to engage with reluctance and resistance stuckness in fresh ways.

This one day workshop will assist the manager/ worker/ staff member to understand and demonstrate the skills, techniques and model in having difficult but necessary conversations.

A difficult but necessary conversation is anything you find hard to talk about but know that you need to. The issue is often how to start sensitive conversations that will invite open and constructive dialogue. When interactions become difficult, emotions often escalate and communication can break down. We often fear having the difficult conversation as we are concerned that we may make the situation worse - so we may try to avoid it or if we know we have to have it, we may try and blunder through it.

This course will provide the necessary understanding, skills and confidence to manage the discussion effectively. The difficult conversation in the workplace will be necessary for the manager with employees, between colleagues and with clients or students. It is also applicable for challenging interpersonal conversations. This course will explore the difficult conversation utilising the Harvard Negotiation Project model.

* AASW Member Discount *

Research confirms that older people found the transition into aged care challenging. This disenfranchised loss is addressed by providing proactive strategies that support older people (with and without dementia) through this transition.

Whether you are just starting your home visits or are experienced and want to review/refresh your practice, this workshop will help you to make your home visits safer and more productive. Use case scenarios and participant experiences to explore good practice policy, procedures and strategies.

Supervision can be more than a 'quick fix'. We explore the framework of four functions of supervision (accountability, support, development and mediation) and how to establish and lead effective supervision.

Apply community engagement best practice to plan, facilitate and evaluate engagement processes, and learn innovative processes that reach people who are difficult to reach.

Learn ways to creatively help children and young people manage anxiety by reviewing relevant DSM 5 anxiety disorders, considering art and play therapy case studies and practicing suitable methods and tools to work creatively, safely and respectfully.

*FPS Relevant Activity*

For clients, translating insights and good intentions into effective, sustained action is often difficult. This workshop explores Narrative Therapy's rich repertoire of ways to initiate change and consolidate steps in a preferred direction.

A refresher for staff who have previously completed the 2 Day Identify and Respond to Children and Young People at Risk. Also customised for workplaces so staff can reflect and build on their current child protection policies and practice.

This workshop will extend your communication skills and give you more confidence to assist people with disability through creative, experiential and interactive processes.

Your body makes your subconscious visible and engaging with your body palpably shifts your experience of life. This is the essence of somatic psychology. This seminar will guide you to deepen your understanding of this fascinating and widely applicable field for mental health professionals.

This is a practical course where students are provided with clear ideas and process steps. You will be shown show how to move a high conflict couple session in a productive and helpful way. Learning will be by class discussion, group work, DVDs and case presentations.

At End of Life Care it is not 'fixing' of clients, but 'being' with them through compassionate presence that can provide meaningful support. Principles of palliative care, skills and resources will be presented.

Learn a project planning and management process, core skills for managing, working on and evaluating projects, and take away useful tools to use in your projects.

Assessment can be undertaken in:

• BSBPMG522 Undertake project work

Learn about anger and explore approaches to anger management in adolescents.
Understand anger and adolescent development, the physiology of anger, mental health issues, disorders and disabilities, risk taking and learn a range of practical tools and strategies to help manage anger.

Sandplay allows for the projective expression of one's personal inner world. Learn how to respectfully invite the creation of miniature scenes and stories that help clients see, know and change.

The AASW NSW Branch, together with the Combined Universities Education Field Education Group, are hosting a 1-day workshop on student supervision. This workshop specifically caters to practicing social workers in the field who have limited to no experience in providing professional supervision to a student.

Video/teleconferencing available for rural and remote members. Please contact aasw.nsw@aasw.asn.au for details.

Register here by 2 November

Prerequisite: Participants must have completed Legal Issues course or have previous experience in the Children's Court context.

This course focuses on writing Court Reports (Supervision and Suitability of Placement Reports),and Affidavit writing for s90 Significant Change of Circumstance Hearings. Giving evidence focuses on protocols and stages for giving evidence in Court with an emphasis on self care and seeking appropriate support.

Do you feel daunted by the complexity of challenges that clients experiencing these disorders face? Through presentation of information, discussion and experiential activities you will gain knowledge and skills and increase your confidence to provide effective services for this client group.

Assessment can be undertaken in:

• CHCMHS005 Provide services to people with coexisting mental health and alcohol and other drug issues
• CHCCCS014 Provide brief interventions

This session assumes no prior social media knowledge and aims to build a foundation of understanding about the ways that social media can be leveraged effectively as a tool for the community services sector.

This two-day workshop presents a highly practical and interactive workshop (case-based) for treating PTSD patients; the content is applicable to both adult and adolescent populations

* FPS Relevant Activity *

Identify common time mis-management habits and learn how to make use of effective planning systems, even when under pressure.

Develop a workplace culture that responds well to staff members experiencing loss. Join us for a unique experience to explore values and contemporary research to fundamentally strengthen your culture.

This one-day interactive professional development training provides practitioners with the foundational knowledge and skills for working clinically with adult survivors of complex trauma.

This one-day interactive professional development training explores the nature of vicarious trauma (VT), contrasts it with burnout and compassion fatigue, and supports you to stay healthy and safe in your work with people impacted by diverse traumas.

Build skills, confidence and frameworks to respond effectively to people experiencing difficulties and emotional distress, whilst remaining attentive to self care in this participative and practical workshop.

