Session Descriptions

Keys to Resilience: Emotionally, Developmentally & Relationally

Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D.

The human capacity for resilience is remarkable. It is also somewhat mysterious. Although resilience is spontaneous, it is not inevitable. Everyone possesses the potential for resilience but only some come to realize it. It cannot be commanded and is not a skill to be learned. Resilience is not genetic and there is no pill that can deliver it. Resilience therefore lies outside the parameters of both of the prevailing approaches for explaining human behaviour – the medical disease model as well as the learning paradigm.

So where does resilience come from and how are we to make sense of it? In this anchoring keynote of the conference, Dr. Neufeld will put the puzzle pieces together to reveal the three pivotal keys to this elusive human attribute as well as the two natural contexts in which these keys are more likely to be found. Once found, these keys can be used to unlock an emotional process that is the very essence of resilience and the bounce-back phenomenon. This model of resilience has profound implications for school, home and treatment.

This plenary address will provide the theoretical foundations for the 3-day conference, laying the groundwork for all that follows.

Keys to Resilience: Emotionally, Developmentally & Relationally (Continued)

Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D.

This session provides an opportunity for participants to interact with Dr. Neufeld around the material presented in his morning keynote.

Tamara Strijack, M.A.

Our world continues to move quickly around us, with technological advances at every turn. Whether we like it or not, the digital world is here to stay. While in many ways these advances make our world an easier place to live, sometimes the shortcuts they offer come at a cost. Although technology can be tempting, offering its easy ways to avoid and distract from difficult feelings, it can also have implications for the development of true resilience. In this workshop, Tamara will explore how technology can interfere with healthy development and resilience, as well as how we can safeguard the developmental process in our children and adolescents.

Deborah MacNamara, PH.D.

A growing number of children are presenting as demanding, prescriptive, bossy, and controlling. A disturbing number of these alpha children are turning into bullies, as well. Alpha children tend to have difficulties letting themselves be parented or taught. These children also lack resilience in the face of adversity. This is making the child-adult dance much more difficult than it used to be or needs to be, despite the plethora of strategies and advice-giving available today. Deborah will discuss the roots of the alpha complex, along with the path to fostering greater resilience in alpha children.

Colleen Drobot, B.ED., RPC

Many students are able to overcome adversity, face loss and disappointment, accept not getting their way, and find creative solutions to problems. Yet not all students are so resilient. How can educators and schools cultivate resilience so that students will not only endure these experiences, but will be able to gain strength and confidence in their ability to cope with them? Based on years of working with Dr. Neufeld, teaching in schools,
parenting, and counselling families, Colleen’s strategies are helpful for educators to use in the classroom and the school setting as they cultivate resilience at school and throughout
their lives.

Tamara Strijack, M.A.

Adolescents are faced with an explosion of awareness in emotion and thought. This alone can put them in a very vulnerable place, with temptations to escape at every turn. In this workshop, Tamara will explore the rites of passage that an adolescent needs to go through in order to become truly resilient. While a certain level of defense or armour is needed to survive in today’s often wounding world, when the defenses become stuck, maturation is at risk. We will also look at how we, as caring adults, can step in to help foster true resilience.

Deborah MacNamara, PH.D.

The expression of frustration and aggression in children can take on many forms, including temper tantrums and various forms of attack. Part of making headway requires understanding the roots of frustration and aggression and how to deal with the resulting behaviours. This presentation will focus on strategies for dealing with a frustrated child while preserving one’s relationship to them. It will address the importance of setting limits and helping children learn that they can survive the futilities that are part of life.

Colleen Drobot, B.ED., RPC

Dr. Neufeld and faculty speak of the need for a child’s heart to remain soft, for emotions to be felt and expressed, and for tears of futility to be shed in order for a child to develop and mature. For anyone raising a sensitive or stuck child, softening the defenses can be a daunting task. This workshop will focus on ways we can soften a child’s heart so that the tears can be restored, lowering frustration and anxiety and cultivating resilience. Colleen will share how to restore the ability for a child to feel, attend, grieve, and attach.

Play & Resilience: Why We ALL Need to Play

Gordon Neufeld, Ph.D.

Building on his keynote of the first day, Dr. Neufeld will elaborate on the surprising role of true play in cultivating resilience, not only in children but in adults as well. Long dismissed as unproductive, play is now being discovered as essential to emotional health and well-being, much like sleep is to mental functioning. A number of academic disciplines are now merging to explore the remarkable healing power of play, rivaling therapy itself or perhaps even explaining why therapy works when it does. Dr. Neufeld will present emotional playgrounds as an ideal context for finding the keys that can unlock the essential emotional process in resilience. Harnessing the power of play becomes the challenge of every parent, teacher and helping professional.

Circle of Courage

Martin Brokenleg, Ph.D.

For thousands of years, North American Indigenous cultures nourished respectful and courageous children without employing punitive discipline. Now, recent youth development research is revealing the essential elements in raising confident, caring children. Drawing on his research with Drs. Larry Brendtro and Steve Van Bockern in their book, Reclaiming Youth at Risk, Dr. Martin Brokenleg presents information on the Circle of Courage which offers concrete strategies for creating environments in which all young people can grow and flourish.

Martin Brokenleg, PH.D.

