CES Sessions
All sessions are offered at no cost.
Adolescent Brain Development and Navigating Parent-Teen Relationships
Available until: March 31, 2023 - 5:00 PM
Adolescence is a magical time when children enter a period of huge growth and change. Bodies and brains change, emotions become more volatile, friends become more important, and the parent-child relationship morphs into a parent-teen relationship. In this session we will discuss the adolescent brain, how to support healthy brain development, promoting resilience, and navigating the ways that your relationship with your teen will evolve as they slowly but surely become little adults.
LGBTQ2S+: What grandparents need to know and do
Available until: March 31, 2023 - Noon
Grandparents and Elders play an important role in the health and well-being of the young people in their lives. You will build on your ability to help all of the youth in your life feel loved, safe and like they belong by learning about:
• SOGIE related terms
• Personal, family and cultural values
• Health, education and social impacts of stigma
• Inclusive language
• Safer family strategies
Promising Practices for Supporting Individuals with FASD ***please register using the poster only***
Available until: March 31, 2023 - Noon
Presenter: Gagan Sandhu B.Sc., Education Facilitator, Calgary Fetal Alcohol Network (CFAN)
Participants will learn:
• What is FASD?
• How can I recognize individuals with FASD in my Practice?
• Alcohol and Pregnancy
• What can I do to support individuals affected by FASD?
Nutrition and ADHD - ***please register using the poster only***
Available until: December 2, 2023 - 6:00 PM
Presenter: Jamie Lee Kwong
Parents of children and teens with ADHD are often concerned about their eating habits - are they eating enough, too much or the right type of foods? In this presentation, parents can expect to learn the fundamentals of nutrition, nutrition related to ADHD and practical strategies to make mealtimes more enjoyable!
Birth Control and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) What do you need to know? ***please register using the poster only***
Available until: March 31, 2023 - Noon
Presenter: Christine Sturgeon, B.Ed., Child Development Supervisor (Level III) Education Coordinator, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Alberta Health Services
Are you a trusted adult to a teen but are worried that your knowledge about birth control and STI might be out of date? Youth make healthier sexual choices when they can talk to an adult they trust about these topics. In this session for parents and professionals, build your ability to support youth by learning about:
• Creating a safer space to talk with teens about birth control and STI
• Current birth control methods that are effective for teens, how they work and how teens can get them
• Sexually transmitted infections – what they are, how people get them, how to lower risk and where teens can get testing and treatment
Adolescent Brain Development and Navigating Parent-Teen Relationships (Oct.20 recording)
Available until: March 31, 2023 - Noon
Presenters: Kelvin Ganpatt, BA Psychology & Tashia Christie BA Psychology
Rocky View School Division and MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
Adolescence is a magical time when children enter a period of huge growth and change. Bodies and brains change, emotions become more volatile, friends become more important, and the parent-child relationship morphs into a parent-teen relationship. In this session we will discuss the adolescent brain, how to support healthy brain development, promoting resilience, and navigating the ways that your relationship with your teen will evolve as they slowly but surely become little adults.
Understanding Psycho-educational Assessments = Understanding Your Student
Available until: March 31, 2023 - 8:00 PM
Presented by: Tanya Keto, in partnership with Foothills Academy Society
Do you have a child or work with a student who struggles at school? Psychoeducational assessments combine standardized assessments of a child’s intellectual and academic abilities with the dynamic clinical judgment of a trained psychologist to determine the what, how, and why of struggling students. This process measures overall aptitude and academic achievement around core academic skills and any additional factors that may impact a child at school (e.g., attention and concentration, learning disability, mood, anxiety, etc.) and provides strategies to support them.
Whether a diagnosis is made or not, the information can be used to identify what the child needs to reach their potential. This session will take a deep dive into what caregivers and educators need to know about the psychoeducational process including:
• When and why psychoeducational assessments are done
• The psychological processes that underlie learning: such as language and phonological processing, fine-motor and graphomotor processing, executive functioning, visual-spatial processing, processing speed, working memory, etc.
• The specific academic skills being investigated: including reading, writing, math, language, etc.
• Aspects of social/emotional and behavioural functioning that may be impacting the student: including attention and concentration, depression, anxiety, etc.
• The diagnostic process
• Recommendations, strategies, and accommodations
• Using the psychoeducational assessment report for Individual Education/Program Planning (IPPs, IEPs, etc.)
