Trauma Informed Care for Kids with Mental Health and Neurodivergent Needs

Many children presenting with anxiety, dysregulation, attention difficulties, or neurodivergent profiles have experienced trauma, whether recognised or not. This workshop offers a practical, developmentally sensitive approach to supporting these children through trauma-informed and neuroaffirming care.

Designed for clinicians working with children aged 6 to 12, this 4-hour online training will deepen your understanding of how trauma shows up in the body and behaviour, and how to provide care that is emotionally safe, validating, and flexible.

You’ll leave with practical tools to support regulation, build trust, and respond to complex presentations with compassion and clarity.

What you’ll learn

• How trauma impacts the developing brain and nervous system
• The overlap between trauma, neurodivergence, and mental health presentations
• Recognising subtle trauma responses in primary-aged children
• Core principles of trauma-informed and neuroaffirming care
• Supporting emotional and behavioural needs in dysregulated or avoidant kids
• How to co-regulate, build trust, and reduce therapeutic ruptures

Who should attend

This training is ideal for:

• Psychologists and provisional psychologists
• Mental health social workers
• School counsellors and wellbeing staff
• Other allied health professionals working with children in therapeutic roles

No prior trauma training is required. Suitable for those new to trauma-informed care, or seeking to deepen existing knowledge with a neuroaffirming lens.

About the presenter

Emma Spencer is a Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years’ experience working with children, adolescents, and families. She is the developer of the Low Demand Approach to Therapy and is known for her relational, neuroaffirming, and trauma-informed approach to mental health care.

Emma is passionate about helping clinicians provide safe, validating care to children who often fall through the cracks — especially those with complex emotional or neurodivergent needs. Her workshops are rich with practical insight and grounded in the lived experience of children and families.

For further information please email Emma directly emma@spencerhealth.com.au