From Parker Palmer to the Dalai Lama to the brain science of neurobiology, adults are pondering the importance of tending the inner world of children and youth. Native peoples have traditions which enhance and explore the inner world of youth regardless of that youth’s values. Current resiliency strategies create inner strength in children and youth. This session develops a theory of creating inner strength in children and youth and explores specific activities adults can use in classrooms and residences to help children grow on the inside.

Gordon Neufeld, PH.D.

The condition of neurological hypersensitivity occurs when the sensory input is too much for the brain to process. The manifestations of this condition can range from a certain kind of giftedness all the way to classic autism, depending upon how this underlying condition has impacted attachments and development. It can also lead to attention problems or result in an Asperger’s syndrome. There is probably no condition where resilience is more needed and yet less likely to exist. Dr. Neufeld will briefly introduce this neurological condition, explain why resilience is so elusive, and suggest ways to restore neural plasticity and the capacity for adaptation.

Martin Brokenleg, PH.D.

This session provides an opportunity for participants to interact with
Dr. Brokenleg around the ‘Circle of Courage’ model and the material presented
in his morning keynote and his afternoon session on ‘Reaching Deeper’.

Gordon Neufeld, PH.D.

The expression of frustration and aggression in children can take on many forms, including temper tantrums and various forms of attack. Part of making headway requires understanding the roots of frustration and aggression and how to deal with the resulting behaviours. This presentation will focus on strategies for dealing with a frustrated child while preserving one’s relationship to them. It will address the importance of setting limits and helping children learn that they can survive the futilities that are part of life.

Fostering Resilience in a Stressed Culture

Gabor Maté, M.D.

Many more children than in the past are diagnosed these days with various learning and behaviour difficulties and many have problems learning from negative experiences. Schools also have to deal with an increasing incidence of bullying which “zero tolerance” policies do not seem to be diminishing. Dr. Maté’s keynote, based on his best-selling books, will focus on the causes and underlying dynamics of the challenges faced by today’s children—and therefore, by the adults tasked with nurturing and educating them. It will be shown that the most important feature of any approach to resilience needs to be the attachment relationship between children and the adults responsible for their care. The follow-up Q&A session will allow for generous time for interactive dialogue with participants.

Panel with Gordon Neufeld, Martin Brokenleg, and Gabor Maté

Maria LeRose, M.ED.

This is a rare chance to see the engaging Maria LeRose do what she does best – get to the heart of the matter in her interviews with her subjects. She will also facilitate discussion and dialogue between the participants and the keynote speakers, as well between the three speakers themselves, all in the quest of shedding more light on the secrets of resilience.

This session provides an opportunity for participants to interact with Dr. Maté around the material presented in his morning keynote.

Tamara Strijack, M.A.

Adolescents are faced with an explosion of awareness in emotion and thought. This alone can put them in a very vulnerable place, with temptations to escape at every turn. In this workshop, Tamara will explore the rites of passage that an adolescent needs to go through in order to become truly resilient. While a certain level of defense or armour is needed to survive in today’s often wounding world, when the defenses become stuck, maturation is at risk. We will also look at how we, as caring adults, can step in to help foster true resilience.

Geneviève Brabant, MSW, RSW

As parents and adults responsible for children’s well being, we are often tempted to correct their behaviour, teach them a lesson, or ignore their plea for attention. On the other hand, developmental science informs us that resilience is not inherited and cannot be learned; it must be developed. Geneviève will discuss special considerations when using discipline to impose order on a child’s mind, including ways to help children grow up and adapt to the many circumstances they are up against.

Patti Drobot, B.SC., OT, RPC

Emotional readiness for adversity is just as important as physical readiness for a natural disaster. If there were any single tell-tale sign that the capacity for resilience is lacking in a child – or adult for that matter – it would be the existence or eruptions of attacking energy. Residual attacking energy is most often experienced as foul moods, irritability, and impatience. Eruptions of attacking energy can take many forms, including even suicidal thoughts and impulses. Patti will focus on ways to restore the ability to bounce back from whatever may befall.

Tamara Strijack, M.A.

Our world continues to move quickly around us, with technological advances at every turn. Whether we like it or not, the digital world is here to stay. While in many ways these advances make our world an easier place to live, sometimes the shortcuts they offer come at a cost. Although technology can be tempting, offering its easy ways to avoid and distract from difficult feelings, it can also have implications for the development of true resilience. In this workshop, Tamara will explore how technology can interfere with healthy development and resilience, as well as how we can safeguard the developmental process in our children and adolescents.

Geneviève Brabant, MSW, RSW

All children possess the potential to adapt and “bounce back” from emotionally challenging circumstances. However, the transplanted child in the context of foster care, adoption, or divorce has the most to adapt to, and the least capacity to do so. Geneviève will discuss some of the impediments to the development of resilience in transplanted children, as well as the keys to overcome these impediments and help children develop to their full potential.

Patti Drobot, B.SC., OT, RPC

Anxiety has increased substantially in children of all ages over recent years and can show up in a variety of symptoms including phobias, panic, obsessions and compulsions, somatic issues, sleep issues, and avoidance, to name a few. Today’s world can create many challenges for children. School and societal pressures, peer interactions, family dynamics, and many other stressors can impede a child’s ability to mature and develop resilience. This workshop will address this increasing problem of our times and help caring adults make sense of the roots of anxiety, as well as provide practical suggestions on how to support our children and youth through anxiety and help them cultivate resilience.