Online course

It can be difficult to have difficult conversations with parents or colleagues whilst sustaining relationships with them. 

Engaging parents in honest and supportive conversations can enable change for children and families and help professionals to sustain relationships with parents. Learn how to enter into difficult conversations from a family partnership perspective with the help of this workshop.

This workshop explores the context and desired outcomes of difficult conversations. It considers the skills and qualities required to enter into conversations from a partnership perspective and provides practical opportunities to practice and reflect on newly acquired tools and approaches.

Date: 30 April 2020

Time: 11am – 12.30pm and 1.30pm – 3.00pm

Delivery: Online (2 x 1.5 hour sessions)

Cost: $203 incl GST

Registration: Click here to register

About the facilitators

Martin O’Byrne

Martin commenced with the Centre for Community Child Health (CCCH) as part of the Tasmanian team in 2010, leading an action research project and participating in the Learning and Development Strategy as part of the development of the Tasmanian Child and Family Centres initiative. 

Martin has extensive experience in early childhood education having trained and worked as an early childhood teacher. He has also worked in community development roles in Victoria and Tasmania. Martin now facilitates training for early years practitioners across Australia through the Training and Development team within CCCH and is interested in practice change and how partnerships can assist better outcomes. 

Donna Anderson

Donna has an extensive background in early childhood and holds a Diploma in Children’s Services and a Diploma of Business (Community Services and Health Management). Her diverse experiences working as a practitioner, in management roles, and teaching of Child Studies has equipped Donna with a unique understanding of child, family and professional needs within early childhood.

Donna facilitates multiple training programs such as Let’s Read, Group Facilitation, Having difficult conversations, Reflective Practice with CCCH. She has been practicing as a Family Partnership Training facilitator since 2005 and is an accredited Family Partnership Model trainer and supervisor. 

Deb Sestak

Deb Sestak is an experienced facilitator with a keen interest in community partnerships. Her training portfolio at the CCCH includes The Family Partnership Model (FPM), Family-Centred Practice, Reflective Practice, Platforms, Improvement Approach and Linking Schools and Early Years. With the training and development team, Deb delivers customised training and consultancy for a diverse range of community partnerships and organisations.

Experience and achievements

Since 2013 Deb has facilitated learning and development workshops for CCCH in the FPM foundation and facilitation courses and workshops that sit under the umbrella of the FPM: Facilitating a process for genuine engagement, Engaging families, Difficult Conversations and Group facilitation.

Face-to-face course

A common concern for practitioners working with parents of young children is how to enter into a conversation with families about what is perceived as a difficult topic. By popular demand, the Training and Development Team has developed a new workshop. Difficult conversations may arise in situations where there are concerns about a child’s development or behaviour, or where there is a clash in perspectives between a parent and a practitioner. This new course explores the context of these situations and the desired outcomes. It considers the skills and qualities required to enter into these conversations and reflects on how this might work in practice.

Course Outcome: Participants are able to engage with parents in difficult conversations

Learning Objectives:

For participants to increase their awareness of:

• the need for a trusted relationship as a basis for these conversations
• the factors that accompany difficult conversations
• the factors that enable or become barriers to these conversations
• the qualities and skills required to work with parents effectively

Cost: $190 incl. GST

Duration: (1/2 day)    

Dates: Thursday 13 August 2020

            Thursday 3 December 2020

Enrol now

Due to the current situation, these dates may change.  This course can also be delivered online.

The workshop can be tailored to suit a range of practitioners and/or particular situations. It can be provided as a brief session (1½-2 hours), a half-day or one day workshop or a series of sessions.To find out more and enquire about this new workshop  contact us