Executive Functioning: Who’s the Boss?
Available until: March 31, 2023 - 8:00 PM
Presented by: Tanya Keto, in partnership with Foothills Academy Society
Executive Functions (EF) are mental processes that help to connect past experience with present action to guide future behaviour. Individuals with Learning Disabilities and/or ADHD may experience increased difficulty in the development and use of these functions compared to their same-aged neurotypical peers. These functions underlie activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing, paying attention to and remembering details, and managing time and space. When students struggle in these areas, it can result in behaviours that are often labeled as “attention-seeking”, “defiant”, “showing off”, “unmotivated” or “lazy”, “emotional overreactions”, and “inflexible”, just to name a few.
School can be tough for kids and teens with EF deficits. When the adults in their world understand the how and why of EF deficits and what they can do to maximize the success of these students, it can significantly impact learning, engagement, and motivation at school. With a focus on cognitive neuroscience research and brain-based strategies that you can use to increase student engagement, motivation, and self-management, we will discuss:
• The Executive Functions and how they work
• Discuss the development of EF
• How EF deficits impact students and classroom dynamics
• How to best support students with EF deficits
Mindfulness: Supporting Your Child’s Social and Emotional Learning ***please register using the poster only***
Available until: March 31, 2023 - Noon
Presenters: Allison Salazar, MA, School Counselling & Stephanie Sands, BSc. Psychology,
Rocky View School Division & MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
Feeling a little blue and not particularly cheery this time of year? You're not alone. In this session you will learn about mindfulness and take away practical tools that will help brighten these cold days. This session will explore the topic of mindfulness and how mindfulness strategies can support your child’s social and emotional well-being. Explore how the brain’s stress responses may impact social and emotional well-being and how to use mindfulness to calm the brain. Using mindfulness can lead to better focus in school, better cooperation with others, improved self-awareness, self-regulation, decrease stress/anxiety, and improve overall well-being.
Friend or Foe? How to create healthy relationships with digital devices in the family
Available until: July 15, 2023 - 11:00 PM
With the multitude of changes that have occurred in the last year, families are stuck at home and spending a lot of time with their digital devices (e.g., video games, phones, tablets). Parents especially have become concerned about how much time their children and adolescents spend facing a screen, whether it’s on TikTok or playing Fortnite. Some parents may be left wondering, “Are my kids addicted? What do I do? How will this affect them?” Learn from our experts, Tanya Mudry and Jezz Stone, on how to manage the increased use of screens/digital devices from a relational and family perspective. In this presentation, they will discuss tips for families to consider when developing healthy relationships with digital devices.
Managing Stress in the Family: Recognizing Triggers
Available until: July 15, 2023 - 11:00 PM
This session will discuss the following:
• Understand the physiology of stress
• Understand and identify triggers in the family
• Learn strategies to manage triggers
• Better understand the mind and body connection
• Learn mindfulness as a way of addressing triggers
• Explore strategies to create emotional regulation in the family
Strategies to Deal with Challenging Behaviors in Children & Teens
Available until: July 15, 2023 - 11:00 PM
Wherever you are in your parenting journey, this workshop aims to improve your skills at navigating challenging behaviors when interacting with children & youth. Participants will learn about:
Why challenging behaviors occur
How to prepare and approach communication with children & youth to help address challenging behaviors.
How to address challenging behaviors using science-based techniques.
The Building Blocks of Resilience: Strategies to Strengthen Resilience in Children and Adolescents
Available until: July 15, 2023 - 11:00 PM
Traumatic life events, such as abuse, death, natural disasters, and the current COVID-19 health pandemic, produce a wide range of stressors which affect the health and well-being of children and adolescents. We know that children and adolescents have the capacity to learn and develop important resilience skills that can help them thrive even in the face of adversity. This presentation will discuss research-based strategies that can help increase and strengthen resilience in children and adolescents. I will discuss individual and social-ecological factors that can boost coping, recovery, and overall well-being among children and adolescents, and thus improve their ability to manage challenges they are currently facing or may face in the future.
Caregiver Self-Care and Co-Regulating with Your Child
Available until: March 17, 2024 - 9:00 PM
Presenters: Tashia Christie, BA Psychology & Kelvin Ganpatt, BA Psychology, Rocky View School Division & MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
The importance of self‐care for caregivers, burnout, compassion fatigue, and helping children to practice selfcare and regulate
emotions.