Find out about the changes in the training package for general carers, and how this has been adapted for use with relative and kinship carers.

A practical introduction to essential principles which underpin working with children and young people in Out-of-Home Care for workers new to the Out-of-Home Care sector.

This 2 day training event addresses the stakes of recognising and responding to complex trauma (which comes in many guises) in light of current research findings and their implications for treatment.

The emphasis of this two-day training program is upon imparting practical, accessible skills to use immediately with survivors of complex trauma (especially child abuse and neglect).

* FPS Relevant Activity *

Get the best out of your team by learning how to manage people effectively, address performance issues, support staff and encourage a positive workplace culture.

Assessment can be undertaken in:

• BSBMGT502 Manage people performance

Find out what the latest research is telling us about what drives teenagers; take a good look at the social changes that have taken place in just the last ten years. Then see what this all means for developing really practical policies, programmes and strategies to help keep young people safe.

Learn about child-led play therapy. Play therapy optimises children's self-expression and safety in counselling. Maximise your success in engaging with and supporting change for children 2-10 years old.

If you already have a BSB51107 Diploma of Management upgrade to BSB51915 Diploma of Leadership & Management by RPL. Some work will be required outside of the workshop.

Acquire the knowledge, attitudes and skills needed to work with clients who use and misuse alcohol and/or other drugs. Learn practical strategies to support you working in this often challenging field.

Assessment can be undertaken in:

• CHCAOD001 Work in an alcohol and other drugs context
• CHCAOD002 Work with clients who are intoxicated

How as supervisors do we know how much challenge, support, feedback, direction, education or disclosure to offer? This workshop explores how our personal reactions to supervisees guides us in our supervisory approach

The aim of this course is to enable the achievement by all participants of a satisfactory level of competence for supervising social work staff in an effective, efficient and sensitive manner.

The course will focus on the development of supervisory skills, techniques and knowledge using a variety of methods, including presentations, small group discussion and experiential learning assisted by the use of video.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behaviour-analytically-based psychotherapy approach that attempts to undermine emotional avoidance and increase the capacity for behaviour change.

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion is an outstanding workshop. The program consist of didactic and experiential training exercises in mindfulness and self-compassion, to improve professional skills and personal lives. Rapidly expanding research shows that mindfulness and self-compassion are strongly associated with emotional well-being, lower levels of anxiety, pain and depression, better healthy habits such as diet and exercise, more satisfying personal relationships and enhanced self-care.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

Mindfulness and Self-Compassion is an outstanding workshop. The program consist of didactic and experiential training exercises in mindfulness and self-compassion, to improve professional skills and personal lives. Rapidly expanding research shows that mindfulness and self-compassion are strongly associated with emotional well-being, lower levels of anxiety, pain and depression, better healthy habits such as diet and exercise, more satisfying personal relationships and enhanced self-care.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

This course will teach you the fundamentals of CBT, guided imagery, counselling, stress management and relaxation. The emphasis is on using a positive approach with your patients.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

This 3 hour seminar will:

• present a model of supervision based on contemporary theory and research
• address unique aspects of direct work with children and young people who have experienced trauma - and implications for supervisors

A two-day intensive skill development opportunity for clinicians. This workshop demonstrates the assessment and management of Non Suicidal Self Injury (NSSI) in children and adolescents. In particular, the workshop focuses on addressing the functions of self-harm in young people.

The aim of this workshop is to give practitioners an opportunity to experience the cultural sensitivity, flexibility and responsiveness endemic to the narrative approach, which is so essential in working with children. This collaborative and practice based workshop will explore creative ways of working with children and families that nurture preferred stories.

Learn practical ways to use art exercises in counselling and group work. This hands-on workshop explores the use of 7 different art media so bring your apron.

Plato said, "Music and rhythm find their way into the secret places of the soul." Learn ways of using music in therapy in this two day workshop.

Help couples in your practice manage conflict and deepen intimacy! This is the first step in learning Gottman Method Couples Therapy. A truly inspiring workshop, Level 1 Training will give you new insights into treatment for couples who struggle, using research-based assessments and effective interventions.

This two-day workshop presents a highly practical and interactive workshop (case-based) for treating PTSD patients; the content is applicable to both adult and adolescent populations.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

This series of seminars will apply Arnold Mindell’s most current Second Training and Process Mind and Deep Democracy to clinical skills, Leadership, Facilitation and Holistic Health awareness, in a collaborative, alchemical and experimental way, with a variety of facilitators from Portland and Australia.

Deepen your understanding of Gottman Method Couples Therapy and expand your strategies and interventions in your work with couples. Practice using Gottman Method interventions in group role-plays while receiving personal, supportive coaching from trainers. This workshop provides a wealth of information about relationship theory, observation, couple dynamics, relationship assessment, treatment planning, when and how to use interventions, and working with co-morbidities. All materials may be used in clinical settings.

The emphasis of this two-day training program is upon imparting practical, accessible skills to use immediately with survivors of complex trauma (especially child abuse and neglect).

* FPS Relevant Activity *

This two-day workshop presents a highly practical and interactive workshop (case-based) for treating PTSD patients; the content is applicable to both adult and adolescent populations.

* FPS Relevant Activity *

The emphasis of this two-day training program is upon imparting practical, accessible skills to use immediately with survivors of complex trauma (especially child abuse and neglect).

* FPS Relevant Activity *