An Ecological Approach to Child Wellbeing
Restoring Resilience (RR) is excited to partner with educators and educational settings to provide a trauma prevention and resolution framework when working with children/youth 3-25yr olds.
At Restoring Resilience we believe that for any child/youth to thrive, an ecological perspective is vital as a child/youth cannot be viewed in isolation or separate to its family, culture, school, and community. A child's health and wellbeing are inextricably interdependent on the quality of relationships between educator/school and family, therapist/practitioner and community. The program invites all significant adults in a child's/youth's life to share in a psychobiological understanding of physiological drivers in child/youth behaviour. It is in the partnerships and collaboration the child/youth can feel safe and connected, a regulated child develops in spaces that understands the power of relational neurobiology.
Subscription Program for Educators
The Restoring Resilience 'GROW – Working with Children' program provides a subscription program for educators, to provide a lens on understanding physiological drivers of challenging behaviour and responses. The subscription is a mixture of pre-recorded modules and Live Consults.
GROW Working with Children and Youth program is underpinned by Relational Gestalt theory to support relational safety, attachment and connection; Polyvagal theory to demystify drivers of disruptive and challenging behaviours and Somatic interventions to release activation, reset the nervous system and restore resilience, connection and social engagement. The synthesis of these modalities is potent and has been translated so educator's can assist to children/youth to start learning these fundamental and necessary skills for nervous system regulation from as young 3yo.
Key Program Components
GROW Emotion Regulation Tool Kit
A powerful visual resource adapted from Dr Stephen Porges' Polyvagal Map, designed for children aged 3-25. Helps children identify emotional states and build interoceptive awareness — the foundation of emotional regulation.
Somatic Experiencing Interventions
Educators receive a menu of specific SE interventions to support children's nervous systems in returning to safety, connection, and wellbeing when stuck in fight, flight, or freeze states.
Educator Self-Care
The health and wellbeing of educators is prioritized through Self Care modules and Monthly Live Online Consults, ensuring educators can co-regulate from a place of sustainability and presence.
Multi-Setting Application
The GROW Emotion Regulation Tool Kit is designed for use in classrooms, counselling settings, therapeutic environments, and at home with caretakers for consistency.
Building Interoception
Children learn to shift from awareness to noticing and tracking bodily sensations and impulses. Poor interoception correlates with poor mental health — this program addresses this fundamental skill.
Relational Neurobiology
Based on cutting-edge understanding of attachment, polyvagal theory, and somatic healing, creating a comprehensive framework for supporting children's development.
Program Objectives
- Introducing the healing properties of the relational paradigm between teacher and child
- Introduction to Polyvagal Theory
- Learn about the Autonomic Nervous System and its impact on health and wellbeing
- Map child behaviour and learn to differentiate the varying states of the nervous system (ventral vagal, dorsal vagal and sympathetic)
- Interoception – the key skill to building capacity for noticing and tracking internal sensations
- Learn the use and application of the 'GROW Emotion Regulation Tool Kit' which incorporates: GROW Emotion Regulation Wall Chart, Sensation Cards, Gingerbread Mapping Exercise and Somatic Interventions
- Learn specific Somatic Interventions to support nervous systems to come out of states of protection and into connection
- Classroom activities that support safety, connection, and regulation
Expected Outcomes
Educators will understand the importance and the power of attunement and co-regulation
Educators will be provided with, and supported to adopt, a neuroscientific lens to interpret child behaviour
Educators will be trained to track physiological states and equipped with the tools to apply specific interventions to support emotion regulation
We will support teachers to build their capacity to attune, respond and meet the need that is driving the child's challenging behaviour
Educators will be provided a menu of somatic interventions
Educators will know how to apply specific interventions to stimulate or inhibit the nervous system to support grounding, settling and social engagement
Ready to Transform Your Educational Practice?
Join educators across Australia in creating trauma-informed, regulation-friendly learning environments where children can thrive.
Get Started with GROW