Human Trafficking
Available until: March 17, 2024 - 9:00 PM
Presenter: Nathan Moore, RCMP
This webinar will focus on various ways victims can be exploited; including Sex Trafficking and Prostitution, Forced Labor/Domestic Servitude and Organ Trafficking.
This presentation will also discuss indicators that someone may be a victim, laws pertaining to trafficking, pop culture and perceptions, and what to do if you are approached.
Parenting
Available until: March 17, 2024 - 10:00 PM
Riffat Ali (Registered Provisional Psychologist), Ph.D. Psych., MSc. Psych., Child & Youth Counselling Dip., Cert. Bullying &
Healthy Youth Relationships, Carya
Join this webinar to learn more about the following:
• Serve and return interactions between the caregiver and child
• The impact of difficult or adverse experiences on children
• Creating a loving and nurturing bridge with children throughout their development, and finding emotional balance for both the caregiver and the child within the family unit.
• Navigating discipline from early childhood into teenage years
• Strategies to support behavioral changes in children
• Skills to manage children’s stress and anxiety
• Supporting teen brain growth
ADHD & Executive Functioning: For Children & Youth
Available until: March 23, 2024 - 10:00 PM
The session will be an overview of ADHD and how issues with impulsivity and/or inattention impact children's ability to manage their environments. The session will also explore the impact ADHD has on Executive Functioning and how it relates to managing everyday tasks, and meeting daily expectations at home and at school, including social, emotional, behavioural and academic demands.
Earth Play: The Benefits of Outdoor Exploration
Available until: March 23, 2024 - 6:00 PM
They don’t call them the great outdoors for nothing! Getting outside is great for both mental health and physical health! This session will provide individuals with information about the benefits of messy play, exploration, and adventure for supporting positive mental health and provide practical, age-appropriate ideas for kids to get outside, get moving, and get messy!
Screen Time & Teen Mental Health
Available until: March 23, 2024 - 6:00 PM
Teens have experienced significant life disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including school closures, social distancing, missed milestones, and family stress (e.g., income loss, parent mental illness). While teens have begun to return to normal activities and routines, the potential for the COVID-19 pandemic to have significant consequences on teen mental health and well-being has gained considerable attention.
Join Dr. Brae Anne McArthur, a Registered Psychologist, to discuss the current state of youth mental health and the relationship between screen use activities and mental health outcomes for teens. You will leave this session with a broader understanding of screen use as both an effective (i.e., engaging with others via social connection for support) and ineffective (i.e., long duration of passive screen use) mechanism for teen mental health outcomes.
Youth Mental Health Diversion: A different approach to helping youth involved in the criminal justice system
Available until: March 23, 2024 - 6:00 PM
Presented by: Paul Hawthorne RSW, GCM, MBA Student, Program Consultant II, Mental Health & Justice, Provincial Addiction and Mental Health, AHS
This webinar will discuss the following:
• What is the Youth PMHDP?
• What does the Youth PMHDP do?
• Youth PMHDP Eligibility Criteria
• How you can directly refer to the program
• Locations currently offering Youth PMHDP
• Other Youth Mental Health Diversion concepts and Initiatives
• Youth PMHDP Evaluation Results
Managing Productive Struggle: Building confidence and resilience in the face of challenge! ***please register using the poster only***
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Presented by Nicola Doughty, Registered Clinical Counsellor, BCACC in partnership with Nicola Doughty Counselling
This is a lively and informative presentation exploring how you can support your child when they are experiencing the frustration, stress, and anxiety that comes from tackling challenges. Whether it be social, emotional, or academic concerns, parents will learn how to align and guide their children, thereby increasing their sense of agency and building confidence.
This presentation will explore the concept of power, brain development in children and what it means for parents as children pass through the various stages of growing up.
Avoiding the traps of becoming a helicopter or snowplow parent, parents can feel more in tune with their values and parenting style when they know they are engaging practical strategies that promote positive growth. There will be ample opportunities for questions throughout the presentation.
Supporting Your Child’s Journey to Wellness ***please register using the poster only***
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Carmen McCarty - Youth Facilitator, RSW & Amanda Tailleur-Marshall - Youth Facilitator, Diploma in SW
Closer to Home Community Services
You will learn about teenage brain development, mental health statistics affecting our youth and how to advocate for your youth.
