Australian psychologists gain insights into child assessment and intervention, blending psychodynamic and evidence-based practices.
Australian psychologists and counsellors who work with children can use this course to strengthen assessment and intervention across developmental stages. It blends psychodynamic thinking with contemporary research to help clinicians understand a child's symptoms through meaning-making and defence mechanisms. Topics include neurodiversity, autism spectrum presentations, managing aggression, and working collaboratively with parents as part of therapy. The course encourages practitioners to move beyond rigid theoretical silos and appreciate what multi-paradigm approaches bring to child mental health work. Parental engagement and the therapeutic alliance are treated as central throughout.
Working therapeutically with children requires flexibility, curiosity, and a deep understanding of both developmental processes and emerging evidence-based practices. In this informative and integrative CPD session, participants are guided through essential principles of child psychological assessment and intervention, with a focus on clinical relevance across diverse presentations.
Drawing from both psychodynamic theory and contemporary evidence-based research, this talk supports clinicians in exploring the underlying meaning of symptoms, including the role of defence mechanisms, neurodiversity, and autism spectrum presentations. It also addresses the clinical management of aggression in children, and the vital role of parental engagement and the therapeutic alliance in effective child psychotherapy.
This course encourages practitioners to move beyond rigid theoretical silos and to appreciate the richness that interdisciplinary and multi-paradigm approaches can bring to child mental health work
Learning Outcomes
By the end of this talk, participants will be able to:
Identify key principles of child assessment and intervention across developmental stages.
Describe the influence of psychodynamic and contemporary research-informed approaches in child therapy.
Explore how to understand and respond to a child’s symptoms through meaning-making and defence mechanisms.
Work collaboratively with parents as part of the therapeutic process.
Recognise the importance of theoretical flexibility in understanding complex child presentations, including autism and neurodiversity.
Parent Alienation Part 1. Defining the Problem