Paddock Play

Day 1 - Working with children and young people in EAP/EAL - Nature, play and creativity.

· Calm state - Offering presence and safety guidelines when working with children and young people

· Overview of working with children – keeping it fun, playful, engaging, and safe.

· Creating a safe space – including co-regulation, predictability, movement, and I-thou relationships

· Facilitation approaches

· Finding learning opportunities in sessions

· Paddock Play - Equine Experiments in action to support healthy boundaries and explore feelings.

Day 2 - Special considerations for supporting Autistic children and young people in EAP/EAL

· What is Autism and what support families may need

· Developing a neuroaffirming mindset and approach to your practice.

· Developing emotional awareness through working in nature and with horses

· The role of trust, connection and co-regulation in EAP

· Developing awareness of ‘self’ and ‘other’ and exploring healthy boundaries in relationships

· Self- care – Autistic burn-out, masking and meltdowns

· Paddock Play - Equine Experiments in action to support social communication skills and emotion regulation.

The purpose of this 2-day workshop

As EAP/EAL practitioners, we often find ourselves receive requests for support from families with Autistic children and young people. There are a myriad of ‘training’ offers out there for working with Autistic and neurodivergent children, and many around Autism in general. There are limited (if any) opportunities for further education specific to working with Autistic children in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy/Learning, so we have created this workshop to support other practitioners to expand their knowledge around working with children and young people, particularly those who are Autistic, in our very unique space of being out in nature and working alongside horses.

The two days have a strong focus on experiential learning, so participants can walk away with deepened knowledge around Autism and some fresh ideas for activities they can implement in their own practices with Autistic children and young people.

Who will benefit:

This workshop will be targeted at practitioners working with, or interested in working with Autistic children and young people, specifically in the space of providing Equine Assisted or nature-based Therapy and Learning.

Facilitated by Nadine Delaney - AMHSW, EPI EAP and Supervisor

Date: 24th and 25th November

Time: 9am to 5pm each day

Venue: Hunter Valley Children’s Therapies

220 Sawyers Gully Rd, SAWYERS GULLY NSW 2326

Investment: $699 (Inc meals and workbook)

50% deposit required at registration

RSVP: By 15th October

Previous workshop attendees have said….

“I enjoyed - The immediate ambience of the workshop; from the onset it felt like it was going to be fun, interactive and a chance to connect with like-minded people. I love the experiential learning but appreciated the back-up of the theory”.

Sarah H, EAL, SA, Australia

“The hands-on-activities, meeting new friends with like-minded interests, the food 😉, the comfortable style of presentation, the theory and the various ways it was presented. The format was comfortable and engaging. Wasn't overly theory/ classroom based and was a good mix of inside/ outside - nature assisted opportunities. I've implemented some of the activities that we practiced and discussed. Definitely a greater understanding of how the brain works/ behaviours for some.”

Melita, EAL NSW, Australia

“I enjoyed all aspects of the Workshop and came home with a sharper focus of the HW Program and many new and extended ideas to using it.... ‘in action’ .I also enjoyed meeting all the other attendees and hearing their stories and ideas. the balance of experiential learning and theory was excellent.

The workshop has impacted the way I provide support to my Autistic clients by providing me with ideas for new resources.”

Sarah A, EAL, SA, Australia.