Navigating Technology with our Youth ***please register using the poster only***
Noon - 1:30 PM
Presented by: Andrea Halwas Larsen, in partnership with Juno House
In this 1.5 hour presentation, we will discuss the role of technology and today’s youth. The message of this presentation is not only based on technology, but also about a child’s healthy brain development and the necessary parenting/caregiver role in creating healthy, emotional, regulated, and integrated brains. This presentation will address the underpinning of a child’s emotional brain development and how to grow it, as well as how technology can dangerously hijack this.
We believe that talking does not grow neurons; experience grows neurons. This workshop is designed to give attendees the skills to become their child’s emotional coach. The workshop will provide participants with:
• An understanding of the basic neuroscience behind healthy brain development,
• The dangers of technology for healthy brain development,
• Technology use rules that will help your child
• When building healthy brains, how to identify emotions in your child/student, and
• How to become your child’s/student’s emotional coach in only five steps and in that, build a resilient child.
The presentation is facilitated by a therapist from Juno House who has years of both clinical and facilitating experience. Juno House was founded in 2008 as a Centre of Excellence for adolescent girls and young women who are experiencing anxiety-based mental health issues of self harm, obsessive compulsive disorders, depression and eating disorders.
ADHD is Awesome! ***please register using the poster only***
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Dr. Caroline Buzanko PhD, Registered Psychologist
Clinical Director, Koru Family Psychology
ADHD is often thought of in terms of its symptoms and associated problems. Unfortunately, a deficit-based approach, focusing on what is wrong, can be very impairing for children and their families. However, there are so many positive qualities of ADHD that need to be celebrated! In this session, you will learn about what ADHD is, why it is awesome, and how to capitalize on its assets to promote long-term success.
Growing Young Brains: Putting Science into Practice ***please register using the poster only***
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
Presenter: Melanie Olorenshaw M.Sc (Applied Psychology), Founder/Director Brilliant Beginnings
Post-pandemic statistics have shown a significant increase of screen use in children under 3 years old. Parenting in our current digital world has become even more difficult to navigate as personal screen time shapes our children’s learning environment.
How can early brain science positively influence development in the early years? What is the current research on direct and indirect exposure to screens? How can we respectfully discuss and modify current parenting practices to promote healthy brain development in this formative time?
This workshop is for professionals working with parents of young children or parents wanting strategies to link science with positive parenting practices.
Understanding Teen Mental Health & Wellness ***Please register using the poster only***
6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Presenters: Ashley Meagher BA CYC & Allison Salazar, MA School Counselling, Rocky View School Division & MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
Everyone has mental health, teens included! This session will provide information to help caregivers understand and cultivate positive mental health for youth during their teen years. Learn to distinguish between normal feelings and behaviour of teens, including signs and symptoms of mental health concerns. School and community resources will be shared.
Supporting Children and Youth through Grief & Loss ***please register using the poster only***
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Presenters: Allison Salazar, MA School Counselling & Stephanie Sands, BSc. Psychology
Rocky View School Division and MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
To watch a child, grieve and not know what to do is a profoundly difficult experience for parents, teachers, and caregivers. There are many life experiences that can produce feelings of grief in a child, from the death of a relative or a divorce in the family to more everyday experiences such as moving to a new neighborhood or losing a prized possession. The pandemic has added even more reasons, with children grieving the loss of normalcy and a sense of safety. This session is to help adults counter the false idea of "not feeling bad" and to empower children with positive, effective methods of dealing with loss. We will look at guidelines for helping children develop a lifelong, healthy response to loss and how you can support them through these tough times.
Trauma Informed Care Approaches – Translating Trauma-Informed Principles Into Action ***Please register using the poster only***
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Presented by: Ashley Meagher BA CYC & Stephanie Sands BSc. Psychology, Rocky View School Division & MHCB Stepping Stones to Mental Health
This free community-focused session explores the role that traumatic experiences can have in people's everyday life. The focus of this information is to offer a generous approach by implementing skills that help community adopt a trauma - informed approach in the relationships and roles they have. Trauma is part of human experience and working from a trauma - informed lens acknowledges the prevalence of trauma within the population. As such, adults can anticipate that they will often serve individuals who have experienced or been affected by trauma. The hope of sharing this information is that together we can create a kinder more generous community for everyone.