Safer Futures Symposium Wrap Up & Introducing Connecting Conversations: A Resource for Youth Workers

Thank you to all who attended the Safer Futures Symposium on Thursday 21 March.

This full-day event, joint hosted by WorkUP and True Relationships & Reproductive Health brought together various sectors, aiming to address the challenges faced by vulnerable youth in their relationships. It was a day filled with networking, collaboration, and enlightening talks from esteemed speakers.

The symposium highlighted a cross-sector commitment to positively influencing young people’s perspectives, breaking cycles of violence, and fostering positive outcomes for future generations. Attendees of the event included those identifying from the youth support sector, the specialist domestic and family violence, sexual violence and women’s wellbeing sectors, and other community and education sectors.

Trent Savill from Complex Care provided a snapshot of the Connecting Conversations training content with a focus on trauma-informed conversations with young people. It was a taster of the upcoming training that WorkUP is providing in the second half of 2024.

Connecting Conversations: A resource for youth workers

The Connecting Conversations resource for youth workers highlights trauma-informed information and practical strategies to be used in responding to the needs of young people, building upon the current knowledge and expertise base of Queensland youth workers. This resource provides opportunities for practitioners to explore respectful relationships concepts in their work with young people. It has been developed as a method of violence prevention and has a particular focus on understanding impacts of trauma and disrupted attachment on a young person and their ability to develop and maintain safe and positive relationships.

One-day workshops will be held across Queensland as opportunities to explore the resource through a trauma informed lens and build skills and confidence in facilitating conversations about healthy relationships with the young people you engage with.

The full-day workshop will unpack the Connecting Conversations resource and explore:

  • Self-reflection, relationship development and facilitation skills
  • Navigating the complex needs of young people (working with complex trauma and shallow intimacy barriers)
  • Tailoring conversations to individual needs
  • Practicing the facilitation of group sessions and casual conversations

Workshop dates for 2024:

Online workshops will be held across 2 half-days. Dates are now published on our training calendar.

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email Kirstie at kirstie.williamson@healingfoundation.org.au.