The Behavior Is a Clue, Not the Whole Story

Description:

When a child yells, shuts down, or acts out, it’s easy to focus on the behavior. But what if we saw these moments as signals, not problems? This interactive and reflective webinar will invite foster, kinship, adoptive, grandparent, and biological caregivers to shift from reacting to behaviors to understanding the deeper needs beneath them. Through storytelling, real-life scenarios, and guided exercises, we’ll explore the emotional worlds of children and teens, especially those impacted by trauma, grief, or system involvement. We’ll draw powerful parallels between adult dysregulation and child behavior, creating space for empathy, insight, and connection. Caregivers will leave with tools to decode behavior, respond with intention, and see their children as humans in discovery.

Objectives:

As a result of this training, you will be prepared to:

• Examine how racial bias and systemic inequality influence the interpretation of

children’s behaviors, and practice reframing those behaviors through a traumainformed,

anti-racist lens.

• Develop greater self-awareness of how their own emotional responses, cultural

beliefs, and lived experiences impact the way they connect with and respond to

children in moments of dysregulation.

Format: Live Zoom (once registered you will find a link on the online event page)

Accommodations: Please email us directly with any special accommodations you may need at swkce@msu.edu

Contact Info: swkce@msu.edu

Presenter: Cole Williams, BS

Executive Director, The Delta Project, with lived experience as a foster and adoptive single parent